Michalyn's review

I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story
by Glen Duncan

[close]

blog this review

Copy/paste the text below into your blog.

<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66717.I_Lucifer_Finally_the_Other_Side_of_the_Story?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170653885m/66717.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/66717.I_Lucifer_Finally_the_Other_Side_of_the_Story?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/37613.Glen_Duncan">Glen Duncan</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3279913?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 3 of 5 stars This book started off with a bang and ended with a fizzle. I really wanted to give it a 4 star rating but I couldn't. My reason is I Lucifer is a novel of great strengths and great weaknesses.
 
 The strengths are a hilarious, witty narrator, especially in the earlier chapters of the book. Lucifer's voice is thoroughly convincing. It's just what you'd expect of the devil. "Listening" to him you can't help but admit that heaven seems like an awfully boring place to be. I particularly enjoyed his "retelling" of the creation story and his take on Adam and Eve. Jesus's characterization was wonderfully satirical too. I also enjoyed his relationships with the various angels. It seemed fitting too that he'd end up in the body of an author.
 
 Some passages were surprisingly philosophical and insightful. I found myself a few times pausing to chew over a number of them, especially Lucifer's thoughts about why God had not eliminated him. I'd never thought of the inherent contradiction in an infinitely merciful god creating an infinitely irredeemable being. To destroy Lucifer would be to call into question His own infinite mercy.
 
 Those were the great parts of I Lucifer. The weak parts were the overlong digressions. At first, Lucifer's asides were pitch perfect but as the book progressed they seemed to become more and more leaden. The plot also seemed to stagnate. It seemed like there was so much delicious trouble Lucifer could get into in the mortal world but he spent most of his time wallowing and frankly not doing that much.
 
 Secondly, the ending fell flat on many levels but for me, it just didn't make sense. If Lucifer was not responsible for all the evil in the world then what did he have to ask for forgiveness for? Furthermore, why wait until this point to break the news to him? Why not a billion years earlier? I kept thinking that the problem with telling a story from Lucifer's perspective is that no matter how witty and convincing he his you can never take him outside "the canon" of the biblical story. Reinvent him too much and the concept of God as we know it also begins to break down completely. If there was never any infinite evil then there was no infinte good either. Destroy Satan and you destroy God with him. It's no wonder Duncan comes up with the device of God erasing himself.
 
 I'm more than happy to give up that dichotomy so that didn't bother me in the least, but in terms of consisitency and what gave the book its original lure, the end just didn't seem to fit. 
 
 That said, Lucifer is such an engaging narrator that he ultimately made up for all the book's other failings. I hear there will be a movie soon. I'd love to see it! :D 3.5 stars/5.
 
 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/205347?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Michalyn's review
rating:

bookshelves: 2008, fiction
status: Read in September, 2008

** spoiler alert ** This book started off with a bang and ended with a fizzle. I really wanted to give it a 4 star rating but I couldn't. My reason is I Lucifer is a novel of great strengths and great weaknesses.

The strengths are a hilarious, witty narrator, especially in the earlier chapters of the book. Lucifer's voice is thoroughly convincing. It's just what you'd expect of the devil. "Listening" to him you can't help but admit that heaven seems like an awfully boring place to be. I particularly enjoyed his "retelling" of the creation story and his take on Adam and Eve. Jesus's characterization was wonderfully satirical too. I also enjoyed his relationships with the various angels. It seemed fitting too that he'd end up in the body of an author.

Some passages were surprisingly philosophical and insightful. I found myself a few times pausing to chew over a number of them, especially Lucifer's thoughts about why God had not eliminated him. I'd never thought of the inhere...more This book started off with a bang and ended with a fizzle. I really wanted to give it a 4 star rating but I couldn't. My reason is I Lucifer is a novel of great strengths and great weaknesses.

The strengths are a hilarious, witty narrator, especially in the earlier chapters of the book. Lucifer's voice is thoroughly convincing. It's just what you'd expect of the devil. "Listening" to him you can't help but admit that heaven seems like an awfully boring place to be. I particularly enjoyed his "retelling" of the creation story and his take on Adam and Eve. Jesus's characterization was wonderfully satirical too. I also enjoyed his relationships with the various angels. It seemed fitting too that he'd end up in the body of an author.

Some passages were surprisingly philosophical and insightful. I found myself a few times pausing to chew over a number of them, especially Lucifer's thoughts about why God had not eliminated him. I'd never thought of the inherent contradiction in an infinitely merciful god creating an infinitely irredeemable being. To destroy Lucifer would be to call into question His own infinite mercy.

Those were the great parts of I Lucifer. The weak parts were the overlong digressions. At first, Lucifer's asides were pitch perfect but as the book progressed they seemed to become more and more leaden. The plot also seemed to stagnate. It seemed like there was so much delicious trouble Lucifer could get into in the mortal world but he spent most of his time wallowing and frankly not doing that much.

Secondly, the ending fell flat on many levels but for me, it just didn't make sense. If Lucifer was not responsible for all the evil in the world then what did he have to ask for forgiveness for? Furthermore, why wait until this point to break the news to him? Why not a billion years earlier? I kept thinking that the problem with telling a story from Lucifer's perspective is that no matter how witty and convincing he his you can never take him outside "the canon" of the biblical story. Reinvent him too much and the concept of God as we know it also begins to break down completely. If there was never any infinite evil then there was no infinte good either. Destroy Satan and you destroy God with him. It's no wonder Duncan comes up with the device of God erasing himself.

I'm more than happy to give up that dichotomy so that didn't bother me in the least, but in terms of consisitency and what gave the book its original lure, the end just didn't seem to fit.

That said, Lucifer is such an engaging narrator that he ultimately made up for all the book's other failings. I hear there will be a movie soon. I'd love to see it! :D 3.5 stars/5.

...less

Like this review? yes flag

comments (showing 1-2 of 2)

newest »

date

message 1: by Tai

09/11/2008 04:58AM

I read this book a few years ago and I remember being disappointed with the ending as well.

So there's going to be a movie, eh? I'd definitely like to see that too!