Up Above the World

Up Above the World

"Up Above the World" is a novel by Paul Bowles first published in 1966 about an American couple—an aging physician and his young attractive wife—who go on a tour of Central America and are trapped by a mysterious young man whose motives remain unclear to them.

Plot summary

In the middle of their journey Dr Slade and his wife have a chance encounter with an important looking lady who tells them that she is going to visit her son. Arriving by ship at a provincial town in an unnamed Latin American country, they find that accommodation is sparse, and so Mrs Slade agrees to share a room with her at some seedy hotel for just one night. During that night, the lady is murdered with an injection of curare, but when the Slades leave very early the next morning to catch a connection, Mrs Slade erroneously believes the woman lying next to her is still fast asleep.

A few days later, in another town, they read in the paper that the hotel burned down immediately after they had left and that the woman died in the fire. No one suspects the real reason, arson, which was committed to cover up the murder. This is when Mr and Mrs Slade make the acquaintance of Grove Soto, a charming and seemingly rich young man who offers them his hospitality. When it turns out that the recently deceased woman was his mother and Soto feigns shock at her premature death, the Americans have no idea that it was actually him who had her killed out of greed.

As Soto cannot be certain about Mrs Slade's complete ignorance of the crime, he extends his hospitality, invites them to his farm in the country and eggs them on to stay there longer than they have planned. At the same time, with the help of both his local household staff and his seventeen year old Cuban lover Luchita, he feeds them a cocktail of drugs whose effects, including partial amnesia, the innocent Americans mistake for the symptoms of a heavy virus infection, recovery from which is supposedly slow.

In the end Dr Slade, who has been barely conscious for days, disappears, while his young wife suspects more and more sinister forces to be at work. She escapes to the nearest town, where a fiesta is being held, only to realize that Soto has also planned her very escape. Without seeing her husband again, she has to face both her adversary and her own destiny amid the cheering townspeople.

Review

*Conrad Knickerbocker: [http://www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/17/specials/bowles-world.html "The Destruction of Innocence"] , "The New York Times" (March 12, 1966) [http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:X6eC9HRebPoJ:www.nytimes.com/books/98/05/17/specials/bowles-world.html+%22Up+Above+the+World%22&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=18] .

Read on

*A similar "noir" atmosphere around a local fiesta was created by Dorothy B. Hughes in her 1946 novel, "Ride the Pink Horse".
*Amnesia plays a decisive role in John Franklin Bardin's 1946 novel, "The Deadly Percheron".


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The World of Kong — The World of Kong: A Natural History of Skull Island is a 2005 encyclopedic book, made for the release of Peter Jackson s King Kong. The book tells all about King Kong s fictional world. It talks about everything on Skull Island, from the… …   Wikipedia

  • Above the Weeping World — CD de Insomnium Publicación 9 de agosto de 2006 (Europa) 17 de octubre de 2006 (resto del mundo) Género(s) Death metal melódico Duración 52:56 …   Wikipedia Español

  • The World Ends with You — Left to right, Joshua, Neku, Beat (above), Shiki, and Rhyme Developer(s) Square Enix Jupiter …   Wikipedia

  • The Mall at the World Trade Center — was a shopping center located in the concourse area of the World Trade Center before it was destroyed on September 11, 2001. Prior to September 11, the mall had been leased to The Westfield Group, who had intended to rename the mall Westfield… …   Wikipedia

  • The World (Tarot card) — The World (XXI) is a trump or Major Arcana card in the tarot deck. It is usually the final card of the Major Arcana or tarot trump sequence. In the tarot family of card games, this card is usually worth five points. Description In the early… …   Wikipedia

  • Above the Law (group) — Above the Law Origin Pomona, California, U.S. Genres Hip hop Years active 1989–present Labels Ruthless Warner Bros …   Wikipedia

  • Above The Ruins — ist eine britische Post Punk Gruppe, die 1984 von Tony Wakeford gegründet wurde. Geschichte Wakeford gründete Above the Ruins nach seinem Ausstieg aus der Formation Death in June. Die Gruppe blieb für die kurze Zeit ihres Bestehens und auch… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • The World as Will and Representation — The title page of the expanded 1844 publication The World as Will and Representation (Die Welt als Wille und Vorstellung) is the central work of the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The first edition was published in December 1818,[1] and… …   Wikipedia

  • Above The Law — est un groupe de gangsta rap de Pomona en Californie, créé en 1989 par les membres Cold 187um, KMG the Illustrator, Go Mack and DJ Total K Oss. Leur premier enregistrement était sur Ruthless Records d Eric « Eazy E » Wright. Le label… …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Above the Law — est un groupe de gangsta rap de Pomona en Californie, créé en 1989 par les membres Cold 187um, KMG the Illustrator, Go Mack and DJ Total K Oss. Leur premier enregistrement était sur Ruthless Records d Eric « Eazy E » Wright. Le label… …   Wikipédia en Français

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”