New Releases by Malcolm Lowry

O Μπιλ Πλανταγενέτης, Βρετανός πιανίστας της τζαζ, αλκοολικός, φανατικός αναγνώστης του Χέρμαν Μέλβιλ, παθιασμένος με τα καράβια, φτάνει στη Νέα Υόρκη και ανακαλύπτει ότι όλη του η ζωή είναι ένα ναυάγιο – έχει χάσει την μπάντα του, έχει χάσει τη σύντροφό του. Μετά το προσκύνημά του στις ταβέρνες του λιμανιού καταλήγει στο ψυχιατρείο ή μάλλον στην Κόλαση, όπου θα περάσει τον καιρό του και θα μοιραστεί την τύχη του με ναυτικούς, μέθυσους, φτωχούς. Κοιτάζοντας τα καράβια που αρμενίζουν στο Ιστ Ρίβερ, ο Μπιλ καταλαβαίνει ότι ο ψυχίατρος που τον έχει αναλάβει δεν θα καταφέρει να γιατρέψει ποτέ την άρρωστη ψυχή του. Σε αυτή τη συναρπαστική νουβέλα ο Malcolm Lowry αντλεί από την προσωπική του εμπειρία και μιλά με σφοδρότητα για τις ψευδαισθήσεις της τρέλας και για την πραγματική σημασία της λογικής. Ένα συγκινητικό έργο τέχνης όπου περιέχονται όλες οι κεντρικές ιδέες που τον ανέδειξαν σε έναν από τους σημαντικότερους συγγραφείς του 20ού αιώνα. Πρόκειται για το πιο ζοφερό έργο του Λόουρι, πιο αποπνικτικό και αδιέξοδο ακόμα και από το Κάτω από το ηφαίστειο, και ταυτόχρονα για μια πολυφωνική λογοτεχνική παρτιτούρα με την αριστοτεχνικά δοσμένη τραχύτητα μιας διαδοχής από διάφωνες συγχορδίες. Ο συγγραφέας, αντλώντας υλικό από την εμπειρία της σύντομης νοσηλείας του στο νοσοκομείο Bellevue της Νέας Υόρκης τον Μάιο του 1936, ξετυλίγει μια ιστορία εγκλεισμού, ψυχικής ασφυξίας και πνευματικής αδυναμίας χωρίς δυνατότητα διαφυγής. από τον πρόλογο της Κατερίνας Σχινά ΕΓΡΑΨΕ Ο ΤΥΠΟΣ Μια πλούσια ποιητική αφήγηση του Lowry για την καθαρτήρια περίοδο που πέρασε στην ψυχιατρική πτέρυγα του νοσοκομείου Bellevue της Νέας Υόρκης. London Review of Books Με αφορμή την περιγραφή του για το ψυχιατρείο Bellevue της Νέας Υόρκης στην Πέτρα της Κόλασης και τα όψιμα διηγήματα, ο Lowry έχει χαρακτηριστεί δικαίως ιδιοφυΐα. Independent

Το πρώτο μυθιστόρημα του Malcolm Lowry είναι η ιστορία του παρθενικού ταξιδιού του Ντέινα Χίλιοτ, που σε ηλικία δεκαεννέα χρόνων μπαρκάρει στο Οιδίπους Τύραννος με προορισμό τη Βομβάη και τη Σιγκαπούρη. Ως πρωτόβγαλτος ναύτης, ο νεαρός θα χρειαστεί να παλέψει κόντρα στις ίδιες του τις αξίες, ώστε να κερδίσει την αναγνώριση και τον σεβασμό των υπόλοιπων μελών του πληρώματος. Έτσι, προσπαθεί να ακολουθήσει το παράδειγμά τους περιφερόμενος στα μπαρ και στα μπουρδέλα των λιμανιών, παραμένοντας όμως ταυτόχρονα πιστός στην Τζάνετ, τον πρώτο του έρωτα, που άφησε πίσω στην Αγγλία. Μέσα από την αφήγηση του ίδιου του Ντέινα, η οποία εναλλάσσεται με τη χυδαία και ζωηρή γλώσσα των ναυτικών, παρακολουθούμε τη μύηση του αγοριού στην παρέα των μπαρουτοκαπνισμένων αντρών. «Καμιά θλίψη δεν είναι τόσο μεγάλη όσο αυτή που περνάει και σβήνει». ΕΓΡΑΨΕ Ο ΤΥΠΟΣ Το σημαντικότερο χαρακτηριστικό αυτού του βιβλίου δεν είναι κατά τη γνώμη μου το εν μέρει αυτοβιογραφικό του περιεχόμενο, αλλά το γεγονός πως ήδη, από το πρώτο αυτό έργο, ο Malcolm ήξερε ότι ήταν συγγραφέας και είχε απόλυτο έλεγχο του υλικού του και του ύφους του. Margerie Lowry Όσο περισσότερο διαβάζει κανείς Lowry συνειδητοποιεί πόσο πλούσια και βαθιά είναι τα έργα του. Elizabeth D. Rankin Μετά τον Melville και τον Conrad πρέπει να συνεχίσετε το ταξίδι με τον Lowry. Pamela Ramos Ζητήματα τάξης, αρρενωπότητας, μοναξιάς, ματαιωμένων προσδοκιών, σεξ. Ένα ανυπέρβλητο μυθιστόρημα. Triumph of the Now

«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 que yace mi amigo es una obra póstuma, editada en su forma actual por Margerie Bonner, viuda del autor, y su biógrafo Douglas Day.

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.

“Uno dei romanzi più ‘alti’ di questo secolo” The New York Times Nel 1947, dopo dieci anni di lavoro e rifiuti editoriali, di sbornie furiose e diverse disavventure (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 sua moglie, innamorata ma infedele, e a un fratellastro, idealista ma sleale. Ma 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 nelle librerie, per ammaliare e commuovere una nuova generazione di lettori.

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.

Malcolm Lowry, uno degli scrittori di culto dell’immediato secondo dopoguerra, muore nel 1957 in un cottage affittato nel Sussex, nella casa dove si era trasferita la moglie. Muore povero e malato, dopo un aspro litigio con lei, secondo i più consolidati cliché degli scrittori maledetti. La causa della morte: un mix di barbiturici e alcol in dosi eccessive. Al momento della morte, Lowry stava lavorando al romanzo Il traghetto per Gabriola, poi pubblicato postumo a cura della moglie, una sorta di “romanzo gotico” sulla scorta di Henry James in cui a prevalere, più che i fantasmi e le manifestazioni esteriori del genere, sarebbero stati – come in James, appunto – i contorti processi dell’inconscio e l’equilibrio mentale dei singoli personaggi. È una storia d’amore esistenziale dai tratti autobiografici, incentrata su un personaggio ispirato allo stesso Lowry, Ethan Lleweyllen, e sua moglie, nel loro non-consumato viaggio verso Gabriola, una delle isole del Golfo al largo della costa orientale dell’isola di Vancouver nella Columbia britannica. I temi sono la vita, l’amore, il bere, i viaggi, il misticismo e la letteratura negli anni quaranta. Il traghetto per Gabriola è un “must” per i fan di Sotto il vulcano. Grande è in questo libro la capacità di Lowry di catturare lo spirito del luogo, in questo caso il Canada, analogamente a quanto lo era stato per il Messico nel suo romanzo più famoso. Un libro decisivo e importante per definire al meglio il tragitto esistenziale e letterario di questo grande autore.

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

First collection of Lowry''s extensive poetic canon, including most of the Mexican verses related to his novel, Under the Volcano.

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).

Det är De dödas dag i november 1939. Medan den gamla världen kollapsar letar Geoffrey Firmin, före detta brittisk konsul, upp ständigt nya anledningar att ta en kyld drink i en mexikansk kurort med fyrahundra övergivna pooler, åtta kyrkor och femtiosju barer. I ett gränslöst alkoholiserat delirium är han bara vagt medveten om de sanningar som börjar verka runt omkring honom. Under vulkanen är en av 1900-talets största romaner och det viktigaste av Malcolm Lowrys två fullbordade verk. Romanen iscensätter en säregen medvetandeström: »Här finns en episk uthållighet som hämtar sin styrka ur övertygelsen om litteraturens förmåga att gestalta en mycket svår mänsklig erfarenhet, att förmedla den genom att utgöra en erfarenhet i sig.« (Ur förordet.) I översättning av Erik Sandin och med ett nyskrivet förord av Klas Östergren. »Malmcolm Lowry frambesvärjer en djupt personlig vision av alkoholismens inferno, i en bok full av insikt, medkänsla och tragisk livserfarenhet.« FABIAN KASTNER, SVENSKA DAGBLADET »Under vulkanen är en drabbande berättelse, närmast omöjlig att värja sig emot. En klassisk och mäktig roman som gräver sig djupt in i själens mörkaste skrymslen.« CRISTER ENANDER, TIDNINGEN KULTUREN »En av 1900-talets största romaner.« NEW YORK TIMES »Under vulkanen är skriven med övertygelsen om att en roman kan skildra ett historiskt skeende genom en människas trasiga blick. En mäktig berättelse.« ERIK JERSENIUS, GEFLE DAGBLAD »Ett faustiskt mästerverk.« ANTHONY BURGESS

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.

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."

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.

From the beginning, John Sutherland recognized that his literary gifts lay in criticism rather than in poetry. His independence from the academy and his largely autodidactic training gave him a unique perspective as a critic of Canadian literature. What these letters document, beyond a purely personal struggle, is a period (1942-1956) of great importance in the development of Canadian poetry, and it is above all the nuts and bolts of that development that they bring into keen relief: the economics of publishing books and literary magazines in the days before The Canada Council, and the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of trying wholly to live a life in literature at that time.

To a remarkable extent the filmscript of Tender is theNight, which Malcolm Lowry wrote in 1949-50 with the help ofMargerie Bonner Lowry, is less an adaptation of F. ScottFitzgerald''s novel than an extension of Lowry''s own fiction. AsMiguel Mota and Paul Tiessen show, Malcolm Lowry''s script containsimportant passages which are really "cinematic" restatementsof parts of Lowry''s novel Lunar Caustic, and of shortstories such as "Through the Panama" and "StrangeComfort Afforded by the Profession." The editors note also the many direct and indirect allusions toelements from Lowry''s master-work, Under the Volcano(1947), a novel that is regarded by many critics as one of the most"cinematic" prose works of the twentieth century. A closestudy of the text reveals that Lowry took on the Tender is the Nightproject partly as a means of reopening his Under the Volcanonarrative, of re-exploring its plot and problems and its characters andthemes, and of carrying as far as possible the "cinematic"style he had begun to examine in that work. Lowry''s Tender is the Night manuscript is important,then, not only as a completed, 455-page text in its own right but alsoas a text having a direct bearing on Lowry''s own reading ofUnder the Volcano and of his sense of artistic direction afterthat work. Indeed, the editors consider the significance of thefilmscript as a key - hitherto almost entirely overlooked - tounderstanding his projected multiple volume work, The Voyage ThatNever Ends. This scholarly edition of Lowry''s script presents 38 passages ofvarying length - from less than one page to over 100 pages - in whichLowry writes with a freedom and creativity that lead to a textnarratively and stylistically quite separate and distinct fromFitzgerald''s original. It excludes passages where Lowry adheresmore or less slavishly, at 37 intervals, to Fitzgeralds'' novel,though it provides brief narrative summaries of and comments on thoseomitted sections. Lowry''s achievement in his filmscript demonstrates the nature ofhis life-long commitment to and extensive knowledge of theinternational cinema from the 1910s to the 1950s and also the nature ofhis view of the novelist''s responsibility to participate in thedevelopment of film as an art. The script also illustrates Lowry''s relationship with F. ScottFitzgerald as one in a series of literary kinships, and as the editorspoint out, the work becomes a criticism and analysis of bothFitzgerald''s novel and of Fitzgerald himself.

Ethan et Jacqueline viennent de perdre leur maison sur la côte canadienne... Absolument rien que cendres. Moins les ravages d''un incendie que d''un maléfice absorbant tout : maison, jardin, même une partie du verger avaient disparu, soufflés ou grillés, disparu dans ce vaste cataclysme infernal, cette bibli-catastrophe...Toujours debout, pétrifiés, prunelles écarquillées, contemplant la maison là où ne se trouvait plus nulle maison, contemplant l''intérieur, le gracieux fantasme encore non enfui de l''escalier et des rampes polies, s''aimant à la folie, se déchirant, ils décident de partir vers l''île de Gabriola. Vers ce qui est, peut-être, une terre promise. Ils partent en car, en ferry-boat, obsédés par le feu, par la tentation de l''ivresse, assaillis par les innombrables difficultés, les innombrables contretemps. Et, un jour, ils arrivent à Gabriola...

In Mexico spelende roman met autobiografische inslag, waarin op vaak chaotische wijze de vertwijfeling wordt getekend van een aan de drank verslaafde man.