The Crocodile Fury

by Beth Yahp

Vagabond Press are proud to re-release Beth Yahp's first novel The Crocodile Fury in 2017. Set in a convent school on a jungle-covered hill on the outskirts of a Southeast Asian city, The Crocodile Fury follows the fortunes of three the grandmother who was a bonded servant when the convent was a rich man's mansion; the mother who works each day in the convent laundry; and the girl who tells the story. Filled with naughty convent girls, a 'ghostchasing' grandmother and stories of mysterious sea creatures and a Lizard Boy who grows into a fierce anti-colonial jungle fighter, Yahp's novel was first published in Australia in 1992. 'Serpentine and lithe... distinguished by Yahp's mischievous wit and wondrously spirited storytelling' (The Age), The Crocodile Fury is also 'a novel of wonders... rich with magic, secrets, dragons, curses, ghosts and most importantly stories' (Australian Book Review ). It won the Victorian Premier's Prize for First Fiction and the NSW Ethnic Affairs Commission Award and has been translated into several languages. "Yahp skillfully spins a yarn about her native Malaysia. The tale recounts the lives of three generations of women in a family--the narrator, a cloistered convent school girl; the girl's unlucky mother, who does laundry for the convent; and the girl's grandmother, a servant to the rich man who had lived in the mansion that later became the convent. The grandmother stars in this tale, and shares her expertise on the topic of 'ghostchasing', with her 'Never fit your body into the natural curves and hollows of the earth or rocks or trees for these are the resting places of spirits, who won't appreciate being sat on, or coming back to find you there.' Yahp's lyrical novel blends sensory impressions and superstitious lore. While facts are repeated without moving the plot forward and aspects of the plot go unexplained (why is the girl's bullying school pal so important to the grandmother?), the story vividly and rhythmically evokes a society where Eastern traditions continuously clash with those imposed by the West. Muses the girl about her history, "The stories we unearth are like the ruined fountains and garden statues we stumble over, showing only their broken pieces, their missing bits." Publishers Weekly 'A novel of wonders... rich with magic, secrets, dragons, curses, ghosts and most importantly, stories' Australian Book Review 'Yahp's storytelling is serpentine and lithe... Stories rise, tease, then slip away, only to resurface later. As the interlocking stories edge forward, together they become a grand narrative front moving to an elaborate choreography... Distinguished by Yahp's mischievous wit and wondrously spirited storytelling of unearthly things.' The Age

Genres: Asia, Australia, 20th Century

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Beth Yahp is an award-winning author, editor and creative-writing teacher of adults and children. She has published short fiction and travel and memoir feature articles in Australia, South-East Asia and Europe. Her novel The Crocodile Fury is translated into several languages and her libretto, Moon Spirit Feasting, for composer Liza Lim, won the APRA Award for Best Classical Composition in 2003.

Beth has worked as an editor and taught creative writing for many years, including at the University of Technology, Sydney, Macquarie University, the American University of Paris, and currently at the University of Sydney. She completed her Doctorate of Creative Arts in travel and memoir writing at the University of Technology, Sydney. She was the presenter of Elsewhere, a program for travelers on ABC Radio National (2010-11).

Author Lives In: Sydney, Australia

Reviews

[John Varner · Rating 4 out of 5]

My only real complaint is the suddenness of the ending, but then I don't think it could have really been done any other way. This is a book that blurs the present and the past, it blurs identities. Is the Bully of the Narrator's time the same as the Bully of her mother's time? Is the Mat Salleh who hits Grandmother on the head the same as the one who preceded even the founding of the city? Are the ghosts and spirits of the hill and the convent real or just the frenzied imaginations of a young girl and her superstitious grandmother? Is the Mother's vision of the Virgin Mary actually the ghost of the Rich Man's Lover, is that Lover actually a sea spirit, and is that sea spirit incarnated in the narrator in the end? This book, with its heady use of repetition, its imprecise geography, chronology, and characterization, raises far more questions than it answers and I think the mystery is kind of the point.

[Ruby Jusoh · Rating 5 out of 5]

So this is an AMAZING read. Bought this for RM 10 from @gerakbudaya as I felt like reading local fiction. Wow, am glad I made that decision. The story revolves around the narrator, her mother and grandmother. Setting - a haunted hill and an oppressive convent which used to be a rich man's mansion. Mythical and fascinating and frightening. Pontianak, were-crocodiles and shamans... Wow. Wow. Wow.

[Mieke V]

Ik vond het een mooi thema en mooi verhaal maar soms moeilijk te lezen. Dat kan natuurlijk ook aan de vertaling liggen.

[Shira Baharin · Rating 3 out of 5]

The narrative, like Grandmother's stories, jump from one to another in no particular order. Sometimes the stories are retold, with additional details. Some of these stories are never finished even until the end. The many retellings and incompleteness of the stories reflect the novel's themes of trauma and loss, but at the same time can be frustrating and tedious to read for the average reader. There is a lot of deeper meaning to the story if you know where and how to look, and is an interesting study... but for an amateur like myself it's a difficult read and required some effort finishing.

I did like that it was culturally rich, filled with local folklore and superstition. Also found it interesting that despite it being a novel presumably set in a post-colonial Malaya (the novel is a bit vague about time and location setting), no mention is ever made of the diverse races and cultures that make up the country's population, which I usually find over-emphasized in most local media. Instead, the author refers to them generally as "locals", or "natives", and it's difficult to make out the races of the unnamed characters (the exception being the Grandmother and the rich man). In a time where racial divide seems to be more and more pronounced in Malaysia, the fact that race has no significance in this novel greatly appeals to me.

[Kerry · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had a lot of frustrations when reading this book. Despite being beautifully written (and therefore I don't doubt that Yahp is a very capable author) the story just seemed to go nowhere for a long time and then wind up incomplete.

[Kate · Rating 5 out of 5]

partly because it was recommended to me by genevieve, this booked enchanted me with its mysticism. Definitely one to read again, but when I have the time to savour it.

[Wiley R · Rating 5 out of 5]

Maybe the best book I've ever read.