Select A Store
Select Store
My Store:
Select A Store
Overview
Overview
Geoffrey Firmin, a former British consul, has come to Quauhnahuac, Mexico. Here the consul's debilitating malaise is drinking, an 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.
- Format: TradePaperback
- Author: Lowry, Malcolm
- ISBN: 9780452255951
- Condition: Used
- Dimensions: 8.02 x 1.00
- Number Of Pages: 416
- Publication Year: 1984
Customer Reviews
Rating Snapshot
5 ★
100%
4 ★
0%
3 ★
0%
2 ★
0%
1 ★
0%
1 Ratings
0
0% Would Recommend
0 Recommendations
Review Images
Sort by:
-
A fine day for haggard intoxication
Jason S. - 5 years 8 months agoThis is a novel written not so much to convey the story of the alcoholic, British Consul to Mexico, Geoffrey Firmin, as to convey a sense of alcoholism in a certain place and time: Quauhnahuac, Mexico, on the Day of the Dead in 1938. One chapter for each of the narrative hours in the story; a plethora of landmarks both mesmerizing and nearly unpronounceable; a constant thread of either exquisitely crafted descriptive details or stream-of-consciousness meanderings; and a narrative told in such depth of detail as to render imagination nearly unnecessary: these are the hallmarks of both this magnificent novel and, as Lowry presents it, alcoholism. This lengthy novel may be a struggle at times, but the words are rather intoxicating, and I appreciate Lowry's superb variety in crafting sentences. This novel is a testament to the experiential impact and creative necessity of the medium of written words, and to the uniquely passionate manifestations to which every expressive medium attains.
HPB Staff Review