It is hard to fully describe the storyline and plot of Big Fish by Daniel Wallace in just one sentence, paragraph, or essay. It is the tale of Edward Bloom as told through the retelling of his many stories by his son William. It is through these stories that William even knew his father. But this is quite possibly the most intricate description that can be given without unfairly including a personal interpretation of the words in the book. What is true upon looking deep into the story is that there is very little plot defined in the actual reading and much of the story is developed in the reader's imagination. The cinematic version of Big Fish, directed by Tim Burton and screenplay by John August, is simply the creator's interpretation of the writer's words. The words were expanded upon and millions of dollars were spent to make the understanding that the film creators had of the reading become available for anyone with eyes and ears. It is astounding how different the story could become when it is brought to life by the visual effects of modern day dramatic cinema and a more imaginative story telling and story interpreting ingenuity.
             When comparing the novel version of Big Fish to its motion picture counterpart, much can be noticed about the development of the plot. In the book, chronological order is not always followed. Some stories are told before others that happened sooner in chronological time. Perhaps they are being retold in the order that they were told to William, but they are clearly not told in the order of which they occurred. The interjection of the death of Edward Bloom is included a total of four times in the novel and it is uncertain if this is another story, or if it is truly happening in the present. Each of the four 'death' sections in the book start with the sentence, "It happens like this." This leaves the imagination to create what ever it wishes in order to mak...