• Under the Volcano

  • A Novel
  • By: Malcolm Lowry
  • Narrated by: John Lee
  • Length: 14 hrs and 50 mins
  • 3.6 out of 5 stars (362 ratings)

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Under the Volcano  By  cover art

Under the Volcano

By: Malcolm Lowry
Narrated by: John Lee
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Publisher's summary

On the Day of the Dead, in 1938, Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic and ruined man, is fatefully living out his last day, drowning himself in mescal while his former wife and half-brother look on, powerless to help him. The events of this one day unfold against a backdrop unforgettable for its evocation of a Mexico at once magical and diabolical.
©1947 Peter Matson (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The book obviously belongs with the most original and creative novels of our time." (Alfred Kazin)
"One of the towering novels of [the twentieth] century." ( New York Times)
"[Lowry's] masterpiece...has a claim to being regarded as one of the ten most consequential works of fiction produced in this century...." ( Los Angeles Times)

Artículo destacado: Discover The Traditions and History of The Day of The Dead


Early every November in households across Mexico, Latin America, and around the world, families remember their lost loved ones in breathtaking and profoundly meaningful ways. The Day of the Dead, or Dia de los Muertos, has a long and rich history. Whether through graveyard celebrations filled with dazzling marigolds, private family altars replete with sugar skulls, or the incredible parade in Mexico City, these festivities are something to behold.

What listeners say about Under the Volcano

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    121
  • 4 Stars
    87
  • 3 Stars
    72
  • 2 Stars
    53
  • 1 Stars
    29
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
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  • 4 Stars
    67
  • 3 Stars
    40
  • 2 Stars
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    17
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    107
  • 4 Stars
    65
  • 3 Stars
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  • 2 Stars
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    26

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent...but not for everyone

I loved this story of a day-long drunken binge told from 3 different viewpoints, but I know that not everyone liked it (ask my book club)...but I thought it was classic. It gets tough in some places, but I found Under the Volcano to be a wonderful tale in a vast desert of somewhat underwhelming books. 5 stars for writing and 5 stars for narration.

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great book, slightly flawed narration

It took me awhile to warm up to this book. For the first hour or two I seriously considered quitting it but I'm glad I didn't. It gets more and more beautiful and more tragic with every chapter. The symbolism and metaphors build on themselves and the descriptions flow smoothly into plot. The literary references (the ones I actually caught) are fun and add another layer of meaning to the story. By the end I was sitting in my driveway long after arriving home entranced with the story. Stick out the beginning, it's worth it!

The narration was great except that the Lee's Spanish pronunciation leaves a *lot* to be desired. Understanding the bits that are in Spanish isn't key to understanding the book but I found it distracting to hear the pretty blatant mistakes. Other than that though, it's a really, really well-done production.

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20 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Be prepaired

I will listen to John Lee read any book and when I investigated the history and Author I was set for a great experience. I am also quite sensable to an alcoholics recovery process and this book would be an excellent AA case study. That said, I often found myself listening to long descriptive sections and wishing the author would get on with the story. Because this is said to be an epic novel I was reluctant to miss anything. I certainly learned a lot about Mexico in the mid-thirties. Be prepared to listen diligently and perhaps you will come away more intheusiastic than I am.

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12 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Great Prose, Too much drunk guy

This is the story of one day, the Day of the Dead, of a British drunk in Mexico. The prose of this book are, at points, sublime and the imagery and characterizations are strong, but I did not really like any of the characters, and the story was not compelling to me. The portrait of the drunken main character is quite realistic and both compelling and repellant.

I have never read the short story this novel was based upon, but I suspect, as a short story, this would be wonderful. Stretched into a novel, was too much drunk guy for my taste.

John Lee reads these prose with the intensity of poetry with a rhythm and power, but does not do the Spanish justice.

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11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Well...

I have to say before anything, that this is an absolutely remarkable novel, and possibly the most beautiful thing I've ever read. On the other hand, it is extremely hard to follow(it's supposed to be like this), which makes it a difficult read. The symbolism is intense. But in the end it's just such a beautiful book, just wow, it really brings out the human condition. Don't read if you expect something happy, it's gloomy (I enjoy books like this myself but if you're not into depressing books don't read it).

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Get a Different Edition

For the first time in my life I couldn't finish a book. To say that the performance by John Lee is unlistenable is, in my opinion, giving the performance too much credit. For a story that utilizes as much Spanish you'd think that the performer would be able to put together more than a slurred Italian interpretation. I'd rather listen to Brad Pitt read Cormac McCarthy.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Meh

I'm sure this book is a classic but it sure didn't feel like one when listening to it. The narration was droopy, inarticulate and lacked variety between the characters. The storytelling itself is best absorbed when reading the novel.

It was very apparent one chapter into this book that it was going to be confusing, troubling and overall not that enjoyable.

Save yourself the listen. Buy the book instead.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

There sure is a lot of symbolism

I don't know if there's any way to express my disappointment with this book that doesn't involve spoilers, so I'll start with what I liked about it. Lowry does an awesome job of delineating his characters. Their attitudes and feelings are completely understandable and realistic. Lowry's use of imagery, motifs, and symbolism are masterful. He builds his story layer by layer with rising intensity right up to the end. The story that he tells--of a man bent on destroying himself--is compelling in an existential sort of way. So why, when all is said and done, do I feel less than satisfied with the book as a whole? That is a question I suppose I will be pondering for a long time.

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7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

challenged narrator . . .

Many books contain passages in more than one language. John Lee, a reader I have liked before now, should restrict himself to narrating books written entirely in English. His Spanish pronunciation is . . . excecrable. Malcolm Lowry's text deserves better.

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars
  • kd
  • 07-24-14

Someone else should read this

John Lee's odd humming reading style killed this story for me entirely. His various foreign accents, while very good, are distracting and pull one out of the story. I could not follow what he was saying at all.

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2 people found this helpful