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Under the Volcano (Perennial Classics)

by Malcolm Lowry

Under the Volcano (Perennial Classics) Cover

ISBN13: 9780060955229
ISBN10: 0060955228
Condition: Standard
All Product Details

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. Here the consul's debilitating malaise is drinking, and activity that has overshadowed his life. Under the Volcanois set during the most fateful day of the consul's life--the Day of the Dead, 1938. His wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac to rescue him and their failing marriage, inspired by a vision of life together away from Mexico and the circumstances that have driven their relationship to the brink of collapse. Yvonne's mission is to save the consul is further complicated by the presence of Hugh, the consul's half-brother, and Jacques, a childhood friend. The events of this one day unfold against a backdrop unforgettable for its evocation of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical.

Under the Volcanoremains one of the most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition and one man's constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him.

Review:

"One of the towering novels of this century." New York Times

Review:

"The book obviously belongs with the most original and creative novels of our time." Alfred Kazin

Review:

"If you have reduced the whole world to your own sensations, you can't afford to slight even one of them. This is why Under the Volcano, as remarkable as it is, gives the impression of being overwritten. After a few chapters we long for something casual, even a mistake, anything to relieve the pressure of deliberate significance. In the event, the only relief from the demand of one sensation is the arrival of another.... [O]nly the inescapable density of the writing keeps us going.... [Lowry] seized upon Baudelaire's remark that life is a forest of symbols. It had to be; otherwise it was nothing. If a tree was just a tree, how dreadful; Lowry had to rescue it from its finitude." Denis Donoghue, New York Review of Books

About the Author

Malcom Lowry (1909-1957) was born in England and attended Cambridge University. He spent much of his life traveling and lived in Paris, New York, Mexico, Los Angeles, Canada, and Italy, among other places. He is the author of numerous works, including Ultramarineand Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place.

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:

crkell, August 16, 2006 (view all comments by crkell)
A masterpiece. Lowry is the underappreciated giant of 20th century literature. The Consul's descent into alcoholic oblivion is nightmarishly beautiful and heartbreaking. A genuine sense of disorientation is thrust upon the reader as he is trapped (along with the Consul) in this unsettling account of alcoholic misery. Beauty. Absolute horrific beauty. A masterpiece!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780060955229
Subtitle:
A Novel
Author:
Lowry, Malcolm
Publisher:
Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Location:
New York ;
Subject:
General
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Fiction
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
British
Subject:
Psychological fiction
Subject:
Alcoholics
Subject:
All Souls' Day
Subject:
Consuls
Subject:
Cuernavaca
Copyright:
Edition Description:
1st Perennial Classics ed.
Series:
Perennial Classics
Series Volume:
no. 4
Publication Date:
20000501
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
432
Dimensions:
8.04x5.33x.98 in. .82 lbs.

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Under the Volcano (Perennial Classics) Used Trade Paper
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Product details 432 pages HarperCollins Publishers - English 9780060955229 Reviews:
"Review" by , "One of the towering novels of this century."
"Review" by , "The book obviously belongs with the most original and creative novels of our time."
"Review" by , "If you have reduced the whole world to your own sensations, you can't afford to slight even one of them. This is why Under the Volcano, as remarkable as it is, gives the impression of being overwritten. After a few chapters we long for something casual, even a mistake, anything to relieve the pressure of deliberate significance. In the event, the only relief from the demand of one sensation is the arrival of another.... [O]nly the inescapable density of the writing keeps us going.... [Lowry] seized upon Baudelaire's remark that life is a forest of symbols. It had to be; otherwise it was nothing. If a tree was just a tree, how dreadful; Lowry had to rescue it from its finitude."
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