[.ca] I Lucifer (ISBN 0743220137)

From Amazon.co.uk:
Glen Duncan's I, Lucifer begins one steamy summer as some heavy negotiations are taking place in Heaven. God has decided to give Lucifer, the furthest-fallen of all fallen angels, a second chance. The Prince of Darkness can return to the fold, provided he manages to last one month on earth without sin. The human form chosen for this celestial experiment? A depressed novelist of little renown, currently contemplating suicide in his Clerkenwell garret. Lucifer eagerly grasps the opportunity for a holiday on earth, and uses his host's identity to re-write the story of Creation in a format that has Hollywood moguls kissing his feet. It's not popular with Him Upstairs, of course, what with the Devil being portrayed as a maverick free-thinker and God as a humourless autocrat. But Lucifer's having too much fun to care. He's experiencing the pleasures of the flesh for the first time and everything - the odour of sweaty tube trains, cocaine, ice-cream, dirty sex--delights him. By the time the archangels are dispatched to bring him back, the Lord of all that's inhumane can't think of anything he'd rather be than human. Lucifer befogs his audience, alternately spitting fury at them like some sulphur-charged Dennis Leary and then insisting that he's a nice guy, just misunderstood. What's clear, however, is that Glen Duncan is not merely one of those writers who can come up with amusing concepts. He's a sharp, sometimes savage observer of the human condition, whose talents are as many as the legions of Hell.--Matthew Baylis

Brilliant novel!:
The premise behind this book is rather brilliant - the incarnation of Lucifer into a depressed mortal man's body for a whole month, at God's behest nonetheless, and his own nuance of interpretations of this experience. The author succeeds marvellously well for the most part, though the book is not without its few schizophrenic moments. It frequently shifts from moments of hilarity to dull self-justification, from intelligent observations of humanity to senseless blabbering. Lucifer, or the author, has this immense propensity to digress; a little perk that's a great deal entertaining at first but eventually becomes distracting against the main plot. This has the uncanny side effect of sending me elsewhere and puts the imagination on overdrive, either directly from the scenario or from unrelated events it makes me imagine, and ends up being a good thing generally. It tends to get better the closer you get to the end. The book's biggest (and most dangerous) success comes in making the reader believe in the eccentricity of its scenario, culminating to the point where you'll ultimately feel some sympathy for the devil (possibly). You really feel privy to this information, as if really conveyed to you through Lucifer himself and personally, and that's probably the next best thing to being there. The overly religious parts, where Lucifer describes the crucifixion of Christ for instance, can be sometimes daunting and slow down the pace considerably. This is enlivened by more interesting flashbacks into Nazi Germany and 16th Century witch-hunts, and thankfully there are more of the good bits than the unexciting ones. For the most part, Luce tells the story the way you'd expect it, which accounts for its "believability", with a good mix of novel ideas, though Glen Duncan could not avoid a few obvious clichés and some loose ends (just a few). It would be interesting to know how much of this comes from a somewhat autobiographical perspective - apart from the actual Lucifer part, obviously - considering Declan Gunn is an obvious anagram for Glen Duncan. Paradoxically, this book might not appeal to people who clearly have no interest in faith and religion, yet it will mostly be very offensive to those who take their Church and faith too seriously. Lots of sex, violence, drugs and alcohol abuse, strong language and the likes are obviously intended towards a mature audience. I, Lucifer was greatly refreshing and enjoyable and is recommended to those with an open mind!

Sex, drugs, and rock and roll:
Not that I'm into this sort of thing for serious purposes, but for the past year I've been searching out novels that deal with the devil. As I said, not for any serious purpose but rather to see what book there are on the subject and how many authors have used "him" as a jumping off point. ROSEMARY'S BABY comes to mind first, as does the funny Faustian tale KATZENJAMMER by McCrae and some others. But I, LUCIFER was really an eye-opener for me with it's "human" element that the book gave to this "person." Hard to describe, but all I can say is read it and get educated. Totally believable.

Read this book.:
What a charming novel! I picked this one up off Amazon's recommendations list, and was more than pleasantly surprised. It appears that Mr. Duncan is a British author with a raging sense of humour and a very twisted brain. I love it. And I also love the existential doubt, the reams of theological interpretation, the brilliant asides and non sequiturs. There's no real way to summarize this book, except, as I already said: charming and brilliant. Once, a long time ago, I read a library book. It was a space opera, really, but there was another side to it that had me enthralled. It was about God's chosen people, rebels against a galactic tyranny. It was about one of these chosen people who caught the Adversary's attention, and started to question. And ultimately, it was about Good and Evil and the extremely arbitrary distinction between them. By the end of this book, they had been turned upside down. I found that book a couple years ago in an independent geek-shop. I don't know that it's in print anymore, but I do know that I hadn't seen it in a good ten years, so it mustn't be very popular. I think that is because it is clothed in the garb of space opera. I, Lucifer is that book if it were unfolding around us now. If you enjoy theological debate, if you are one to question blind faith, and if you can handle outrageous prose and fuzzy timelines... read this book. I can't guarantee that you'll enjoy it as much as I did, but I'm certain you'll end up with more questions than answers and a whole new way of looking at the world. It might not last longer than a few minutes as you put the book down, but it's definitely worth having thought about.

Give the guy a hug:
I LOVED this book. In Lucifer, Glen Duncan has created a character to whom you want to reach out and give a big hug. Throughout the book you get a taste of Lucifer's inner regrets...all he ever wanted was to be not just loved, but adored by God. Haven't we all been there, if not by God then by someone else? Glen Duncan gives us a sympathetic Satan and a genuinely hilarious story...his vision of Genesis is something that just has to be read!

superb:
Glen Duncan brings Lucifer to life brilliantly and has him delivering calm prose one minute and transforms him into a sulphur spitting 'dennis leary type the next. i laughed again and again with almost every page. You end up having great affinity with Lucifer as he ridicules the norm. if i had anything negative to say then it would be that there was not enough action. I prefered books like the lucifer wars for example, but anyone who likes to look for an alternative to the norm then these two books are a must.