Reviews

Eu, Lúcifer by Glen Duncan

blok_sera_szwajcarskiego's review against another edition

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2.0

Jeżeli prawdziwy diabeł miałby być taki, jaki w tej książce, to mnie pierwszą zobaczycie u bram nieba.

Czasami bierze się rekomendacje dziwnych, niszowych booktooberów, i potem nie wie się, co zrobić. I, Lucifer to ten przypadek. Jak zachowa się Lucyfer, gdy dostanie informację, że ma miesiąc czasu na odkupienie – miesiąc ludzkiego czasu, w ludzkim ciele, a potem jego życie zostanie ostatecznie przesądzone? Co zrobi Pan Piekieł, gdy Bóg po raz ostatni się nad nim zlituje?

Trzeba zaznaczyć, że trigger warning tu jest chyba na wszystko. Pedofilia, narkotyki, samobójstwo to tylko jedne z licznego kwiecia. Trochę na to przymykam oko, bo jednak autor pisze o złu w czystej postaci, więc spodziewać by się zła można. Sama historia jest rozbita na dwa – to, co teraz, i wspominki. To snucie przeszłości zajmuje kupe czasu, Duncan w swej narracji przepisuje nam wszystkie biblijne fakty na modłę wykreowanego przez siebie bohatera, jednak nigdy nie przekracza granicy wejścia w te wydarzenia. To dalej są wspominki, opowieści, nie akcja przed naszymi oczami, przez co momentami gubiłam się w tej fabule.

Jeżeli chodzi o ten "ludzki miesiąc", który otrzymuje Lucyfer – tu sprawa się komplikuje. Nie wiem, na ile ta książka jest metaksiążką, pastiszem rzeczywistości i metaforą tego, co autor sam przeżył (zwróćmy uwage nie tylko na to, że ciało, które Lucyfer przejmuje w chwili próby samobójczej należy do zmagającego się z niefortuną autora, ale i zbieżność imion: Glen Duncan – Declan Gunn podajże). Bo trochę tym trąci. Idea jest silna, wykonanie całkiem całkiem całkiem, chociaż czegoś tam zabrakło. Cholernie podoba mi się fakt, że Lucyfer nie jest narratirem, któremu w pełni możemy zaufać, i który nie postrzega świata w binarnym podziale dobro-zło l. Jest tam zabawa konwencją, próba pokazania grzechu od innej strony, i to na plus.

Na minus to to, jak horny jest ta książka. Słodki Boże, nie róbcie tu bigdy drinking game za każdym razem, gdy jest tu wspomniany seks, bo Wam wątroba ucieknie. Nie traktuje tego jako stricte wady, ale myślę, że można było inaczej to ograć.

Zakończenie za to mnie dobiło, ale w taki pozytywny sposób. Z przytupem, ale na pierwszy rzut oka niewidocznym, zdecydowanie opłaciło całą lekturę. Good food

Czemu więc wystawiam tylko dwie gwiazdki? Chyba trochę z przekory. Bo mogę. Bo chcę pobawić się z Duncanem, jak Lucyfer bawił się z osobą czytającą – jakby tę historię odwiedzić po 20 latach i ją nieco przepisać to myślę, że byłby hit miesiąca. Pewnie do niej będę wracać myślami, bo jest coś dziwnie hipnotyzującego w tym zadufanym w sobie, ale nie do przesady diable i świecie, który kocha, ale regularnie doprowadza do desfrukcji.

curiousnoel's review against another edition

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4.0

The writing... Oh the writing! Be still my beating heart! Rich in beautiful metaphors while simultaneously funny as hell. (Pun? Ha.) It should also be noted, however, that this IS Lucifer we're talking about, and Lucifer does some very... uncomfortable things. (Trigger warning: he gets some rapey urges in one scene and is about to attempt it before he is stopped.) Aside from that, the book is very good.

browneyesblue84's review against another edition

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3.0

This book was one that I read back in 2007. It was entertaining , but not for the faint of heart.

branhowe's review against another edition

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1.0

Dropped this book after page 60 or something. Following the premise, I was expecting the devil to wake up and walk around town, not to stay sitting in a bathtub doing absolutely nothing but wondering about really stupid existentialist stuff that could very well be presented via interactions with other people. It became extremely boring and I have many other things on my To Read list to bother trying to finish something so dull.

jammasterjamie's review against another edition

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2.0

Long-winded, smug in its self-satisfaction, and the third act was listless and boring. After the high recommendations I'd heard about 'I, Lucifer', I was highly disappointed. Duncan got the narrative voice right, but the story was a drag.

feelsnotbrains's review against another edition

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4.0

This book will take you to the edge of your faith and push your head over the chasm, and over the needling wind that strikes and coats your face, you will hear him laughing. You know it’s fiction, and yet Glen Duncan writes with such convincing prose that you just fucking wonder. NB: do not read on a bad day, and his words and sentences will snake around your throat and choke the tears and rage out of you. This book will fuck you over.

rosekk's review against another edition

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5.0

This book was amazing! Best depiction of Lucifer I can think of, and you can really sympathize with him (scarily).

trudilibrarian's review against another edition

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3.0

First-person Lucifer, and all I could hear was Al Pacino's voice...
witty, outrageous, fabulous turns of phrase...

reachersaid_'s review against another edition

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DNF 60%

An interesting premise; Lucifer giving his side of the biblical story while working out a forgiveness deal with God that involves inhabiting a mortal body for a month. 

The writing drew me in initially, it was the kind of casual with a tone that was arresting and at the same time the language was also rich and refined. The humor was a high point as well, I found myself snorting and laughing a lot, at least in the early stages. I felt like I had discovered a gem.

So what led to my decision to quit? The story just seemed to lack a solid base. It was for the most part... boring and rambling. When Lucifer gave his own account of some events in the bible, like the garden of Eden and the temptation of Jesus for example, I was glued. Away from those, however, his present day storyline as the suicidal writer Declan Gunn, is just utterly unreadable. The narrator was like a faulty traffic light randomly switching colors, so much digression, good grief! As if that's not bad enough, it is all told in overly literary language that gives one the impression of trying to understand a foreign language.

I bet K. J Parker would have made a great novella out of this.

proffy's review against another edition

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5.0

This psychological portrayal of one of history's most hated figures made me think about free will and what I would suffer in order to maintain it. When God offers Lucifer the opportunity to "redeem" himself by living as a human for one month, Lucifer smirks, says yes, and proceeds to enjoy his one month vacation. Through his actions and his thoughts while being Declan Gun, Lucifer reveals a story not of good versus evil but of an indomitable will versus an indomitable will.

Two things are going on in this story: one, Lucifer is living (a version of) Declan Gun's life, finally experiencing a world with sensory perception; two, Lucifer is writing a story about what really happened in heaven. The second was more interesting to me, being theological and all; and yet the first reminded me of the beauty of being alive. Luce gets drunk on sight and sound, smell, taste, and touch through walks in the rain, cocaine, sex, food, alcohol: everything is up for grabs. The beauty of his thoughts as he relishes even the smells of the dirtiest places made me almost feel guilty for ignoring, or rather taking for granted, my ability to sense the world around me.

The real pull for me, however, was the theology expressed in the book. I haven't even begun to wrap my mind around all of the variant, tantalizing ideas running rampant. Apparently, Lucifer had a good reason for getting upset with God; he was sick of the "undiluted adulation" God expected from the angels. Lucifer just wanted to control his own life; he wanted choice. Good for him. A life of perpetual kiss-assery sounds pretty damn bleak to me.

When it comes down to it though, the story is just dirty fun.