Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
Former British consul Geoffrey Firmin is currently in Quauhnahuac, Mexico. Drinking, which has dominated his life, is his crippling ailment. His wife, Yvonne, arrives in Quauhnahuac on the most crucial day of the consul’s life—the Day of the Dead—inspired by a vision of a life together outside of Mexico and the circumstances that have brought their marriage to the verge of dissolution. She is determined to save Firmin and their failing marriage, but the arrival of Jacques, a childhood friend, and Hugh, the consul’s half-brother, complicates her task. A Mexico that is both magical and ominous serves as the backdrop to this one important day’s events.
Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry
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A masterful depiction of one man’s ongoing battle against the elemental forces that imperil him, Under the Volcano is still one of literature’s most profound and lyrical comments on the human condition.
The narrative begins with Monsieur Jacques Laruelle (M. Laruelle, more commonly known) drinking under a theatre’s shelter from the rain while vaguely recalling what happened on November 2, 1938, Dia de Los Muertos. Hugh, the half-brother of the Consul, is mentioned in depth, and he also makes references to impending events and the desolate love he sees. A portion of Geoffrey Firmin’s past is narrated by M. Laruelle, starting with his father leaving him with Hugh and walking out, to Laruelle’s association with Firmin’s relatives, the Taskersons, and their eventual gathering to practice “picking up females.”
The Consul and his brother Hugh are quickly presented to us, as is the Consul’s ex-wife Yvonne, who suddenly makes a miraculous comeback to Quanhuanuac. Yvonne anticipates finding her ex-husband in some sort of wreckage, which he only appears to be in on the outside because he spends a lot of time drinking. With regard to their relationship and the affair the Consul saw his wife having with M. Laruelle, we are given the first instances of both sides discussing their ambivalence.
Yvonne starts early to implore the Consul to leave with her somewhere, somewhere else, realizing that their relationship cannot be salvaged in Quanhuanuac. The gang agrees to travel to Tomalin after much discussion, joking, and preparing, while Yvonne works to persuade the Consul that it should only be them. When the Consul asks, “What’s the sense of escaping… from ourselves?” it seems to rally them into something bigger, and we are aware of this.
Hugh, a journalist who covers war and international affairs generally, is the second person we meet. Despite the fact that their interactions may be “poisoned,” he is secretly in love with Yvonne and is at his happiest when she is around. Los Manos de Orlac, a remake starring Peter Lorre, and a reoccurring motif are introduced to us during this time (having had surgically implanted upon yourself the hands of a murderer). We can also tell that the connection between the two parties is tense: “Wouldn’t it be somewhat simpler for you if I went away immediately?” The Consul’s much later assumption is roughly along the lines of: behind the guise of trying to aid him, they’ve been conspiring to elope.
