{"product_id":"9780141182254-under-the-volcano","title":"Under the Volcano","description":"\u003cmeta content=\"text\/html; charset=utf-8\" http-equiv=\"Content-Type\"\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIt is the fiesta 'Day of the Dead' in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac. In the shadow of the volcano, ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate, ugly pariah dogs roam the streets and Geoffrey Firmin - ex-consul, ex-husband, an alcoholic and a ruined man - is living out the last day of his life.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eOne of the twentieth century's great undisputed masterpieces, Malcolm Lowry's \u003ci\u003eUnder the Volcano\u003c\/i\u003e includes an introduction by Michael Schmidt in Penguin Modern Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt is the fiesta 'Day of the Dead' in the small Mexican town of Quauhnahuac. In the shadow of the volcano, ragged children beg coins to buy skulls made of chocolate, ugly pariah dogs roam the streets and Geoffrey Firmin - ex-consul, ex-husband, an alcoholic and a ruined man - is living out the last day of his life. Drowning himself in mescal while his former wife and half-brother look on, powerless to help him, the consul has become an enduring tragic figure. As the day wears on, it becomes apparent that Geoffrey must die. It is his only escape from a world he cannot understand. His story, the image of one man's agonised journey towards Calvary, became a prophetic book for a whole generation.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMalcolm Lowry (1909-1957) was born and died in England. Between school and studying English at St Catherine's College, Cambridge he spent five months at sea as a deckhand, an experience which gave him the material for his first novel, \u003ci\u003eUltramarine\u003c\/i\u003e (1933). After marrying in Paris, he moved to New York where he completed \u003ci\u003eIn Ballast to the White\u003c\/i\u003e (1936). \u003ci\u003eUnder The Volcano\u003c\/i\u003e was begun in Hollywood, coloured by a short stay in the Mexico that it describes, and eventually finished in Dollarton, British Columbia. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIf you enjoyed \u003ci\u003eUnder the Volcano\u003c\/i\u003e, you might like F. Scott Fitzgerald's \u003ci\u003eThe Beautiful and the Damned\u003c\/i\u003e, also available in Penguin Classics.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A Faustian masterpiece'\u003cbr\u003eAnthony Burgess\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Rarewaves","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":30363398996065,"sku":"9780141182254","price":10.77,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0092\/7504\/8033\/files\/orig_32416946.jpg?v=1737274568","url":"https:\/\/www.rarewaves.com\/products\/9780141182254-under-the-volcano","provider":"Rarewaves.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}