Pursued by Furies: A Life of Malcolm Lowry

Rating:
Summary: Justice done to great novelist
Review: I read this because I remain convinced that Mr Lowry's novel UNDER THE VOLCANO is one of the great tragic works of literature of the 20th century and its power remains with me after 30 years. In this biography the alcoholic writer's creative process is revealed in detail as well as his determination to destroy himself - in detail. I've often thought of Geoffrey Firmin/Malcolm Lowry as the essential 20th century man - we came close to destroying the world last century but failed. This is a solid well written biography and suits the general reader.

Rating:
Summary: ?And More Furies
Review: I was seduced into buying this 600+ page book because I was at the bookstore and a cheap copy was available. On the one hand, this was good (very good when I noted how well the book was written and how intensely interesting its subject was); on the other, noting the obvious effort taken to produce such a complete work on such a complicated subject, I ended up feeling that Gordon Bowker had not been given his financial due. At least not from me.

But Bowker's book has had a fair amount of attention and praise. This is absolutely deserved in my view.

Like I said, I got lucky -- an inexpensive book on an important subject. Additionally, Bowker is such an accomplished writer himself and his research so thorough (without being encyclopaedic and therefore disinteresting) that when some personal distaste arouse in relation to the book, I moved to surpress it.

But I still have the feeling that perhaps some editing was in order in relation to Lowry's years at Dollarton (about two hours drive from where I now sit.) There is simply episode after episode of drunken misabuse with little literary achievement to show for the trouble; and this, despite Lowry's (and that of his second wife, Marjorie's) profound ability to deny reality to all who would listen, including those in the publishing world who believed in and supported him in nearly every way, including financial. It is the "Wild Sargasso Sea" portion of the book. I kept noting that Lowry's conceived novelic cycle was called "The Voyage That Never Ends" and to this I could only nod affirmatively. This is to say that, for me, the story goes flat during this long period; and I can't say that the inclusion of tweny drunken, despotic episodes wherein he lies to just about everyone, manipulates his wife, and is absolutely failing as an author is that different from, say, fifteen.

Yet his (forced) move to Ripe, England, in the countryside, helps the book pick up only as it relates to Lowry's comprehensive treatment for alcoholism (however shocking this was) and the strong sense that he was about to unfurrow his wings as an independent man in his own right. Previous to this, he was, mostly, a painfully -- no, pathetically -- dependent human being whose artistic work was on the rocks.

While there's a who's who of 20th century literary figures who appear in the book, floating in and out (mostly out) of Lowry's life, it is a book chiefly about its subject.

In the end, one is left neither disregarding the novelist, nor the man. A line from one of the book's latter sections:

"But he did return from hell and the gutter, often enough and for long enough periods, to create one, and possibly more, masterpieces wherein anyone who has ever caught up with Lowry in the toils of human confusion can find a kind of grace and a kind of release."

John Guess

Rating:
Summary: ¿And More Furies
Review: I was seduced into buying this 600+ page book because I was at the bookstore and a cheap copy was available. On the one hand, this was good (very good when I noted how well the book was written and how intensely interesting its subject was); on the other, noting the obvious effort taken to produce such a complete work on such a complicated subject, I ended up feeling that Gordon Bowker had not been given his financial due. At least not from me.

But Bowker's book has had a fair amount of attention and praise. This is absolutely deserved in my view.

Like I said, I got lucky -- an inexpensive book on an important subject. Additionally, Bowker is such an accomplished writer himself and his research so thorough (without being encyclopaedic and therefore disinteresting) that when some personal distaste arouse in relation to the book, I moved to surpress it.

But I still have the feeling that perhaps some editing was in order in relation to Lowry's years at Dollarton (about two hours drive from where I now sit.) There is simply episode after episode of drunken misabuse with little literary achievement to show for the trouble; and this, despite Lowry's (and that of his second wife, Marjorie's) profound ability to deny reality to all who would listen, including those in the publishing world who believed in and supported him in nearly every way, including financial. It is the "Wild Sargasso Sea" portion of the book. I kept noting that Lowry's conceived novelic cycle was called "The Voyage That Never Ends" and to this I could only nod affirmatively. This is to say that, for me, the story goes flat during this long period; and I can't say that the inclusion of tweny drunken, despotic episodes wherein he lies to just about everyone, manipulates his wife, and is absolutely failing as an author is that different from, say, fifteen.

Yet his (forced) move to Ripe, England, in the countryside, helps the book pick up only as it relates to Lowry's comprehensive treatment for alcoholism (however shocking this was) and the strong sense that he was about to unfurrow his wings as an independent man in his own right. Previous to this, he was, mostly, a painfully -- no, pathetically -- dependent human being whose artistic work was on the rocks.

While there's a who's who of 20th century literary figures who appear in the book, floating in and out (mostly out) of Lowry's life, it is a book chiefly about its subject.

In the end, one is left neither disregarding the novelist, nor the man. A line from one of the book's latter sections:

"But he did return from hell and the gutter, often enough and for long enough periods, to create one, and possibly more, masterpieces wherein anyone who has ever caught up with Lowry in the toils of human confusion can find a kind of grace and a kind of release."

John Guess

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Biography
Review: This is one of two biographies of Malcolm Lowry that I have read. The first was Douglas Day's biography--a sort of psycho-literary look at Lowry's life. It's not bad, but Bowker's book goes far beyond Day's. This book is much richer in detail--detail that casual readers might find overwhelming, but that Lowry afficionados will wallow in.

Also, Bowker has tracked down Lowry's first wife, Jan Gabriel, who adds to the story of Lowry's life a dimension absent from Day's book.

Anyone who has read Lowry's work has certainly suspected that his art mirrored his life, that much of what he wrote was autobiographical, in spirit if not in detail. This book confirms those suspicions, showing how truly excessive Lowry was in pretty much all aspects of his life: his drinking, fear, childishness...

A great biography of a great writer.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Biography
Review: This is one of two biographies of Malcolm Lowry that I have read. The first was Douglas Day's biography--a sort of psycho-literary look at Lowry's life. It's not bad, but Bowker's book goes far beyond Day's. This book is much richer in detail--detail that casual readers might find overwhelming, but that Lowry afficionados will wallow in.

Also, Bowker has tracked down Lowry's first wife, Jan Gabriel, who adds to the story of Lowry's life a dimension absent from Day's book.

Anyone who has read Lowry's work has certainly suspected that his art mirrored his life, that much of what he wrote was autobiographical, in spirit if not in detail. This book confirms those suspicions, showing how truly excessive Lowry was in pretty much all aspects of his life: his drinking, fear, childishness...

A great biography of a great writer.