The latest science news and current events.
The top science news articles and current events news this week.
Science Resources
Science RSS News Feeds
Earth, Life and Space Science RSS News Feeds.
|
 |
 |
 |
| View Larger Image | Under the Volcano: A Novel (P.S.)
by Malcolm Lowry
| | List Price: | $14.95 | | Price: | $10.17 | | You Save: | $4.78 (32%) |  | | Available: | Usually ships in 24 hours | | | | | Sales Rank: | 16034 | | Studio: | Harper Perennial Modern Classics | | | Binding: | Paperback | | Number Of Pages: | 448 | | Publication Date: | April 01, 2007 | | Publisher: | Harper Perennial Modern Classics |
| |
EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. His debilitating malaise is drinking, an activity that has overshadowed his life. On the most fateful day of the consul's life—the Day of the Dead, 1938—his wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac, inspired by a vision of life together away from Mexico and the circumstances that have driven their relationship to the brink of collapse. She is determined to rescue Firmin and their failing marriage, but her mission is further complicated by the presence of Hugh, the consul's half brother, and Jacques, a childhood friend. The events of this one significant day unfold against an unforgettable backdrop of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical. Under the Volcano remains one of literature's most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition, and a brilliant portrayal of one man's constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him. |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.5 based on 9 reviews)
|
A work of art, a hallucinatory journey through the soul.... 
I like to tease my literary friends by saying "the film is always better than the novel", which sends them off into seizures. However, this is one instance that the book is vastly superior to the film, and it is undoubtedly one of the greatest books I have ever had the pleasure to read. Malcolm Lowry's prose style and mastery of the English language is beautiful to behold, and reading Under the Volcano fills you with wonder and awe. It's a masterful book, depicting the last day of an alcoholic (probably based on Lowry himself, who was a chronic alcoholic). The novel doesn't really have a narrative sense, but it has a hallucinatory, mystical quality that I adore. It reminds me a lot of an Alejandro Jodorowsky film, in that it's not straightforward at all, but it is a destination, and you will get there on Lowry's/Jodorowsky's path. As much as I like John Huston, I never cared for the film version, which I saw before reading the novel. If you want to see a great film about Lowry, a Canadian documentary called Volcano was made in the 1970's. It was released on VHS, then disappeared into obscurity until recently, when Criterion released it as part of their DVD of John Huston's film of this book. It makes a great companion to this novel, as you understand the agony of Lowry's life, and the pain that he had to go through to produce one of the greatest novels of the 20th century. This is one of my favorite books, one you can read again and again and find something new in it. Lowry never really regained the heights of this novel again, and ended up leaving behind unfinished manuscripts that were edited by his wife, Margerie. Still, this is a true work of art, and we should be thankful that Lowry left this for us....
July 30, 2008 | |
I don't know where to begin
This is probably the best book I have ever read and I have been reading for over 40 years. I don't even know where to begin. So much of what blew me away by this novel is close to impossible to put into words. I agree that it took a few dozen pages to get used to the style but then it just started to flow and I mean flow. I confess I did not understand all of the literary and political references but those I did were amazing. It is a sad book, especially in that it made me think that current world politics reflect man's inablilty to learn from the past.
June 07, 2008 | |
Complicated, Good prose, With Many Meanings, and Entertaining
This is a complicated novel that I found hard to start, but once reaching page 50 or so, things become much easier. This particular version has an introduction by Stephen Spender and an afterword by William Vollman. Frankly, they should be avoided until you have read the book. I bought and read this exact version and I read the commentaries after finishing the main text. Those two commentaries that come with the book tend to reveal the plot, and the plot should remain a mystery until you read the book.
The novel takes place over one long day, and it is told as it is remembered by the narrator, who is himself a secondary character. At 7:00 a.m. on the Day of the Dead, 1 November 1938, one of the main characters, Yvonne, returns to Quauhnahuac, after a year's absence and her divorce from the Consul. The town is a small town in Mexico. The Consul is the primary character and the character most like Lowry himself.
She finds him at the Hotel Bella Vista bar drinking. That sets the scene for one day of drinking and action that follows. The book moves slowly at first, then faster towards a dramatic climax. There are many hints and coincidences along the way that relate to movies, politics, and choice in life. In short, it is a myth about obsession - like Moby Dick was an obsession about a whale, but there are no whales here.
It is narrated by a character, Laruelle, who is leaving Mexico the following day. He recalls the events of the day a year earlier. He remembers meeting the Consul's half-brother, Hugh, and how despite his initial dislike for Hugh, he remembers the day together one year ago; and he remembers Hugh's attraction to Yvonne.
What does it all mean? That is part of the enjoyment and mystery about the book. Some critics describe the novel as the best ever written about an alcoholic. It is rich in symbolism on the struggle of man against obsessions and self destruction, and his control or ability to control his own life.
Also, it is rich in descriptive prose, hence it is often referred to as the following or similar: "Under the Volcano remains one of literature's most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition." Some compare Lowry's writing to Joyce, but in Lowry's world the characters can control their lives. It is an interesting and an unusual read. Also, one does get some insight into how an author can effectively write about the meaning of life and the soul from different perspectives, and a different approach is used in the novel.
May 20, 2008 | |
Unreadable 
Goes right up there with Durrell's Alexandria Quartet, Pamuk's Snow, and Miller's Tropic of Cancer as an extraordinarily over-rated, self-indulgent, unreadable mess.
May 15, 2008 | |
the best
Along with Sometimes a Great Notion, An American Tragedy and From Here to Eternity, this is the greatest novel I have ever read.
March 10, 2008 | |
SIMILAR PRODUCTS |
| |
|
|
|
|
