Under the Volcano: A Novel (P.S.)
by Malcolm Lowry
List Price:
Our Price: $7.60
You Save: $7.39 (49%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.89 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions
Book Summary Information
Author: Malcolm LowryEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-04-10
ISBN: 0061120154
Number of pages: 448
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Book Reviews of Under the Volcano: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: Dead dogs and Englishmen
Summary: 5 Stars
In his forward to 'Under the Volcano', Stephen Spender, writing twenty years after the initial publication, directs the reader away from Lowry's alcoholic Consul as a self-contained story, and draws our attention to the parallels between the man of 1938 and the impending collapse of the world into war and madness. "The Consul, then, is a modern hero - or anti-hero - reflecting an extreme external situation within his own extremity." (pg ix) Maybe, but as Mr. Spender delves further into that argument, probing the symbols and measuring the references to the world situation, I'm reminded of someone who examines the Mona Lisa with a microscope to provide proof of why we ought to enjoy it.
Conversely, William T. Vollman, in a 2007 afterward, has to provide the historical context that must have been common knowledge when Lowry's novel was published (and even up until Mr. Spender's forward), but since may have slipped from popular memory. Whether the history lesson is necessary to you the reader is neither here nor there - the very fact that the publishers thought that it would be helpful lends weight to the argument that the power behind Lowry's novel did not depend so much on the relationship between the man and exterior events (which seem very far away 70 years after), but on the description of man in isolation (a gift from the twentieth century to its children).
There is no doubt that the main characters from 'Under the Volcano' are affected by the political winds sweeping through Europe at the time of the novel. That same breeze comes ashore as an ill wind in Mexico, and certainly they are buffeted by it and pushed in directions they may not have chosen had the story taken place in a vacuum. In that respect, I might agree with Mr. Spender, as not only these characters felt the brewing storm, but so too must have great crowds of people, up to and including whole nations. The Consul, his wife, and his half brother, as intelligent, well-crafted characters, surely would imbue the same qualities and beliefs that were acting on the rest of the world. But I cannot explain the impact of this novel on me by limiting my (layman's) analysis to the political realities of life circa 1938 represented by the microcosm of three people.
What is apparent is that Mr. Spender fears readers will be turned off by the Consul's alcoholism - or "dipsomania", as he so delicately, tentatively, and euphemistically puts it. "A book in which for three quarters of the time the hero is drunk may seem too special, too much a case history" (pg viii). The argument being that Lowry's (perhaps) autobiographical examination of isolation and loneliness don't offer enough universal elements with which to identify. Again, from my layman's point of view, I thought this examination was the very crux of the book, the very reason it was written. Call it Lowry's examination or exorcism, but the demons he visits here are the same for many others, and the alcoholism only one possible 'solution' to dealing with them.
Taking place during the Mexican Day of the Dead celebration, 'Under the Volcano' traces the arc of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic ex-Consul from England, as his ex-wife Yvonne and his half brother Hugh try to pull him out of his self-destructive spiral. Yvonne has only that morning returned after a year's absence following an act of infidelity, hopeful of reconciling with her husband. Hugh is also staying with the Consul, trying to sober him up, and at the same time dreaming about and planning on joining the Loyalist effort in the Spanish Civil War. The Consul, nearly ruined by his anguish over the past year at losing Yvonne and his constant use of Mescal, is almost incapable at this point of distinguishing between fact and fantasy, but suggests as a celebration of Yvonne's return that the three of them take a day trip to a neighboring town hosting a sort of Mexican rodeo, as perhaps a token effort to recapture a hint of normalcy about their lives.
Lowry trails the three of them, writing stream-of-consciousness prose that will reward the close reader with many of the symbols and subtle references that Mr. Spender was so eager to dwell on, but the inattentive reader, such as myself, who may miss many of the clues, will still be inundated with the recognizable thoughts of separation and loneliness and foreboding. In other words, I don't believe it's necessary to grasp every nuance in order to follow along - that's part of the pleasure that comes with subsequent readings.
The Consul continues to disintegrate throughout the day, and at last he rejects the hand up offered by the only people that have chosen to remain in his life. He rushes away from them to seek immersion in self-pity, self-loathing, and loneliness in another bar. That the story of the Consul's (and perhaps Lowry's as well) alcoholism is the true story is revealed in the last pages, when the Consul faces his greatest danger. In the middle of a confrontation with Mexican police, the Consul hears "A sudden noise from the corner (that) startled everyone: Yvonne and Hugh perhaps, at last". It is not, but that his first thoughts are of his ex-wife and half-brother coming to his rescue (and his short-lived relief at that thought) dovetail completely with alcoholic thinking - If he can only get the people he cares about most to feel sorry enough for him (regardless of how ill-deserved that thinking may be), and keep chasing him down, then he'll finally know if they really care about him. Except it's never enough, and the alcoholic trudges off to find even more extreme tests to put his loved ones through. Even after the Consul's horrific insults toward Yvonne and Hugh, he expected them to follow after and try to rescue him again. It becomes a sick and twisted game between the alcoholic and his enablers, one they are forced to reenact over and over again, until the self-destruction reaches it's forgone and inevitable conclusion.
If the story is about the alcoholic, then is it true that the Consul's 'dipsomania' is too unique for the book to have universal appeal? The reader will have to decide that question for themselves. Those who will be most repelled by the Consul's story are probably those who have the hardest time understanding *why* someone would free-fall plunge into self-destructiveness. I think their disgust is certainly valid. The book does make it clear though, that for whatever reason, the Consul was alcoholic long before Yvonne's infidelity - and the same causes and conditions must still be present today, as there are plenty of 'manias' and addictions yet to go around. Some people - intelligent people - faced with the isolation and loneliness of the modern world, still view the Consul's lifestyle as a solution to the problem. That it is ultimately pointless is, unfortunately, often hidden by their complete self-regard.
I was afraid in the end that Lowry might glorify his Consul, perhaps turning him into some kind of bright shining star that burns out from it's own heat, and leave the reader feeling sorry for the things that might have been. Had he done so, I would have rated the book much more severely - eliciting pity for self-destruction smacks of the worst sort of manipulation. But the last sentence of the book makes it clear that Lowry thought the Consul undeserving of such emotion. The Consul's fate is set in motion far earlier than this one day, and Lowry gives us the conclusion of a life poorly used - not as a warning, but as a matter of fact outcome. For that kind of unsparing honesty, without the manipulation, it deserves it's status as a classic.
Summary of Under the Volcano: A Novel (P.S.)
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.
Classics Books
Book Subjects
- Arts & Photography
- Biographies & Memoirs
- Business & Investing
- Children's Books
- Comics & Graphic Novels
- Computers & Internet
- Cooking, Food & Wine
- Entertainment
- Gay & Lesbian
- Health, Mind & Body
- History
- Home & Garden
- Horror
- Law
- Literature & Fiction
- Mystery & Thrillers
- Nonfiction
- Outdoors & Nature
- Parenting & Families
- Professional & Technical
- Reference
- Religion & Spirituality
- Romance
- Science
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Sports
- Teens
- Travel
Most talked about in Classics Books
Native sonby Richard Wright
Perennial Library; Published: 1987; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.75
Native Son: And How Bigger Was Bornby Richard Wright
Perennial; Published: 1993-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $60.00
Raphael and the Noble Taskby Catherine Salton
Harper; Published: 2000-10-24; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops:
Island (Perennial Classics)by Aldous Huxley
Harper Perennial Modern Classics; Published: 2002-07-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.00
Price in other shops:
A Tree Grows in Brooklynby Betty Smith
Harper; Published: 2001-11-13; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $14.86
Price in other shops:
The Great Divorce CDby C. S. Lewis
HarperAudio; Published: 2003-11-25; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $13.02
Price in other shops:
Great Expectationsby Charles Dickens
Macmillan Pub Co; Published: 1979-06; Paperback; Book
Price in other shops:
This Side of Paradiseby Fitzgerald
Scribner Paper Fiction; Published: 1988-09-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.95
Price in other shops:
Black Coffee (Poirot)by Agatha Christie
Harper Collins Pb; Published: 2002-12-02; Paperback; Book
Best price: $68.32
Slouching Towards Bethlehem (1960s)by Joan Didion
Flamingo; Published: 2001-04-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $22.25
Similar Books and other products
The Adventures of Augie March (Penguin Classics)by Saul Bellow
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-10-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.00
Price in other shops:
The Power and the Glory (Penguin Classics)by Graham Greene
Penguin Classics; Published: 2003-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.96
Price in other shops:
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter (Oprah's Book Club)by Carson McCullers
Mariner Books; Mariner; Published: 2004-04-21; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.07
Price in other shops:
The Sound and the Fury: The Corrected Textby William Faulkner
Vintage; Published: 1990-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
An American Tragedy (Signet Classics)by Theodore Dreiser
Signet Classics; Published: 2010-08-03; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.00
Price in other shops:
Journey to the End of the Nightby Louis-Ferdinand Céline, Ralph Manheim
New Directions; Published: 2006-05-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.97
Price in other shops:
The Moviegoerby Walker Percy
Vintage; Published: 1998-04-14; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.93
Price in other shops:
I, Claudius From the Autobiography of Tiberius Claudius Born 10 B.C. Murdered and Deified A.D. 54 (Vintage International)by Robert Graves
Vintage; Published: 1989-10-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.46
Price in other shops:
Tropic of Cancerby Henry Miller
Grove Press; Published: 1994-01-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.97
Price in other shops:
Darkness at Noonby Arthur Koestler
Scribner; Published: 2006-10-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.23
Price in other shops: