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



"One of the towering novels of this century."



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


Book 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.


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 Ultramarine and Hear Us O Lord from Heaven Thy Dwelling Place.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

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.

SYNOPSIS

In the course of one day an entire, alcoholic life is chronicled in Under the Volcano.. His life has consisted of staggering from bar to bar hoping to find salvation, and this dissolute life suits him until his former wife, Yvonne, returns with his half-brother Hugh. As the trio attends a local Mexican festival, they discover the dead body of a peasant, thus beginning a series of events that result in death.

FROM THE CRITICS

Alfred Kazin

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

Los Angeles 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.

New York Times

One of the towering novels of this century.

Herbert Gold

Under The Volcano has retained its appeal, remained continually in print, and is the kind of novel that is urgently pressed on friends. In the true description of a cult book, it becomes a passwood and demands to be shared....the eloquent, chanting prose, with its occasional mitigating grief-filled humor, captures, captivates." --The New York Times

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING