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Summary: GREATEST ENGLISH NOVEL OF THE 20th.CENTURY
Review: This books deals brilliantly with the self-destruction of consul Geoffrey Firman through excessive drinking and clinical depression; it takes place in the space of one day, and in this regard is similar to Joyce. The denouemnet is expected and indeed necessary to allow the novel its circular structure. Along with CAMUS. a great existential ovel; no one is writing existential novels any more --just trash. The book oprates on many levels; the haunting symbolism and fabulous interweaving of plot lines is wonderful. All of the characters, indeed the book itself, oprates on a literal, metaphorical, symbolic, and cosmological level. The only authors who can come close to matching Lowry are the great Russian writers, particularly Dostoevsky. Don't bother with Mr. Lowry's other novels; this was his one GREAT work, and that's all he had in him. The paperb ack edition is o.k., but I like hardcovr.Shell out a few dollars for the first edtion, if you can afford it; rather pricy, but well worth it.
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Summary: Drink yourself sober
Review: yukytjkuioejrkiopjgegokijergtfjhñtfhgergherwkigrgdfnvfd,mnvlfdvnnirajeg{fjdlgjfd{gf Sorry, that was me banging my head against the keyboard. This was a painful book to read. The person who wrote the afterword claims to have read Under The Volcano more than 30 times, each time more and more pleasurable. Perhaps there are people out there like that, but my guess is that the average reader is not one of them. This is certainly great literature - don't get me wrong - but I wouldn't consider it eminently readable. It's a classic in the tradition of James Joyce - the kind of book that you have to work at, sometimes struggle with, in order to enjoy. And it's not just the prose that is a chore at times, with its frequent meanderings and obscure literary references. The subject matter is difficult, also. Geoffrey, our main character, is searching for his identity and salvation amongst a thousand empty and broken bottles. He is so far lost in alcoholism that he has to drink himself sober each day simply to survive. So in a very real sense, his daily survival depends on his perpetuating an addiction that is not-so-slowly killing him. He is dsyfunctional in every sense of the word - physically, socially, emotionally. And his wife, Yvonne, and brother, Hugh, accompany him on this day-long journey which seems certainly headed for destruction, at times appearing to help him, at other times doing little more than enabling his drinking problem. If you're going to give this book a try, be patient with it. Give it your full attention, read it closely and carefully, and don't expect the words to just jump off the page. You'll need to roll up your sleeves and go in there after each sentence, each paragraph, wrestle with them, and drag them out. If you do, this can be a satisfying read. But if you approach it casually, you could end up just staring at 300 pages of words that give you little satisfaction in the end.
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Summary: thank god he cant write anymore!
Review: i don't review many books, but this book was just so bad that i have to write about it. i got the book thinking, yes finally ive heard so much about this book, but it is all cliche cliche cliche! and it is sickening! then we have the horrible transition from thought to non-thought! i hated that!, or from any kind of thinking at all;lowry just shouldnt have let his characters think, except he had to because his dialogue is flat and false; he tries to make his thinking, and the story move, but it dosent it just sticks and it wont stop and it wont make sense with this typical alcoholic who is a cliche saying cliche things and thinking cliched thoughts and having obvious cliche symbolisms surround him. i found one sentence that i liked in the book and the rest i was begging for the end to come, please, please, and yes! the obvious symbolism! god! that was so annoying. ok this review is poorly written but thats ok im writing it as i go, god! lowry spent forever on this terrible book. if he had to write he shouldve given up this albatross and started over, maybe have a new good book. ugh! what a waste of time! please go read something good like the man who loved children or some proust or laxness or something, god!
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Summary: Literary Equivalent of Andy Warhol's Chelsea Girls
Review: Many years ago I went to the movies to see Andy Warhol's film "Chelsea Girls". The film was several hours long and depicted life among the junkies, artists and assorted street people living in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan. The movie was very long and boring and very little seemed to be happening as the dreary and boring lives of the characters were painfully dragged out. Many people left the theater befor the move was over but I stuck it out. On the way home it hit me that the movie's purpose was to induce in the viewer the utter boredom and hopelessness that the characters were experiencing.
It seems the purpose of this very difficult to read and never-ending book is to induce in the reader the confusion, time dilation, and nonsensical point of view of a man in the last throws of alcoholic disease. Well done.
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Summary: Painfully slow.
Review: A novel that encompasses exactly one day should not take several months to read. The endless parade of minute, obscure detail completely overwhelms the story. After nearly a year of reading this clunker off and on, I gave up.
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Summary: Let the Volcano explode....PLEASE !
Review: Malcolm Lowry edited, possibly even rewrote sections of this book 10 years after he originally wrote it, and it shows! Uncountable type-o's, as well as clusters of words that made no sense at all when put together. Even a page and a half long sentence! I had a hard time even picking this book up again just because of the grammer. Shame on the editor !!! Convolutedness to the extreme! This book did offer some insight into the mind of the alcoholic, Geoffery Furmin lost the most beautiful thing he could ever have had in his whole miserable life. "Unconditional Love" Every time he had to look reality in the face, as well as commitment, he dove into the bottle. Yvonne, his estranged wife, wanting only his love, returns to him, hoping to rekindle their love. Even though she declares her undying love for him, it becomes complicated, when Furmin's brother Hugh shows up. There are subtle suggestions that Yvonne and Hugh were romanticly involved while she was stateside. She and Hugh spend all of their time together, while Furmin spends his within the walls of a bottle. The one day this book revolves around is "day of the dead", a day dedicated in this little area of Mexico for mourners, in a melancholy setting, to pay respect to the dead. The three of them set out on a short bus journey to join in the festivites. While traveling, they pass a dying Indian lying on the side of the road. Wanting to help him, but warned not to touch him, they return to the bus, only to discover that one of the passengers has robbed the dying man. They arrive at their destination and attend a rodeo type bull ride. Where the bulls as well as the riders were sad and disappointing. It's at this point that Hugh jumps into the bullring, and gives the crowd the ride of a lifetime. Seeing his brother again taking the spot light, Furmin turns to the drink. It's my impression that Geoffrey Furmin, being the older brother, sees himself as a failure, as he's constantly walking in the shadows of Hughs' success. Possibly the root cause for his addiction. Afterwards, they go to a restaurant, where a political argument ignites between Hugh and Geoffery, sending Furmin in anger out into the streets, leaving Hugh and Yvonne behind. It's literally hours before she and Hugh set out to look for Furmin, who by this time is sitting in a small bar, surrounded by drunken police. Who mistake Geoffery for Hugh. Unbeknownst to Furmin, his brother is wanted for murder, and Furmin meets his own demise through his brothers identity. In the meantime, Hugh and Yvonne have decided to go after Furmin, walking along a mountainous path, Yvonne meets the reaper also through a mysterious horse trampling. Your left to wonder about Huge. Throughout this book, is the appearance of this "mystery horse" with a branded 7 on it's haunch. It appeared to Hugh and Yvonne while they were riding, to Furmin in a field while he was in the garden, at the side of the road by the dying Indian, on the mountain when Yvonne was trampled, and yet again outside the bar when Furmin died. Obviously symbolic of impending death. There are a few good twists in this book, and it does cause you to examine, and question the lives of these three people. But it was truly a disappointing read. Not quite utter nonsense, but close! It gets "1 star" for effort!
Rating: 
Summary: Ponderous
Review: I read the first third of the book and it was just unreadable, so I skimmed the second third and it was unskimmable. Finally I just turned to the last page and gave up. Lowry's stream of consciousness style is similar to Faulkner, Nabokov or Burroughs and presents the same kinds of challenges to the reader. Those other authors though -- once you get in sync with the flow and what the author is up to -- the prose has an inexorable kind of flow to it. (Actually, I never did figure out how Burroughs is supposed to flow, but at least he's funny.) So skip _Under The Volcano_ and try _Absalom, Absalom_, _Lolita_, or _Naked Lunch_ instead.
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Summary: A complex and brilliant novel.....
Review: This book is like a very poetic and enchanting accident by the side of the highway, despite the fact that disaster lurks, you just can't help looking over and then being drawn in by it. Similar in narrative style to James Joyce, Malcom Lowry is more accessable and his meanings sink in more with the passage of time. It has been weeks now since I finished U.T.V, yet it keeps revealing itself and its meanings in ever more complex ways. Picture a stone thrown into a pond and the ripples circling out into infinity and you get my point. Because of the stream-of-consciousness style, it can be confusing at times. Like any great book though, patience is a virtue that is highly rewarded. Sad, poignant, and revealing this novel (ranked #11 on the '100 Greatest Novels of the 20th List') is one that beyond being merely engrossing also packs one hell of a walop!
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Summary: caveat emptor
Review: BEWARE this wretched edition of an otherwise unique novel. There are typographic errors on virtually every page. Some of them ("himse;f") suggest that an earlier text was scanned for this reprint. But if so, it's clear that the publisher didn't bother to have anyone proofread it. With some books it's easy to spot typos, but not _Under the Volcano_: in part because much of it is written from a perspective of maximum alcoholic intoxication, so you'd be justified in thinking the sloppy spelling is somehow meant to approximate that state of mind; but the typos are also misleading because the text is filled with obscure references and a medley of foreign languages. If you're really intent on reading Lowry's masterpiece, find an old hardback or look for the British Penguin edition. This one's a wreck.
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Summary: Malcolm Lowrey Self-portrait
Review: If you read an autobiography of Lowery you realize how close his own life parrallels that of Geoffery Firmin and to a lesser extent the brother Hugh. Malcolm Lowery was himself an unpleasant drunk just like his protaganist the Counsel(Geoffery). Lowrey also spent a considerable amount of time in and around the Mexican state of Oxaxaca and he spent some time as a seaman. More importantly Lowery eperienced the euphorias, the blackouts, and the hallucinations that the Counsel suffered. The action starts on the eve of the 'Day of the Dead' Mexico's annual day of mourning and celebration for the dead. M. Laurelle remembers the day exactly one year ago and the tragedy that occurred. The rest of the action took place during the previous years Day of the Dead. Laurelle is a childhood friend of Geoffery and the fromer lover of Yvonne. At the time of the action, the late 1930's, Mexico and Britain have broken off diplomatic relations and the Counsel had been releived of duty. The Counsel stays in Mexico, deeply buried inside the bottle. On this day his estranged wife Yvonne, an American born actress, arrives at the Counsel's hacienda to try to rekindle theit love.Also in Mexico is the Counsel's brother Hugh who harbors affection for Yvonne but longs to fight with his socialist brothers in the Spanish Revolution. Hugh is in Mexico ostensibly to try to save his brother from self-destruction but it is apparant from his actions and words that he has give up all hope. He warns Yvonne that you can not make a pet of an armadillo as the armadillo will dig a hole and carry the person that is trying to tame it in the hole right after.(An obvious analogy to the Counsel). Meanwhile, Yvonne arrives to find the Counsel in the same state as he was when she left- blind drunk. Throughout the day the Counsel drifts in and out of sobriety and his personality wavers between being contrite and antagonistic. The trio decide to travel by bus to another village where a rodeo is being held. During the bus ride they spy the badly beaten body of an Indian and his horse (branded with the number 7 on its rump). They also witness a local thug who steals the dead Indian's possessions. They are outraged but due to the corruptness of the regional police, could do nothing. The incident bothers the trio just the same. The horse ironically appears again during the last two chapters of the book. The Counsel who later in the day starts drinking Mexican whiskey (mescal)becomes quite belligerent and his obscenities force Hugh and Yvonne to desert him at a cantina. Hugh and Yvonne decide to hike the rugged volcano which results in tragedy. In the meantime the Counsel is accosted by local thugs who accuse him of being a communist. It is here that the Counsel meets the fate,that the reader knows early on,is his destiny. Under the Volcano is a very difficult read partly beacuse of Lowrey's brilliance and party because it is told through the eyes of a raging alcoholic.
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