New Releases by Malcolm Lowry

« Ultramarina es una novela de emociones, aventuras y amores borrascosos, fresca y a la vez experimentada.» - Rodrigo Fresán Ultramarina narra las peripecias de Dana Hilliot, un joven burgués de dieciocho años que, en su intento por escapar de su entorno acomodado y opresor, se enlista como ayudante en el Oedipus Tyrannus, un buque con destino a Bombay y Singapur. Publicada en 1933, Ultramarina marcó el debut literario de Malcolm Lowry, mejor conocido por Bajo el volcán . Una obra joven en la que se vislumbran con fuerza y genialidad las obsesiones y temas que abordará el autor a lo largo de toda su obra literaria.

«La capacidad de Lowry para entroncar con la emoción trágica primitiva sólo conoce dos grandes rivales en la primera mitad del siglo XX : Thomas Mann y James Joyce.» - Julián Herbert Sigbjørn Wilderness, famoso alter ego de Malcolm Lowry, emprende un viaje a México junto con su esposa, Primrose, en busca de su amigo Fernando Martínez. Su visita a Oaxaca y Cuernavaca es también un viaje iniciático entre cantina y cantina, donde la desolación y la muerte acechan al protagonista hasta llegar a un final inesperado. Considerada como la continuación de Bajo el volcán, Obscuro como la tumba en la queyace mi amigo es una obra póstuma, editada en su forma actual por Margerie Bonner, viuda del autor, y su biógrafo Douglas Day.

Although Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957) published only two novels-Ultramarine and Under the Volcano-in his lifetime, numerous other works, most of which have since been edited for publication, were in various stages of composition at his death. La Mordida, the longest and most significant of the manuscripts that have not been previously published, is a draft of a novel based on Lowry''s visit to Mexico in 1945-46, which ended in the arrest and deportation of Lowry and his wife following a nightmarish run-in with corrupt immigration authorities. On its most immediate level, the title La Mordida-which means "the little bite," Mexican slang for the small bribe that officials are apt to demand in order to expedite matters-refers to the autobiographical protagonist''s legal difficulties. In a larger sense, however, it also represents his inability to escape his past, to repay the fine, or debt, that he owes. The central narrative of La Mordida involves a descent into the abyss of self, culminating in the protagonist''s symbolic rebirth at the book''s end. Lowry planned to use this basic narrative pattern as the springboard for innumerable questions about such concerns as art, identity, the nature of existence, political issues, and alcoholism. Above all, La Mordida was to have been a metafictional work about an author who sees no point in living events if he cannot write about them and who is not only unable to write but suspects that he is just a character in a novel. A reading of La Mordida in the context of Lowry''s aesthetic theories and psychological problems shows why he dreaded the completion of his projects to such an extent that he called success a "horrible disaster" and compared death to "the accepted manuscript of one''s life." The reason, La Mordida makes clear, lies partly in the aesthetic theories that led Lowry to attempt a book that he prophetically called "something never dreamed of before, a work of art so beyond conception it could not be written." Patrick A. McCarthy''s edition of La Mordida is based on materials held in the Malcolm Lowry Archive at the University of British Columbia. Its publication provides essential evidence for a balanced assessment of Lowry''s creative processes and his achievement as a writer.

Um dos mais importantes clássicos do século XX chega agora ao Brasil em nova tradução. Debaixo do vulcão é um romance imprescindível sobre a luta de um homem contra as forças que ameaçam destrui-lo. Malcolm Lowry, gênio conturbado e inconstante, autor de apenas dois romances em vida, é comparado a escritores como Melville, Conrad e James Joyce. * Escolhido entre os 100 melhores livros do século XX pelo Le Monde e pela Modern Library * Considerado um dos 100 melhores romances ingleses pelo The Guardian * Livro que deu origem ao filme "À sombra do vulcão", de John Huston "Malcolm Lowry dá um poderoso sentido histórico ao romance, ao mesmo tempo que sonda a subjetividade de um dos personagens mais complexos e fascinantes da ficção do século XX." ― Milton Hatoum Geoffrey Firmin, ex-cônsul britânico, vive na cidade de Quauhnahuac, no México. Seu mal-estar debilitante é a bebida, uma atividade que tomou conta de todos os aspectos de seu cotidiano. No Dia dos Mortos de 1938, sua esposa, Yvonne, chega à cidade para tentar reatar o casamento, imaginando uma vida a dois longe do México e das circunstâncias que levaram seu relacionamento à beira do colapso. Contudo, sua missão se torna ainda mais difícil pela presença de Hugh, meio-irmão do cônsul, e de Jacques, um amigo de infância. Enquanto Firmin se afoga em mescal, os demais personagens assistem, impotentes, sua trágica figura. Conforme o dia passa, fica claro que Geoffrey deve tomar uma atitude drástica.

Una de las grandes obras maestras del siglo XX. Bajo el volcán relata las últimas horas de un hombre en su descenso moral y físico hacia las profundidades del fracaso y la muerte. Es Día de Muertos y Geoffrey Firmin pasea por las cantinas de Quauhnáhuac mientras dos volcanes, el Popocatépetl y el Iztaccíhuatl, se asoman como trágico recordatorio de la crisis que tiene con Yvonne, quien acaba de regresar a México como último recurso para evitar la caída de su matrimonio y de Firmin, su esposo. En 1947 Malcolm Lowry publicó en lengua inglesa una de las obras fundamentales para las letras mexicanas: Bajo el volcán, una suerte de premonición que deviene en profecía, el relato delirante de un hombre arruinado por el alcohol, de los amantes fuera de su elemento, su Edén... Quauhnáhuac es esa ciudad tempestad -tan real como imaginada- de tabernas para beber hasta la sobriedad, de perros callejeros, de indígenas moribundos, de calles serpenteantes por las que desciende una procesión durante el Día de Muertos. Una ciudad poética, el mito de la autodestrucción dominado por dos volcanes y esgrimido por medio de la cábala y el mezcal. Reseñas: «Ejemplo magno de la novela-como-idioma. En mi opinión, no sé si mejor (pero para mí mucho más disfrutable) que esa otra novela-como-idioma que también transcurre en un día: Ulises de James Joyce.» Rodrigo Fresán «Indispensable. Quizás, la novela que mejor expresa el estado etílico. Nadie le ha dedicado tantas páginas a una borrachera como el alcohólico Lowry en esta obra maestra. La ambigüedad de su prosa hace que incluso el lector se sienta ebrio al empaparse de cada párrafo. Para colmo, la estructura se apoya en la célebre Divina Comedia de Dante. Una genialidad.» Carlos Mayoral «Una obra maestra faustiana.» Anthony Burgess «Una de las novelas más sobresalientes del siglo XX.» The New York Times «La obra maestra de Lowry tiene todos los ingredientes para ser considerado uno de los diez libros de ficción más relevantes del siglo XX.» Los Angeles Times «Una de las grandes muestras de prosa inglesa en el crepúsculo de la Segunda Guerra Mundial [...] su recorrido ha sido potente e internacional, figurando a menudo en las listas de "mejores novelas". Hoy en día es reconocida como un clásico.» Robert McCrum, The Guardian «Acudí al libro conociendo de éste solo su reputación como obra maestra del modernismo inglés. Terminé la lectura considerándolo una de las grandes novelas del siglo XX.» Chris Power, The Guardian «Bajo el volcán es un gran libro sobre la pérdida de la dignidad, sobre la tragedia específica que reside en la incapacidad de escoger la tragedia que uno quiere.» Michael Wood, The New York Review of Books «Un retrato vertiginoso de autodestrucción visto a través de los ojos de un hombre todavía lo suficientemente lúcido como para relatar los detalles más desgarradores.» Time

En junio de 1944 ardió la cabaña donde Malcolm Lowry vivía con su segunda esposa. El manuscrito de ''Bajo el volcán'' salió casi indemne del incendio, pero las llamas acabaron con una novela en la que trabajaba desde 1931. Su título era ''In Ballast to the White Sea'' y estaba concebida como última parte de una trilogía análoga a la Divina comedia en su estructura ascendente: un ?viaje interminable? desde el infierno volcánico al paraíso del Mar Blanco. La pérdida de ese texto fue una de las heridas que atormentaron a Lowry hasta su muerte; en numerosas cartas mencionaría el dolor de un proyecto devorado por el fuego o, quizá, por su ingrato destino. Varias décadas después, sin embargo, la primera mujer del novelista sacó del armario una copia que él mismo había depositado en la casa neoyorquina de su suegra en 1936. Esa es la versión que sirve de base a este volumen.

Primo Novecento. Sigbjørn è studente a Cambridge e sogna di fare lo scrittore, ma è tormentato dall’idea che un romanziere norvegese abbia già scritto non solo il suo grande romanzo, ma perfino la sua vita. Dopo il suicidio filosofico del fratello Tor e una serie di sventure occorse all’azienda navale paterna, Sigbjørn decide di prendere il mare e andare a Nord per raggiungere il Mar Bianco, dove dimora il fantomatico scrittore – doppio? Proiezione? Alter ego? – e capire cosa sarà del suo destino. Dato per smarrito in seguito a un incendio del capanno dove Malcolm Lowry viveva in Canada e invece conservato tra le carte della prima moglie, "Verso il Mar Bianco" è il romanzo incompiuto di uno dei grandi scrittori del Novecento. La storia, ambientata in un clima livido e in un’atmosfera da minaccia biblica, si dipana attraverso una serie di nodi famigliari e sentimentali, fatti di padri opprimenti e amori tormentosi, per distendersi in un’epica navale e, come c’era da aspettarsi dall’autore di un capolavoro come "Sotto il vulcano", profondamente letteraria.

Este fiesta din ziua morților în micul oraș mexican Quauhnahuac. În umbra vulcanului, copii în zdrențe cerșesc bani ca să cumpere cranii de ciocolată, câini vagabonzi bântuie pe străzi, iar Geoffrey Firmin – fost consul, fost soț, un bărbat alcoolic și distrus – își trăiește ultima zi din viață. Hotărât să se înece în mescal sub privirile neputincioase ale fostei soții și ale fratelui său vitreg, consulul a devenit o figură tragică. Pe măsură ce ziua se scurge, devine evident că Geoffrey trebuie să moară. Este singura sa evadare dintr-o lume pe care nu o poate înțelege. Povestea lui, imaginea călătoriei agonizante a unui om spre Calvar, a devenit o carte profetică pentru o întreagă generație. Sub vulcan nu poate fi comparată decât cu marile cărți totemice ale secolului nostru: De veghe în lanul de secară a lui J.D. Salinger sau Pe drum a lui Jack Kerouac. The New York Times Sub vulcan dezvăluie acele două trăsături de geniu ale prozei lui Lowry – limbajul poetic și capacitatea de a conferi detaliilor autobiografice o valoare universală. Los Angeles Times

Nel 1947, dopo dieci anni di lavoro e rifiuti editoriali, di sbornie furiose e disavventure assortite (compreso un incendio dove il manoscritto rischiò di andare perduto), usciva sul mercato anglosassone il secondo libro di uno scrittore inglese poco noto. L’autore era Malcolm Lowry e il romanzo s’intitolava Sotto il vulcano. Venne subito acclamato come un capolavoro e, nel giro di poco tempo, diventò prima un classico moderno e poi un film di John Huston. Raccontava la storia maledetta di un ex console britannico di stanza in una città immaginaria del Messico e delle sue ultime ore di vita – nel Giorno dei Morti del 1938 – insieme a una moglie, innamorata ma infedele, e a un fratellastro, idealista ma sleale. E, soprattutto, con uno stile epico e modernista insieme, raccontava una vita in compagnia dei demoni dell’alcol e dei fantasmi del passato, all’ombra di un minaccioso vulcano e del fatalismo messicano. Dopo anni, questo libro di culto, un grande romanzo di amore e di morte, lirico e abissale come solo le opere di Melville o Joyce hanno saputo essere, torna in una nuova traduzione, per ammaliare e commuovere una nuova generazione di lettori.

"Au début, on pensa avoir été mordu. Maintenant, nous allions périr". Une terrible épidémie frappe l''Amérique : la parole des enfants est devenue mortelle. Aux yeux de Samuel et Claire, il semble que la seule alternative est de s''enfuir loin de leur fille. Mais le soir de leur départ, Claire disparaît mystérieusement. Livré à lui-même, le père de famille n''a désormais plus le choix : il doit trouver un antidote à la toxicité du langage s''il veut sauver les siens.

This is the first edition of In Ballast to the White Sea, the autobiographical novel by Malcolm Lowry, known to most only through the highly romanticized story of its loss in a fire. In fact, the typescript itself has probably been read by at most a dozen people since Lowry scholars learned that it was deposited at the New York Public Library.

Swinging the Maelstrom is the story of a musician enduring existence in the Bellevue psychiatric hospital in New York. Written during his happiest and most fruitful years, this novella reveals the deep healing influence that the idyllic retreat at Dollarton had on Lowry. This long-overdue scholarly edition will allow scholars to engage in a genetic study of the text and reconstruct, step by step, the creative process that developed from a rather pessimistic and misanthropic vision of the world as a madhouse (The Last Address, 1936), via the apocalyptic metaphors of a world on the brink of Armageddon (The Last Address, 1939), to a world that, in spite of all its troubles, leaves room for self-irony and humanistic concern (Swinging the Maelstrom,1942–1944). - This book is published in English.

Seven stories and novellas by the author of Under the Volcano, a master of twentieth-century fiction. For fans of the novel Under the Volcano, this collection of stories—many of them published for the first time posthumously—provides great insight into the author’s genius. The stories range from heartfelt tragedy to exuberant triumph. In the novella “Through the Panama,” a burned-out, alcoholic writer tries to make sense of the literature that has kept him afloat while the pulse of his life grows harder to distinguish. In “The Forest Path to Spring,” a couple that has survived hell finds new life in the seclusion of a vast forest. And in “The Bravest Boat,” a young boy sends a message across the ocean to an unknown recipient. Together, these stories reveal a writer who traveled widely, observed keenly, and maintained an engrossing literary style that still reverberates today.

DIVDIVParadise proves fleeting in this engrossing tale of a married couple who tries to chase away the past by immersing themselves in nature/divDIV Edited by Malcolm Lowry’s widow and released more than a decade after his death, October Ferry to Gabriola is the sentimental story of two individuals striving for sanity, inspiration, hope, and purpose in the deep seclusion of the British Columbian forest. Once the couple finds a new home in the woods, their new, off-the-grid life together becomes their last attempt at finding stability... Illuminating and joyful, October Ferry to Gabriola is a striking ode to the struggle for hope amid the purity of the wilderness—a story made all the more poignant by Lowry’s untimely death before publication./div/div

Malcolm Lowry: Salmi e Cantiè un libro composito nato dall’appassionatolavoro di Margerie Lowry, vedova di Malcolm, che, oltre a raccogliere alcuniscritti sparsi del grande autore inglese, ha anche inteso ricordarne l’itinerarioesistenziale e dare, nello stesso tempo, un ritratto realistico dell’uomo edell’artista. I Salmi del titolo sono i racconti, mentre i Cantisono i saggi, le rievocazioni, i ricordi scritti da amici e critici. I racconti,editi e inediti sono: Camera d’albergo a Chartres; Seductio adabsurdum; A bordo del West Hardaway; 30 giugno 1934; Cina;Sotto il vulcano (il racconto da cui poi nacque il romanzo omonimo); Vegliafantasmi;Entra uno con una sontuosa armatura; La storia di Kristbjorg. Idieci saggi sono scritti da Conrad Aiken, Clarissa Lorenz, James Stern e altri.Della raccolta fanno parte anche Caustico lunare, già edito da Mondadorinel 1973 e un saggio tratto della tesi di dottorato di A.C. Nyland, dell’Universitàdi Ottawa, dal titolo: La ruota luminosa, l’evoluzione dello stile diMalcolm Lowry. Malcolm Lowry: Salmi e Canti è destinato in primoluogo agli appassionati di Malcolm Lowry, un autore di assoluta originalità edi grande fascino. Chi ha amato Sotto il vulcano, Ultramarina e AscoltaciSignore non potrà non apprezzare i racconti, che costituiscono una sorta diofficina dello scrittore, e avrà il piacere di addentrarsi, attraverso letestimonianze degli amici e dei critici autori dei vari saggi, nel percorsoletterario di Lowry, ma anche nella sua vita privata, nei sorprendenti meandriesistenziali di un autore che ormai è entrato nel mito."Non c’è da fidarsi di quelli che sono troppo prudenti: come scrittori ocome bevitori. Il vecchio Goethe non può esser stato in gamba come Keats oChatterton o Rimbaud: quelli che bruciano."

Supplement to the time of his quintessential narrative, the poetry of Malcolm Lowry has not been rated so far, or read, as it deserves. Perhaps it was necessary for a poet of the stature of Juan Luis Panero select the most significant for his poems that the reader can enjoy your pictures and memories, which are closely related to the biography of Lowry, and of course with his work, particularly with his novel Under the Volcano.

" Le 6 juin 1944, après trois ans d''abstinence, il avait absorbé un alcool. Aujourd''hui, après une nouvelle période d''abstinence, il se remettait à boire. Un peu. Pas beaucoup. " : Sigbjörn Wilderness retourne au Mexique en compagnie de sa nouvelle femme. Ce voyage ravive le souvenir douloureux de son premier mariage. Rongé par les affres de l''écriture et de l''alcool, il va s''éloigner peu à peu de celle qu''il aime...

1938ko Defuntuen Eguna Mexicoko Quauhnahuac hiri asmatuan (Cuernavaca alegiazko bat?) beste edozein egun bezalakoa izan daiteke Geoffrey Firmin britainiar kontsularentzat, haren azken eguna izango den arren. Mozkorti baten eldarnio alhoholiko etenbako bat duzu eleberri hau, alde batera, delirium tremensaren menpeko izaten zen idazle batek sortua. Aldi berean, baina, argikusmen distiratsua erakusten du kontsulak, eta era berean esan liteke Lowryk testu jori, barroko, jostalari, iradokitzaile eta askotariko bat ondu zuela, tintaz ez ezik, alkoholez eta are bere odolez ere izkiriatua, literaturaren historian bitxi bakan gisa geratuko dena.

A NEW YORK REVIEW BOOKS ORIGINAL Notorious for a misspent life full of binges, blackouts, and unimaginable bad luck, Malcolm Lowry managed, against every odd, to complete and publish two novels, one of them, Under the Volcano, an indisputable masterpiece. At the time of his death in 1957, Lowry also left behind a great deal of uncollected and unpublished writing: stories, novellas, drafts of novels and revisions of drafts of novels (Lowry was a tireless revisiter and reviser—and interrupter—of his work), long, impassioned, haunting, beautiful letters overflowing with wordplay and lament, fraught short poems that display a sozzled off-the-cuff inspiration all Lowry’s own. Over the years these writings have appeared in various volumes, all long out of print. Here, in The Voyage That Never Ends, the poet, translator, and critic Michael Hofmann has drawn on all this scattered and inaccessible material to assemble the first book that reflects the full range of Lowry’s extraordinary and singular achievement. The result is a revelation. In the letters—acknowledged to be among modern literature’s greatest—we encounter a character who was, as contemporaries attested, as spellbinding and lovable as he was self-destructive and infuriating. In the late fiction—the long story “Through the Panama,” sections of unfinished novels such as Dark as the Grave Wherein My Friend Is Laid, and the little-known La Mordida—we discover a writer who is blazing a path into the unknown and, as he goes, improvising a whole new kind of writing. Lowry had set out to produce a great novel, something to top Under the Volcano, a multivolume epic and intimate tale of purgatorial suffering and ultimate redemption (called, among other things, “The Voyage That Never Ends”). That book was never to be. What he produced instead was an unprecedented and prophetic blend of fact and fiction, confession and confusion, essay and free play, that looks forward to the work of writers as different as Norman Mailer and William Gass, but is like nothing else. Almost in spite of himself, Lowry succeeded in transforming his disastrous life into an exhilarating art of disaster. The Voyage That Never Ends is a new and indispensable entry into the world of one of the masters of modern literature.

Ethan Llewellyn y su esposa Jacqueline emprenden un viaje a la isla de Gabriola en busca de un nuevo hogar tras verse expulsados, por mor del progreso, de la idílica cabaña en la que vivían en la playa de Erídano, en la Columbia Británica. Durante el trayecto, en autobús y en ferry, Ethan revisita su vida y la de los que le han rodeado: sus fantasmas familiares, sus escarceos con la esperanza y la felicidad, el abandono del ejercicio de la abogacía tras conseguir la absolución de un criminal. Gabriola se aparece en el horizonte como un último refugio, pero los recuerdos sobre su pasado en la Columbia Británica desbordan los límites de la experiencia personal inmediata. Sus obsesiones -las del personaje, las del autor y, en buena medida las del hombre contemporáneo- salpican la novela de reflexiones -fragmentarias, lúcidas, dolorosas- sobre la necesidad de huida, el misticismo, el suicidio, la bebida o la literatura. Sobre toda la novela pende la sombra metafórica y casi real de la expulsión del paraíso, de una pérdida irreversible -de la inocencia, de los sueños posibles e imposibles- que ni siquiera puede eludirse con un peregrinaje forzoso como el que se ven obligados a iniciar los Llewellyn.

Longtemps éclipsés par Sous le volcan, ces trois romans, pour la première fois rassemblés en un volume, annoncent et prolongent l''œuvre phare de Malcolm Lowry. Roman de jeunesse publié en 1933, Ultramarine met en scène un jeune homme qui abandonne sa famille bourgeoise pour s''engager comme mousse sur un cargo. L''amour de la mer, l''abandon des conventions sociales et l''impossible maturité s''y nouent en une prémonitoire composition. Roman posthume, Sombre comme la tombe où repose mon ami est issu d''un pèlerinage accompli en 1945 dans la ville mexicaine de Cuernavaca et apparaît comme une suite funèbre et nostalgique de Sous le volcan. Également posthume, En route vers l''île de Gabriola met en scène un voyage vers la terre promise, une petite île de la côte de Vancouver. Hanté par un amour passionné et destructeur, et par le spectre de l''alcool, ce dernier roman est porté par une écriture poétique parvenue à son point d''orgue.

Although Malcolm Lowry (1909-1957) published only two novels--Ultramarine and Under the Volcano--in his lifetime, numerous other works, most of which have since been edited for publication, were in various stages of composition at his death. La Mordida, the longest and most significant of the manuscripts that have not been previously published, is a draft of a novel based on Lowry''s visit to Mexico in 1945-46, which ended in the arrest and deportation of Lowry and his wife following a nightmarish run-in with corrupt immigration authorities. On its most immediate level, the title La Mordida--which means "the little bite," Mexican slang for the small bribe that officials are apt to demand in order to expedite matters--refers to the autobiographical protagonist''s legal difficulties. In a larger sense, however, it also represents his inability to escape his past, to repay the fine, or debt, that he owes. The central narrative of La Mordida involves a descent into the abyss of self, culminating in the protagonist''s symbolic rebirth at the book''s end. Lowry planned to use this basic narrative pattern as the springboard for innumerable questions about such concerns as art, identity, the nature of existence, political issues, and alcoholism. Above all, La Mordida was to have been a metafictional work about an author who sees no point in living events if he cannot write about them and who is not only unable to write but suspects that he is just a character in a novel. A reading of La Mordida in the context of Lowry''s aesthetic theories and psychological problems shows why he dreaded the completion of his projects to such an extent that he called success a "horrible disaster" and compared death to "the accepted manuscript of one''s life." The reason, La Mordida makes clear, lies partly in the aesthetic theories that led Lowry to attempt a book that he prophetically called "something never dreamed of before, a work of art so beyond conception it could not be written." Patrick A. McCarthy''s edition of La Mordida is based on materials held in the Malcolm Lowry Archive at the University of British Columbia. Its publication provides essential evidence for a balanced assessment of Lowry''s creative processes and his achievement as a writer.