Book cover of Ultramarine

Book description

Malcolm Lowry, who would permanently stake his claim to literary immortality with the masterpiece Under the Volcano, wrote Ultramarine, his debut, as an undergraduate at Cambridge. Displaying the linguistic virtuosity and haunting imagery that became signatures of Lowry's mature style, Ultramarine, a novel he continually rewrote and revised from publication…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Ultramarine as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

This novel is marvellous.

It has a particular resonance for me because I studied in a Maritime College and I had relatives who spent their working lives at sea and probably they experienced much of what Lowry's protagonist here experiences. A tramp steamer in the 1920s/30s.

The novel spoke to me on a deeper level than most other novels have done. Curiously enough, I had this paperback when I was young and always planned to read it and never did. Four decades later I acquired the same edition and now I have read it. I wish I had explored the…

If you love Ultramarine...

Book cover of December on 5C4

December on 5C4 by Adam Strassberg,

Magical realism meets the magic of Christmas in this mix of Jewish, New Testament, and Santa stories–all reenacted in an urban psychiatric hospital!

On locked ward 5C4, Josh, a patient with many similarities to Jesus, is hospitalized concurrently with Nick, a patient with many similarities to Santa. The two argue…

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