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nodroz's review against another edition
2.0
Uhh, where to begin?
OK, the first thing I noticed about this book is that there are a lot of pop-culture references. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. For someone reading this when it was first published in 2002 I'm sure it would have been an enjoyable read. I read it in 2018. Putting too many pop culture references in a book is basically giving it a short shelf life. While people of that generation will get it, what about the next generation? I was 9 when this was first published, so most of them went over my head (truth be told I googled most of them). Most of the references were very British, so I don't know how this book was received internationally. If you do put pop culture references in, make them noteworthy rather than obscure.
Other than that Lucifer was quirky to start off with, but he soon became complaintive and dull.
I didn't hate this book, but I may have liked it better if I read it a decade ago.
OK, the first thing I noticed about this book is that there are a lot of pop-culture references. And when I say a lot, I mean A LOT. For someone reading this when it was first published in 2002 I'm sure it would have been an enjoyable read. I read it in 2018. Putting too many pop culture references in a book is basically giving it a short shelf life. While people of that generation will get it, what about the next generation? I was 9 when this was first published, so most of them went over my head (truth be told I googled most of them). Most of the references were very British, so I don't know how this book was received internationally. If you do put pop culture references in, make them noteworthy rather than obscure.
Other than that Lucifer was quirky to start off with, but he soon became complaintive and dull.
I didn't hate this book, but I may have liked it better if I read it a decade ago.
brhillmann's review against another edition
3.0
Crests and breaks with humor and dry passages in a retelling or the falling of Satan form Lucifer's perspective.
Satan gets a chance at redemption if he can withstand 30 days in a human body, adding humanity to the eternal damnation he feels. Zany antics ensue, some misogyny thrown in for laughs, but Eve is supposed to have come out better off (she trots around Eden using her brains, but there is a righteously awful rape-y scene involved, so it cancels out IMO, for the apologism and slut-shaming).
There were a lot of fun highlights, and a lot that really left me wanting. I would re-read it if I was bored and without anything else to read, and may yet again to decide if I would fully recommend it. I wouldn't not recommend it.
Satan gets a chance at redemption if he can withstand 30 days in a human body, adding humanity to the eternal damnation he feels. Zany antics ensue, some misogyny thrown in for laughs, but Eve is supposed to have come out better off (she trots around Eden using her brains, but there is a righteously awful rape-y scene involved, so it cancels out IMO, for the apologism and slut-shaming).
There were a lot of fun highlights, and a lot that really left me wanting. I would re-read it if I was bored and without anything else to read, and may yet again to decide if I would fully recommend it. I wouldn't not recommend it.
jude_holmes_'s review against another edition
5.0
I first read this as a recommendation from a friend and loved it, the second read was almost as good, though it took me a while to get into it.
marnieluna's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
bluebooked's review against another edition
3.0
2 1/2 stars.
I'm going to say right here that this rating is a bit skewed because it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized I'd begun it with the wrong expectations. Unfortunately, I hadn't enjoyed what I'd read up to that point to start over again. (I was recommended this book on the basis that I'd liked Good Omens and I kept expecting a more light-hearted tone for 100+ pages.)
Now, I'm certain this book is for some people out there, it just wasn't for ME. My main problem was the sheer volume of prose. I can appreciate prose! I love a good metaphor... but when every single sentence inspires three pages of plotless comparisons, I get a little exhausted.
And that's not even the full paragraph. It keeps going! Granted, Lucifer chalks it all up to the mind of the man he's possessing, Declan Gunn, who's a failed author with a suspiciously similar flaw. But... eventually overplayed trope turns into the real thing and it's tiring to struggle through. This 272 page book took me days to finish when a book of equal length should only take 2 sittings.
I enjoyed the characters and premise, but overall the execution let me down immensely.
I'm going to say right here that this rating is a bit skewed because it wasn't until halfway through the book that I realized I'd begun it with the wrong expectations. Unfortunately, I hadn't enjoyed what I'd read up to that point to start over again. (I was recommended this book on the basis that I'd liked Good Omens and I kept expecting a more light-hearted tone for 100+ pages.)
Now, I'm certain this book is for some people out there, it just wasn't for ME. My main problem was the sheer volume of prose. I can appreciate prose! I love a good metaphor... but when every single sentence inspires three pages of plotless comparisons, I get a little exhausted.
You know what Eden was? I'll tell you. Edenic. Susurrating trees reached out fingers of frothy foliage to catch the languid landings of turquoise birds. Opalescent streams exhaled the sweet scene of sewage-free water. Red and silver fish jeweled obsidian meres. Succulent grass appeared and let green really show itself. (That grass and that green, they were made for each other.)
And that's not even the full paragraph. It keeps going! Granted, Lucifer chalks it all up to the mind of the man he's possessing, Declan Gunn, who's a failed author with a suspiciously similar flaw. But... eventually overplayed trope turns into the real thing and it's tiring to struggle through. This 272 page book took me days to finish when a book of equal length should only take 2 sittings.
I enjoyed the characters and premise, but overall the execution let me down immensely.
arthurbdd's review against another edition
1.0
From the shallow theology to the blatant authorial self-insert, this is absolutely risible. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/2013/01/17/you-blowhard/
trackofwords's review against another edition
4.0
Ever wondered what it would be like if the devil could tell his side of the story? Well look no further than I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan, a darkly comic novel in which the Fallen Angel is offered one last chance at redemption. Justifiably suspicious of the offer, he agrees to a month’s trial period, which he spends inhabiting the body of one Declan Gunn, a down-at-heel writer whose last acts before Lucifer’s introduction were to purchase a pack of razor blades and run a hot bath. With Gunn’s body at his disposal, Lucifer proceeds to make the most of his time on the corporeal plane, with varying results, and sets out to tell his side of the story while he’s at it.
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/i-lucifer-glen-duncan/
Read the rest of the review at https://trackofwords.wordpress.com/2015/04/19/i-lucifer-glen-duncan/
cucumber_of_doom's review against another edition
1.0
This book sounded really interesting but didn't deliver. Lucifer tries very hard to be clever in his narrations but mostly it sounds like incoherent rambling.
mistrum_crowe's review against another edition
3.0
A character study that makes some interesting points and has a suitably persuasive and charming narrator, but spends way too much time on the hookers and blow to keep the interest going. I'm disappointed that it didn't do some more interesting things with the premise.