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Loading... Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid (1968)by Malcolm Lowry
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. A dark and difficult work, which as is usual with Lowry, explores the less heroic side of life. He returned to Mexico, following the period he wrote of in "Under The Volcano" and the editors, one a friend, the other his wife have assembled the journals he managed to write during this return. It is a very sad assembly, but as usual, lightened by the tortured mastery of English by the writer. A necessary book for those requiring more material in their assessment of Lowry. Hail and farewell, for he struggled mightily with that implacable foe, the indifferent universe. ( ) My habit of picking books to read based upon interesting titles led me astray this time. I haven't read Malcolm Lowry's much lauded "Under the Volcano" so many of the references in "Dark as the Grave wherein my Friend is Laid" were right over my head. Apparently written after Lowry died from notes he made during a real-life journey to Mexico, "Dark As..." explores the colossally bad idea of taking your second wife on a vacation to visit the places where your marriage to your first wife finally went kaput and you wandered soused wondering what to do with yourself. Cue more soused wanderings and a few philosophical ramblings. This was a very difficult book to get into -- the first 75 pages document the flight from Canada to Mexico. But it started to grow on me as it went on and I adjusted to Lowry's writing style. Overall, the book seemed to ramble a bit but had entertaining bits interspersed in it too. A writer journeys to Mexico where he was inspired to write a book, one that hasn't exactly shaken the world, and his latest keeps being rejected. Mexico is full of memories, and while much has changed in his life, he doesn't seem to have. Sigbjørn Wilderness has a new wife, the same drinking habit, indeed the journey seems to open the floodgates on this, but he can't seem to write. Sigbjørn is on the edge, both mentally and physically, with the drink pushing him further towards it. A bit of an odd one, but I got caught up in it, Lowry certainly has an entertaining style. The tortured meanderings of a writer seemed very authentic to me, another reason why I'd recommend the book. no reviews | add a review
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Unpublished in his lifetime, this book returns to the Mexico of the author's Under the Volcano. Sigbjorn Wilderness descends into an inferno of abysses, labyrinths and demons to confront his past and his destiny. His search finally takes him to the scene of the worst terrors of his drunken past. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.912Literature English English fiction Modern Period 1901-1999 1901-1945LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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