Malcolm Lowry’s work has been steadily drifting into the realm of the obscure and forgotten as the years go by. A hard core fan base continues to revisit his old haunts, including the location of his shack near Vancouver, in which he finished his great novel “Under the Volcano.” That book continues to be reprinted and well stocked but his “lesser” works, both novels and stories, are becoming increasingly hard to find. If you come across this collection in a used bookstore somewhere, snap it up. It is worth whatever you might consider spending. So why is this an essential addition to the libraries of those who love literature? Quite simply, the last story in the collection, the novella “The Forest Path to the Spring,” is possibly one of the most beautiful and beautifully written stories in the English language.

It is largely autobiographical, describing the sojourn of a husband and wife in the wilds of Vancouver, clearly drawn from Lowry’s life there with his second wife, former star of the silent screen, Margerie Bonner Lowry. The narrative readily paints a picture of Lowry himself, slaving over drafts and redrafts of “Under the Volcano,” as the tides washed in and out beneath the timbers of his shack. It traces the development of their relationship in what must have been an uncomfortable home, focusing on the daily journey they make for water from a nearby spring. Collecting water from the spring becomes a metaphor not only for their life, but also for all of life’s journeys that are filled with difficulties, fears, hopes, and uncertain endings.

The other stories are interesting too, and if you are lucky, you might find a copy that includes “Luna Caustic,” Lowry’s fictionalization of his voluntary incarceration in Bellevue Hospital. My copy, by Penguin Modern Classics, includes a foreword to this story that briefly describes Lowry’s apocryphal arrival in New York--a real comedic gem: “when asked by a New York customs officer if he had anything to declare, he replied, ‘I don’t know. Let’s see.’ They opened his large trunk. It contained one football boot and a copy of ‘Moby Dick.’” Classic. ( )