In my last post, I said I would name another of my honorary American citizens. This time it is the novelist Malcolm Lowry. Lowry was English, his one novel was set in Mexico and was written in Canada, so he had the US surrounded. He did spend substantial time in our Nation and should be thought of as one of us for several reasons.
For those not familiar with Lowry, a brief introduction. Lowry completed 1 novel in his lifetime and it , in my not-too-humble opinion, is the best novel ever written in the English language, Under the Volcano. The story is about a British Diplomat in Mexico in the late 1930s. In essence, it is a love story, but, perhaps the strangest one you will ever encounter. It is also a political story, exploring the decline of Western Civilization in the face of the impending Second World War. You get a strong sense of how dangerous Mexico was in that period and how Western culture fared in its encounter with an indigenous people. On a more personal level, it is a story of betrayal and forgiveness. Its main character is an extreme alcoholic and this book deals with alcoholism in a brutally honest fashion. On an even deeper level, it is about a woefully failed spiritual quest and man's obsession with Earth's beauty and his terror at Earth's violence. At its deepest level, it is about the possibility of redemption for 3 very lost souls. The book is a wonder and is full of the most magnificent imagery I have ever read.
Fine, you say, but what does all that have to do with the US? Well, before he started writing fiction, Lowry was a songwriter and, in the spirit of the times, tried copying the American "hot jazz" style that was popular at the time. He later said that when writing he would keep at a phrase until it sang to him. This, I believe, gave his writing a very strong American feel, (Remember, the book was published in the 1940s, so when I say American, I refer to the America of that era) Also, without giving away too much, part of the book deals with Hollywood and celebrity, especially a brutally funny passage written in the style of that era's movie magazines. Somehow, the book just seems more American to me than it does Mexican, Canadian, or British.
I urge you to read this book. It is not easy, but not as hard as its reputed to be. You will not understand every phrase and reference, but try this. Read the book once, skipping what you do not get. Read it for the story, for the amazing writing. Then, go on line and look up the references, if you are interested. If you do that, then re-read it, you will grow even more amazed. If you do not want to bother, fine, just read it for pleasure. It is an incredibly rich, funny, brutal and sadly moving story. I no of nothing like it. Most important to me, Lowry wrote this complex novel while never losing track of the basic story. Like all great writers, he knew that the tale was the most important thing.
It is a shame Lowry did not publish more. Volcano was intended as a trilogy, but he lost the nearly completed manuscripts for the other 2 parts in a fire. He was rewriting them when he died, under circumstances that some found questionable. At least some of the blame for his death must be placed on his drinking. He was a prodigious drinker. That is why his descriptions of the Consul's alcoholism are so perfect. He wrote from experience and it cost him his life, but blessedly, not his talent. We should consider him an honorary American citizen and proudly claim his brilliant work.
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