Under the Volcano: A Novel

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

The scenic backdrop of Mexico and it's incredible natural beauty. There are many passages in Spanish which I understood, but, having spent some time there, the delivery would have brought blank stares or smiles of amusement from the locals.

This story is a thinly veiled autobiography of Lowry. It's a sad tale of an alcoholic's spiral into the abyss. It would probably be a good idea to read about the author beforehand. But, the sumptuous descriptions of the Mexican outdoors and insight into the culture which I have experienced myself saved it from being a turnoff altogether.

If the central character could have stopped feeling sorry for himself

no. its always something of a gamble when you purchase a book, and one that is said to relate to the horrors of alcoholism should have alerted me to this.
Probably I've just got no patience with alcoholics. They always want someone to share their misery, and put up with them. When I decided that this miserable coot should just
give up, I stopped listening.

not sure about his foreign pronunciations.
I dont think I would listen to him again.

the central character

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.