Under the Volcano
Ratings11
Average rating3.7
15
Ratings11
Average rating3.7
It is the Day of the Dead. The fiesta in full swing. In the shadow of Popocatepeti ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate...and the ugly pariah dogs roam the streets. Geoffrey Firmin, HM ex-consul, is drowning himself in liquor and Mescal, while his ex-wife and half brother look on powerless to help him. As the day wears on, it becomes apparent that Geoffrey must die. It is his only escape from a world he cannot understand. UNDER THE VOLCANO is one of the century's great undisputed masterpieces.
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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.
