Under the Volcano
Ratings18
Average rating3.8
For the 2018 Read Harder Challenge: “An assigned book you hated (or never finished).” I never finished this in college (maybe assigned for a “Core III” English class...?) I do remember reading a biography of Lowry, which must have been how I managed covering the topic for class. At any rate, this is a heavy duty book, and a trick to appreciating it is to read the whole thing and then read the first chapter again.
Difficult dated reading. The story is lost in endless parenthetical remarks. There are online guides that can clue you into the many references throughout the book.
After the first 50 pages confused me to the point of almost shelving it, Under the Volcano's spiraling mix of numbing vice and intoxicating prose slowly sucked me in. It reminds me of Nabokov's Lolita. They have the same unbearable depravity; appalling for the degeneracy, appealing for the luxurious narrative. Both have endings that leave you gasping.
“What for you lie?” the Chief of Rostrums repeated in a glowering voice. “You say your name is Black. No es Black.” He shoved him backwards toward the door. “You say you are a wrider.” He shoved him again. “You no are a wrider.” He pushed the Consul more violently, but the Consul stood his ground. “You are no a de wrider, you are de espider, and we shoota de espiders in Méjico.”
Under the Volcano
