The yellow eyes of crocodiles: Katherine Pancol

The yellow eyes of crocodiles: Katherine Pancol

The yellow eyes of crocodiles: Katherine Pancol

The yellow eyes of the crocodiles -or The Yellow Eyes of Crocodiles, from its original French title— is a novel written by Bedawa professor and author Katherine Pancol. The work was first published in 2006 by Éditions Albin Michel. It was later translated into Spanish by Juan Carlos Durán Romero, and was marketed in 2010 by La Esfera de los Libros.

After its publication, the volume became a real best-seller. However, His reviews have been very ambiguous. On Goodreads, for example, it has 3.60 out of 5 stars, and the reviews show a common dissatisfaction regarding the construction of the story, the treatment given to the characters and the plausibility of some events.

Synopsis of The yellow eyes of the crocodiles

The failure of a marriage

While it is true that history It is set in Paris, its plot could take place anywhere in the world. The protagonist, Josephine, is a forty-year-old woman, married and with two daughters. She knows her marriage is not going well, but she is too passive to do anything about it. One day, her husband Antoine is fired from his job and decides to stay and languish at home while he is unfaithful to his wife.

Later, An event causes the inevitable separation of the couple, leading Antoine to abandon his family. and goes with her lover to feed crocodiles in Africa. It is then that, in addition to taking care of her daughters Hortense and Zoe alone, Josephine must pay off a million-dollar loan that her ex made her sign without telling her what it was. Later, her older sister Iris makes her a proposal.

The favor

Iris, Josephine's beautiful and sensual sister, asks her, since she is a historian and knowledgeable about medieval times, to write a novel for her. The protagonist accepts, but asks to receive all the money they give her for book, while Iris gets all the attention and public relations. The deal sealed, the main character begins to write.

It turns out that their novel is a success, which makes the sisters a lot of money.Iris, who is rich from marrying a well-off man, doesn't need him, so she has no qualms about giving him what they get, although this somewhat reverses the roles that have always defined the sisters' relationship.

Subplots

Other characters who appear in the novel are Henriette, the icy and glamorous mother of Josephine and Iris. This woman married the millionaire Marcel Gorsz for the second time. On the other hand, she finds herself Shirley, the protagonist's mysterious neighbor. She, She is secretly a British agent who occasionally works as an escort for the Queen..

Narrative style of the work

Katherine Pancol exhibits a natural, almost naive literary style. The various plots develop through archetypal characters that represent certain culturally accepted roles in society. For example: Josephine, despite the mistreatment she suffers from Antonie, never complains, never talks back or shows vulnerability to seek help from a support circle.

On the other hand, We have Iris, a woman who is somewhat insensitive regarding her sister's situation. Her good position, as well as her appearance - seen as attractive by most of the characters - surround her in a bubble that she never leaves. Likewise, Antonie is, for lack of better adjectives, an indolent useless person who does not care about his family.

Conflict and interpersonal relationships

The yellow eyes of the crocodiles can be seen in two fundamental ways: like a book about life itself and how fragile human relationships are, or as a simplistic title that addresses the intra-family conflict in a childish way. The truth is that, broadly speaking, both postulates are partially correct. The novel takes the easy way out, but it also tells certain truths.

That is to say: not everything in it is suitable or inadequate. There are The yellow eyes of the crocodiles redeemable passages. Perhaps the biggest criticism comes from the fact that this book became a popular read., winning important awards that, perhaps, could have been won by other volumes of greater quality. However, it is well known that popularity always sells more than a job well done. Even so, it is an entertaining work.

About the author

Katherine Pancol was born on 22 October 1954 in Casablanca, a French protectorate of Morocco. At the age of five she moved to Paris. During her university years she studied in the city to become a teacher of her native language. and also Latin. He then enrolled in the Faculty of Journalism. In 1979 he published his first novel, Moi d'abord, which allowed him to move to New York.

There he taught writing classes at Columbia University. In 1981, after the success of The Barbare, his second novel, he was able to devote himself exclusively to writing. writing articles for Paris Match o It and publishing more works. Katherine Pancol currently has a daughter and lives in New York with her husband.

Other books by Katherine Pancol

  • Me first — Me first (1979);
  • La Barbare — The barbarian (1981);
  • Scarlett, if possible — Scarlet, please (1985);
  • Les hommes cruels ne circulent pas les rues — Cruel men do not circulate on the streets (1990);
  • Vu de l'extérieur — From outside (1993);
  • Une si belle image — Such a beautiful image: Jackie Kennedy (1929-1994) (1994);
  • Encore une danse — One more dance (1998);
  • J'étais là Avant — I was before (1999);
  • Et monter clearly dans un immense amour ... (2001);
  • Un homme à distance — A man at a distance (2002);
  • Embrassez-moi — Hug me: Life is desire (2003);
  • The Slow Waltz of the Turtles — The Slow Waltz of the Turtles (2008);
  • Central Park squirrels are sad on Mondays — The squirrels of Central Park are sad on Mondays (2010);
  • Girls (2014);
  • Girls 2 (2014);
  • Trois baisers — Three kisses (2017);
  • Bed bug (2019);
  • Eugène & Moi (2020)

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked with *

*

*

  1. Responsible for the data: Miguel Ángel Gatón
  2. Purpose of the data: Control SPAM, comment management.
  3. Legitimation: Your consent
  4. Communication of the data: The data will not be communicated to third parties except by legal obligation.
  5. Data storage: Database hosted by Occentus Networks (EU)
  6. Rights: At any time you can limit, recover and delete your information.