Product Description

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 Volcano is 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 Volcano remains 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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #402467 in Books
• Published on: 2000-05-01
• Released on: 2000-04-25
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 432 pages

From AudioFile
Spying this title on a store shelf, one would hope that the mesmerizing Albert Finney, who appeared in John Houston's 1984 film version, had done the narration honors. Who else could muster and sustain the sweaty, poetic intensity befitting this extraordinary, beautifully written, teeth-gnashing novel? Set in Mexico on the eve of WWII, the story tells of a man in extremis, an alcoholic consul bursting with regret, longing, resentment and remorse, whose climactic moment rapidly approaches. Nick Ullett is no Finney, but he comes satisfyingly close. His energy fails him at times; he has difficulty negotiating some of the straggling phrases, but, otherwise, he acquits himself with distinction, particularly in conveying the sub-text and atmosphere. Y.R. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine

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

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

Customer Reviews

Fatalistic Brilliance
UNDER THE VOLCANO is one of the darkest, moribund, disturbing books I have ever read. It also is one of the most brilliantly written; Malcolm Lowry's masterful command of the written word allows him to tell this haunting, somewhat autobiographical story about one man's voluntary descent into his own demise. As aptly mentioned in the Introduction of this Perennial Classics edition, Lowry's masterpiece possesses a "self-consuming quality"; the author is presenting himself, as well as his story, to the reader. And what a story.

Taking place in just one day, the lugubrious Day of the Dead in Quauhnahuac, Mexico, UNDER THE VOLCANO is a bleak story about Geoffery Firmin, a former diplomat, known as the Consul throughout the region. The Consul has forfeited meaning in his life, opting instead for dipsomania; his reeling alcoholism only exacerbates his loneliness. During this day he is reunited with Yvonne, his estranged wife who has returned from abroad in an effort to save their relationship--and Geoffery. To further complicate matters, Hugh, the Consul's half-brother, has been staying with his older brother; Hugh and Yvonne had briefly had an affair. Hugh is the ultimate youthful ideologue (in fact, he represents Lowry in his enthusiastic youth); he is yearning to return to Spain, to take part in its violent civil war.

The story follows the three characters--their interactions, their backstories--until its dark, disturbingly maniacal ending. But where this novel makes its mark, and makes it well, is when the Consul becomes prey to one of his delusional binges. The writing takes on a chaotic disjointedness that is often difficult to read, yet at the same time conveys a brilliance--the Consul's brilliance, wrapped 'round by nonsensical delusion. Often these passages are humorous; yet the humor is always intertwined with symbolic tragedy. Words and phrases. . ."pariah dog". . ."pelado". . ."companero". . .take on very special meanings.

UNDER THE VOLCANO has been acclaimed as one of the most important novels of the Twentieth Century, and for good reason. It is fatalistic, it is disturbing, it is brilliant--it is self-fulfilling. That Malcolm Lowry's own turbulent life ended prematurely contributes all the more to the utter futility and tragedy of his literary masterpiece.
--D. Mikels, Author, The Reckoning

A long day's journey into Hell.
"One cannot live without love."

Of his two novels, Under the Volcano (1947) is considered Malcolm Lowry's masterpiece. Drawn from semi-autobiographical material and set in Mexico on the Day of the Dead, November 1, 1938, it chronicles the final hours in the life of Geoffrey Firmin (an anagram for "infirm"), an alcoholic British consul living in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac (Cuernavaca), situated in the shadows of the Ixtacihuatl and Popocateptl volcanoes. For him, the Day of the Dead is just any other day in the life of a drunk. He is on the brink of self-destruction, and by the end of the day, he will be dead in a ditch. He aspires to write a book, but his years of drinking now affect all areas of his life, including his relationship with Yvonne, his estranged wife. She has returned to Mexico hoping to rekindle her relationship with Geoffrey and to save him from death. Hugh Firmin is Geoffrey's half-brother, who once had an affair with Yvonne. Geoffrey's day is filled with hallucinations and drunken rants about love and politics, and Lowry's writing is darkly poetic. It does not translate easily into John Huston's 1985 film adaptation (Under the Volcano) starring Albert Finney and Jacqueline Bisset. This is a rare experience in literature.

G. Merritt

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, but it is notoriously hard to find. 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, Margarite. Still, this is a true work of art, and we should be thankful that Lowry left this for us....