Our read-along starts today!
This afternoon, ‘towards sunset’ – (4.30pm if you’re in London, 6pm if you’re in Cuernavaca) – don your white flannels and find a seat on the main terrace of the Hotel Casino de la Selva. Open your copy of Under the Volcano and your bottle of Anís del Mono, pour yourself a glass, gaze out over Quauhnahuac and read Chapter 1.
This chapter takes place on the Day of the Dead 1939, exactly one year after the main action of the novel. At the end of this scene, once night has fallen, the ‘luminous wheel’ will revolve backwards and the stage will be set for our real-time read-along tomorrow, on the Day of the Dead 1938 . . .
Here again is our schedule, with a drinks key:
7am – read Chapter 2 – Scotch whisky, sweet quince wine
8.30 – read Chapter 3 – Irish whiskey
9.30 – read Chapter 4 – mescal, Johnnie Walker, German beer
10.30 – read Chapter 5 – tequila
11.30 – read Chapter 6 – Mexican lager, Johnnie Walker
12.30 – break for lunch
1.30 – read Chapter 7 – gin martinis, tequila
2.30 – another break
3.15 – read Chapter 8 – habanero
3.45 – read Chapter 9 – habanero
4.30 – read Chapter 10 – mescal, beer
5.30 – read Chapter 11
6pm – read Chapter 12 – mescal
7pm – finish
Good luck! I will be on ‘chat’ throughout the day. If you’re reading along in real-time, please do drop in to share your thoughts and let me know how you’re getting on.
(If you don’t already use ‘chat’ here are the instructions from Substack.)
Get the Substack app by clicking this link or the button below. New chat threads won’t be sent sent via email, so turn on push notifications so you don’t miss conversation as it happens. You can also access chat on the web.
Open the app and tap the Chat icon. It looks like two bubbles in the bottom bar, and you’ll see a row for my chat inside.
That’s it! Jump into my thread to say hi, and if you have any issues, check out Substack’s FAQ.
A quick note on volcanoes. The volcano of the title is Popocatépetl (‘smoking mountain’), the active volcano within sight of Quauhnahuac. The novel also features Popocatépetl’s twin, Iztaccihuatl (‘white woman’), a dormant volcano, which resembles a woman lying on her back.
An Aztec legend tells the story of two lovers: the warrior Popocatépetl and the beautiful Iztaccihuatl, the emperor’s daughter. In the story, the emperor sends Popocatépetl to war in Oaxaca, promising him that he may marry Iztaccihuatl if he returns victorious. The emperor assumes that Popocatépetl will be killed, however, and so he tells Iztaccihuatl that her lover is dead. She is heartbroken at the news and dies herself. When Popocatépetl returns, he takes Iztaccihuatl’s body and kneels by her grave. The gods cover them both with snow and transform them into mountains. Popocatépetl’s rage and frustration remain so powerful, however, that he still spews fire, smoke and ash over the land.
One final thing – the University of Otago in New Zealand has produced an extraordinary ‘hypertextual companion’ to Under the Volcano: a website with extensive annotations and commentary on every chapter. It is freely accessible and might be a useful resource for us to have open as we’re reading. Here is the link.
See you tomorrow!
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No drink with Chapter 11? How will you cope?
(I'm down for nothing stronger than a cup of Mayan Gold coffee...)
Looking forward to this so much (might have to avoid the alcohol if I want to do the reading!)