Notes of a Crocodile
Book description
Winner of the Lucien Stryk Asian Translation Prize
Longlisted for the PEN Translation Prize
A New York Times Editors' Choice
The English-language premiere of Qiu Miaojin's coming-of-age novel about queer teenagers in Taiwan, a cult classic in China and winner of the 1995 China Times Literature Award.
An NYRB Classics…
Why read it?
2 authors picked Notes of a Crocodile as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?
This affecting and disturbing novel about a group of queer friends in late-80s Taiwan was ahead of its time in content, form, and vision. Premised on the idea of a collection of notebooks, the text incorporates multiple literary forms, and the “otherworldly” element is in Qiu’s use of the crocodile as a literalized metaphor for queer identity. A sobering and captivating read.
From Shawna's list on an otherworldly Taiwan.
Miaojin was one of the first openly lesbian writers in Taiwan, and wrote two novels before dying by suicide in Paris. Notes of a Crocodile follows the lives of a group of college-aged queer misfits in 1990s Taiwan. Heartfelt, melodramatic, and filled with youthful naiveté, the novel is also an experimentation in form, with different sections written as diaries, narrative, and even surrealist documentary-style sections on crocodiles, the novel emotes the feelings of punky, melancholic angst of being young and queer in a society that does not understand you.
From Saleem's list on novels that capture modern global queer experiences.
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