Under the Volcano (Penguin Modern Classics) [Paperback]

Malcolm Lowry (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2007 | Series: Penguin Modern Classics

One of the twentieth century's great undisputed masterpieces, Malcolm Lowry's "Under the Volcano" includes an introduction by Michael Schmidt in "Penguin Modern Classics". It is the fiesta 'Day of the Dead' in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac. In the shadow of the volcano, ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate, ugly pariah dogs roam the streets and Geoffrey Firmin - ex-consul, ex-husband, an alcoholic and a ruined man - is living out the last day of his life. Drowning himself in mescal while his former wife and half-brother look on, powerless to help him, the consul has become an enduring tragic figure. As the day wears on, it becomes apparent that Geoffrey must die. It is his only escape from a world he cannot understand. His story, the image of one man's agonised journey towards Calvary, became a prophetic book for a whole generation. Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957) was born and died in England. Between school and studying English at St Catherine's College, Cambridge he spent five months at sea as a deckhand, an experience which gave him the material for his first novel, "Ultramarine" (1933). After marrying in Paris, he moved to New York where he completed "In Ballast to the White" (1936). "Under The Volcano" was begun in Hollywood, coloured by a short stay in the Mexico that it describes, and eventually finished in Dollarton, British Columbia. If you enjoyed "Under the Volcano", you might like F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Beautiful and the Damned", also available in "Penguin Classics". "A Faustian masterpiece". (Anthony Burgess).

Editorial Reviews

Review

"One of the towering novels of this century."--"New York Times"[Lowry's] masterpiece...has a claim to being regarded as one of the ten most consequential works of fiction produced in this century...It reflects the special genius of Lowry, a writer with a poet's command of the language and a novelist's capacity to translate autobiographical details into a universal statement."--"Los Angeles Times"The book obviously belongs with the most original and creative novels of our time."--Alfred Kazin

About the Author

Malcolm Lowry (1909 - 1957) was raised in England and died there but lived much of his troubled life semi-nomadically - in New York, Mexico and British Columbia.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books, Limited (UK); Ex-Library edition (July 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141182253
• ISBN-13: 978-0141182254
• Product Dimensions: 5.1 x 0.7 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (118 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #330,185 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

101 of 110 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful Surface, mysterious depths October 28, 2000

By Gregory N. Hullender

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Under the Volcano chronicles the last day in the life of the British Consul to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. The surface story recounts how his ex-wife, Yvonne, and his half-brother, Hugh, try to pull him from the alcoholic funk he's fallen into, and in the course of the day, they visit several locations in and around Quauhnahuac.

The descriptive prose makes the setting come alive, and you're left with the feeling of actually seen some of these places. The mini parks, the ruins of Maximilian's Palace, the cinema, the backyard of the Consul's house, and the great volcano, Popocatepetel, which keeps appearing and disappearing, growing and shrinking, as they wander around the landscape - all these things become very real under Lowry's brilliant examination.

Inspired by Joyce, Lowry's book has several parallels with Ulysses. Except for the first chapter, it all takes place in a single day -- November 1, 1938 (the Mexican holiday called "The Day of the Dead.") There are three principal characters, two male, one female, who wander around the landscape, etc. However, Ulysses is an extremely difficult read, and all the interesting parts are below the surface; Under the Volcano is an easy read, and quite satisfactory without looking deeper.

A lot has been written about the deeper meanings of the book, of course, but the most obvious seems to be the allegory to Europe on the edge of war. In this view, the Consul represents the old Europe heading to its destruction despite the efforts of idealists to save it. Or perhaps more accurately, the senseless decline of the Consul to his death parallels the senseless descent of Europe into the destruction of World War II. Likewise as the day proceeds the bright hope of the morning darkens as the sun declines into the hopeless dark and storms that come with the night. And the very first chapter - the one set exactly one year later - is darkened by a tremendous storm -- a storm which seems to represent the European war then already in full career.

A powerful book, thoroughly enjoyable, and meriting repeated reading.

62 of 66 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars caveat emptor April 16, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

BEWARE this wretched edition of an otherwise unique novel. There are typographic errors on virtually every page. Some of them ("himse;f") suggest that an earlier text was scanned for this reprint. But if so, it's clear that the publisher didn't bother to have anyone proofread it. With some books it's easy to spot typos, but not _Under the Volcano_: in part because much of it is written from a perspective of maximum alcoholic intoxication, so you'd be justified in thinking the sloppy spelling is somehow meant to approximate that state of mind; but the typos are also misleading because the text is filled with obscure references and a medley of foreign languages. If you're really intent on reading Lowry's masterpiece, find an old hardback or look for the British Penguin edition. This one's a wreck.

39 of 40 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars "I love hell. I can't wait to get back there." December 1, 2005

By Mary Whipple HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWER

Format:Paperback

Geoffrey Firmin, the former British consul to Mexico, is a prisoner of alcoholism. A victim of the shakes, he hears voices, talks to people who are not there, and hallucinates, though he is often able to hide the extent of his drinking. "True, he might lie down in the street, but he would never reel." On The Day of the Dead in 1938, his recently divorced wife Yvonne returns to Quauhnahuac, over which two smoking volcanoes loom, to try to persuade him to reconcile.

Coincidentally, Geoffrey's half-brother Hugh, with whom Yvonne apparently had a brief affair, also arrives that day, and the three share quarters, each hoping to recapture the past. When they take the bus to Tomalin to a bull-riding event, they see a wounded peasant dying beside the road, the peasant's horse with the number 7 branded on its rump, a tricky pesado, and a group of vigilantes, all of whom play a role in the climax which follows.

Rich with details, both of the external world of Quauhnahuac and the internal world of Geoffrey, the novel, first published in 1947, reflects Lowry's own experiences as an alcoholic. Geoffrey, a fully-rounded character, knows that he must stop drinking in order to function effectively, but he is unable to function at all without drinking. He both loves and despises Yvonne, wants to leave Mexico but wants to stay, and wants to find peace but creates chaos.

As Lowry reconstructs this one day in Geoffrey's life, the Day of the Dead, the pervasive symbolism adds to the feeling of overpowering doom--the smoking volcanoes ready to erupt, the "hideous pariah dog" that follows Geoffrey and Yvonne to the house, a barranca (chasm) which exists beside the house and which contains a dead dog, an Indian carrying "the weight of the past," vultures in the forest, Yvonne's release of an eagle in a cage, and sudden storms. All add weight and intensity to this powerful story of dissolution.

Despite the depressing subject matter and a frustrating main character who cannot or will not help himself during the novel's four hundred pages, the novel is breath-taking--elegant both in language and construction. Carefully plotted, filled with unique imagery, and enhanced by symbolism which brings it alive on new levels, it overwhelms the reader with its impact and approaches classical tragedy as the inevitable, doom-filled events play out. Though the novel includes peripheral political issues of the day--Mexico's instability and the philosophical conflicts between fascism and socialism--it is primarily a variation on the story of the Garden of Eden and the fall of man--full, rich, dense, and rewarding, despite its pervasive sadness. Mary Whipple