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scottk1222's review
5.0
I changed my rating from a 4 to a five , because I realized something as I digested it. I can really relate to Dominic Hood. Being a gay man, there was a time before I came out , and before that a time when I didn't even know what I was.......I just knew I was.....different. No I have never had a desire to be a masochistic person but still as he was struggling with the whole aspect of who he thought he was, I could totally relate. I went to Bible college to turn myself "normal" he was in search of a priest from his childhood.
That being said I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. They were real and imperfect, as we in the real world tend to be. It took me a bit to get used to his writing style, but that would really be my only complaint. I have [b:I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story|66717|I, Lucifer Finally, the Other Side of the Story|Glen Duncan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170653885s/66717.jpg|1282537] on deck as the next Duncan to be read. Thank you Lori for Turning me on to yet another Great author.
That being said I really enjoyed all of the characters in this book. They were real and imperfect, as we in the real world tend to be. It took me a bit to get used to his writing style, but that would really be my only complaint. I have [b:I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story|66717|I, Lucifer Finally, the Other Side of the Story|Glen Duncan|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1170653885s/66717.jpg|1282537] on deck as the next Duncan to be read. Thank you Lori for Turning me on to yet another Great author.
dearbhla's review
4.0
I'll start this review by stating that ever since I read I, Lucifer I have been a fan of Glen Duncan. And this book has not changed my opinion one bit.
This is a book that deals with issues of good and evil, and of what it is to be evil.
It is the life story of Dominic Hood, the story alternating between his childhood, his past and the present. As a child he witnesses a miracle, or at least what he sees as the aftermath of a miracle but as he grows up he is constantly drawn to the darker side of life.
As with the other Duncan novels I have read Catholicism is a vital part of the characters (maybe less so in the case of I, Lucifer), and as with Love Remains it is through the protagonist's relationships with others that the story takes place.
It is Duncan's writing that drew me into this book, more so than the story of Dominic, but as the plot progressed I grew fonder of him, despite his actions. And I think that is one of the great aspects of this book; Hood is such a likeable character yet at the same time his darkness is constantly growing. Often tender and hateful at the same time.
In a way I would say that this is a part of the magic realism genre. After all miracles and ghosts seem to be part and parcel of the world. But they aren't quite accepted as part of the world as they would be were it a Marquez story. Maybe a sub-genre of English magic-realism? I don't know, I'm not great at labeling things away.
Duncan disturbs the reader, but yet it is full of humour as well, and of truth. And it is in his writing that Duncan excells, sometimes the words he uses are so unusual, and formal that from a lesser writer they would seem stilted, here they flow.
This is a book that deals with issues of good and evil, and of what it is to be evil.
It is the life story of Dominic Hood, the story alternating between his childhood, his past and the present. As a child he witnesses a miracle, or at least what he sees as the aftermath of a miracle but as he grows up he is constantly drawn to the darker side of life.
As with the other Duncan novels I have read Catholicism is a vital part of the characters (maybe less so in the case of I, Lucifer), and as with Love Remains it is through the protagonist's relationships with others that the story takes place.
It is Duncan's writing that drew me into this book, more so than the story of Dominic, but as the plot progressed I grew fonder of him, despite his actions. And I think that is one of the great aspects of this book; Hood is such a likeable character yet at the same time his darkness is constantly growing. Often tender and hateful at the same time.
In a way I would say that this is a part of the magic realism genre. After all miracles and ghosts seem to be part and parcel of the world. But they aren't quite accepted as part of the world as they would be were it a Marquez story. Maybe a sub-genre of English magic-realism? I don't know, I'm not great at labeling things away.
Duncan disturbs the reader, but yet it is full of humour as well, and of truth. And it is in his writing that Duncan excells, sometimes the words he uses are so unusual, and formal that from a lesser writer they would seem stilted, here they flow.
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