<![CDATA[Under the Volcano: A Novel]]>

false <![CDATA[Under the Volcano: A Novel]]> 31072 30 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. 1321805 book 1947 Under the Volcano: A Novel (Perennial Classics) total:1139|5:445|4:315|3:204|2:112|1:63| 1139 4384 2389 235 5 7 false false Thu Nov 15 22:22:43 -0800 2007 Fri Feb 08 14:14:14 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 5 false false Fri Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Mon Mar 19 14:35:29 -0700 2007 Wed Mar 21 14:10:23 -0700 2007 Late of the Bowery
His prose was glowery
And sometimes flowery.
He drank nightly
And slept daily
And died playing the ukelele."]]> 2 5 false false Thu Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2006 Thu Jun 28 21:31:16 -0700 2007 Thu Jun 28 21:34:44 -0700 2007 5 2 false false Sat Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Nov 13 13:36:40 -0800 2008 Sun Nov 16 02:37:26 -0800 2008
I read the Picador Classics edition (1967) with an introduction by Stephen Spender. Unusually, I read the introduction first, the nagain after reading the novel, which I read in three sittings. I like Spender, and relate to his reading of the book.
Despite its dual...more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon Nov 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Fri Oct 31 02:15:41 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 15 14:30:52 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 5 false false Sat Jan 10 13:17:38 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 10 13:29:25 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 4 false false Tue Aug 09 00:00:00 -0700 1988 Fri Apr 18 08:18:36 -0700 2008 Fri Apr 18 08:40:45 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 2 false false Sat Apr 12 08:20:41 -0700 2008 Sat Jan 19 19:52:43 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 12 08:19:03 -0700 2008
The endless walk to the bus station! The endless portentous references to THE HANDS OF FATE! I CAN'T TAKE IT! GAHHHHHH111111!!!!!!1111!

It is taking me a long, long time to read this.

Not because it isn't good. Every time I ...more...]]> 3 4 false false Thu Nov 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 04:44:25 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 24 03:30:53 -0800 2007 more...]]> 4 3 false false Mon May 07 07:51:13 -0700 2007 Fri May 18 21:49:56 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 1 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Tue Mar 17 10:33:04 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 10:35:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Mon Jan 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 22:05:33 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 22:25:19 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Nov 21 18:33:13 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 14:36:40 -0800 2009 Under the Volcano exists beneath the rarefied gaze of Popocatepetl, the towering volcano that dominates the south-central Mexican plateau. It is fitting that Lowry chose to make the volcano the omnipresent entity in his watercolor novel, since alcoholism, slumbering th...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Feb 22 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Nov 09 15:26:19 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 09 15:27:15 -0800 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Sat May 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 09:59:59 -0700 2009 Sat May 30 10:00:34 -0700 2009
This was not an easy book to read. The main character is either quite drunk or suffering from delerium tremens throughout the entire novel, and Lowry goes to great pains to illustrate his fractured mind. Conversation is interspersed with internal dialogue such that it becomes quite diffi...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 18 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 13 12:06:06 -0700 2009 Wed May 13 12:08:32 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Apr 06 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 13:41:01 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 14:06:43 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Aug 29 13:28:12 -0700 2009 Sun Aug 30 17:51:27 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Apr 03 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 17:25:38 -0700 2009 Sat Apr 04 17:25:38 -0700 2009 APPLESQUIRES AND FAIRIES STRONG FOR FREEDOM."

Obvious observations from 9th Grade Honors English Corley:

1. Loved Lowry's three times dope depiction of alcoholism's effect on the mind. Also, the Consul is like the more devastated cousin of Nabby Adams of Anthony Burg...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 16:52:27 -0700 2009 Tue May 26 08:03:11 -0700 2009 in medias res with a bunch of complex and unhappy characters. The prose is rich, bordering on florid, but the arrival of Yvonne (seeming...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=31072