Book Review: Notes of a Crocodile is one of a kind, sui generis, and isn't easily described. Our protagonist says it's about "getting a diploma and writing." No, it's not. This posthumous novel covers friendship, university life, emotions, relationships, misfits, literature, homosexuality, emotions, and crocodiles, all occurring in a small, almost claustrophobic orbit. I can't remember the last book that drew me in so completely; every time I put it down the story kept spinning in my mind until I picked it up again. It's a strong book.
The narrative is told in a series of school notebooks by our 18 year old protagonist trying to push her way through youth, sexuality, and love, overthinking, over-intellectualizing, feeling emotions too deeply, being too proud or not proud enough, all those snares we go through when young. What we do when caught in our first loves. The chapters are periodically interspersed with more surreal and metaphorical short chapters about crocodiles that invisibly live among us; these chapters provide some needed comic relief.
Notes of a Crocodile is influenced (in a good way) by Haruki Murakami, who is referenced several times, including his novel Norwegian Wood, by name. But the novel doesn't read like plagiarism or parody; Qiu has made Murakami's style her own. There is the adored female love interest, the somewhat jerky male friend, the almost perfect female friend, the character who runs a bar, references to western literature and music. I don't remember a cat. I think Qiu even teases Murakami a bit when a character says, "Women are beautiful and mysterious, aren't they?"
The one flaw for some readers will be that our protagonist seems to dwell, even wallow in the miseries of her situation, becoming something of a drama teen. The anguish, though well-written, can go on for pages. At times she seems to want to prolong and go deeper into her agonies, rather than try to work through or past them. But while noticeable, I also think it's understandable when one feels unique, separate, rejected, isolated. That's what we do when first exploring love. That's what youth and difference are about. What the drama teen doesn't realize is that we are all (subject to parental perversions, self-doubts, voices in our heads) just putting forth different efforts to appear normal. Some, like our protagonist, make little effort. Although the reader may want to tell the characters to move on with their lives, Qiu accurately captures the turmoil and melt downs of love, betrayal, and youth. And captures and captures ... for some it will be intense, for others repetitive.
On the other hand it is beautifully written, with amazing metaphors and concepts, well translated by Bonnie Huie. There were a few points when I wondered if lines were perfectly translated, but given how fantastically difficult Notes of a Crocodile must've been to translate, I'm an ass for even mentioning it. A powerful book that I found easy to identify with and difficult to stop reading. The most compelling book I've read in a long time. [4½★]
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