Under the Volcano

by Malcolm Lowry

This read-along is now finished, but you can catch up on our full conversation here.

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For our November read-along, I’m excited to announce something a little different. I’m going to suggest we read Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry in real time over the course of one day, Saturday 2 November, the Mexican Day of the Dead.

What is it?

Under the Volcano was first published in 1947. It takes place over the course of one day in the life of Geoffrey Firmin, an alcoholic former British consul, in Quauhnahuac, Mexico. This cult classic is a riot of a novel that spirals deliriously towards a mescal-fuelled climax.

‘Under the Volcano eats light like a black hole,’ says the poet and translator Michael Hofmann. ‘It is a work of such gravity and connectedness and spectroscopic richness that it is more world than product. . . . It has planetary swagger, it is a planet dancing.’

Anthony Burgess called it ‘a Faustian masterpiece’.

Why are we reading it now?

The book is set on 2 November 1938. The text is dripping with alcohol, so as well as reading the book in real time on that date, I also plan to drink along with Firmin, matching him drink for drink, although not always in the same quantity . . .

I have been thinking about doing this for a few years, but I wanted to wait until the Day of the Dead falls on a Saturday – as it does this year – so that I can get over the inevitable hangover before Monday morning . . .

Needless to say, the drinking element is entirely optional! I would be delighted if anyone would like to join me in this real-time reading challenge. If you would like to raise a glass (or two) along with me, here is the drinks cabinet you’ll need to assemble: Scotch whisky, sweet quince wine, Irish whisky, tequila, beer, gin, vermouth, habanero and mescal, plus optional anisette and a dark German beer. I will publish the full drinking schedule in due course.

How will we read it?

The novel has twelve chapters. We’ll read it over twenty-four hours:

• On Friday 1 November, at sunset, we’ll read Chapter 1.

• At 7am on Saturday 2 November we’ll read Chapter 2.

• We’ll read Chapter 3 at 8.30am;

• Chapter 4 at 9.30am;

• Chapter 5 at 10.30am;

• Chapter 6 at 11.30am and then break for lunch.

• We’ll read Chapter 7 at about 1.20pm.

• Then we’ll read Chapter 8 at 3.15pm;

• Chapter 9 at 3.45pm;

• Chapter 10 at 4.30pm;

• Chapter 11 at 5.30pm;

• Chapter 12 at 6pm and we should be finished by 7pm.

I will host a live ‘chat’ on the day, so anyone on a similar time zone can stay in touch as we attempt to read in real time. And the following Friday I’ll post a report on how I got on.

Of course, you are more than welcome to read the novel at your own pace and join in with the conversation whenever you like. All our posts will be collected here.

Which edition should I read?

I’m going to be reading my old 1960 Penguin Modern Classics edition.

Under the Volcano is still published by Penguin in the UK, with an introduction by the poet Michael Schmidt, who was born in Mexico City:

Penguin Modern Classics | 400 pages | introduction by Michael Schmidt

It is published by HarperCollins in the USA with an afterword by the novelist William T. Vollmann:

Harper Perennial Modern Classics | 448 pages | afterword by William T. Vollmann

What if I don’t want to read it?

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