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A review by aksel_dadswell
I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan
4.0
I found this both mind-blowing and underwhelming.
On one hand, Duncan's writing is as witty and lyrical and engaging as ever, and this is what elevates the book beyond the interesting conceit of Lucifer telling us a story - his side of the story, with multiple asides about various historical characters and the nature of God, the Fall etc - but that doesn't mean it never gets tedious or bogged down in its own solipsistic self-awareness. But in this I think Duncan's choice is deliberate. The style - Lucifer's style, with his constant tangents and italicisms(??) - is petulent and flamboyant and exuberant and gratuitous and I'm sure many other adjectively colourful terms, but it works because it perfectly reflects the character telling the story. I feel like my being underwhelmed at times is probably my fault for missing the point; the directions Duncan takes the narrative at times are unconventional. While some of the diversions with certain historical figures can be a distraction I wanted to rush through to get back to the main story, it's his work with the human characters that really shines, especially Lucifer's interactions with his host Declan Gunn's (see what he did there) female acquaintances. His dialogue is beautifully human and his observations of body language just exquisite. Speaking of exquisite, the descriptions of London and Lucifer's experience of abosrbing all this - the smells especially, the physical sensations - are some of the best I've read in a book, but then this kind of thing seems to come easily to Duncan, which for him has become a bit of a trademark.
This is, however, my least favourite Glen Duncan I've read so far. The Killing Lessons was one of my favourite books of the year and has a level of narrative sophistication and depth of character that I, Lucifer cannot match. However, the latter does work as much more than the gimmicky publicity stunt of a novel I thought it might end up being, and there are so many passages I had to re-read again and again for their sheer beauty and/or ingenuity of language. In this respect Duncan is up there with Mieville at the top of the wordsmith ladder.
On one hand, Duncan's writing is as witty and lyrical and engaging as ever, and this is what elevates the book beyond the interesting conceit of Lucifer telling us a story - his side of the story, with multiple asides about various historical characters and the nature of God, the Fall etc - but that doesn't mean it never gets tedious or bogged down in its own solipsistic self-awareness. But in this I think Duncan's choice is deliberate. The style - Lucifer's style, with his constant tangents and italicisms(??) - is petulent and flamboyant and exuberant and gratuitous and I'm sure many other adjectively colourful terms, but it works because it perfectly reflects the character telling the story. I feel like my being underwhelmed at times is probably my fault for missing the point; the directions Duncan takes the narrative at times are unconventional. While some of the diversions with certain historical figures can be a distraction I wanted to rush through to get back to the main story, it's his work with the human characters that really shines, especially Lucifer's interactions with his host Declan Gunn's (see what he did there) female acquaintances. His dialogue is beautifully human and his observations of body language just exquisite. Speaking of exquisite, the descriptions of London and Lucifer's experience of abosrbing all this - the smells especially, the physical sensations - are some of the best I've read in a book, but then this kind of thing seems to come easily to Duncan, which for him has become a bit of a trademark.
This is, however, my least favourite Glen Duncan I've read so far. The Killing Lessons was one of my favourite books of the year and has a level of narrative sophistication and depth of character that I, Lucifer cannot match. However, the latter does work as much more than the gimmicky publicity stunt of a novel I thought it might end up being, and there are so many passages I had to re-read again and again for their sheer beauty and/or ingenuity of language. In this respect Duncan is up there with Mieville at the top of the wordsmith ladder.