Lux the Poet

I thought I would like this book more than I did. It's a comedy set in the Brixton Riots of the early 1980s, set around the adventures of a narcissistic poet called Lux. In a wonderfully creative mix of storylines, a whole array of other characters run around in Brixton in the chaos of the riots, most of them exasperated at Lux for one reason or another.

Most of all I liked the story of Kalia, who was expelled from heaven after being falsely accused of organising a coup against the gods, and has been condemned to do a million acts of kindness before she can get back in - except that Yasmin, working for the evil person who really organised the coup, thwarts her in every lifetime and gives her good deeds really bad consequences.

Of course it's a completely, deliberately unrealistic story, pure fantasy. That's fun for a while, but the trouble is for me that if nothing feels believable, including the characters, then everything rests on the comedy aspect and, for me, it just wasn't funny enough. It was clever, and it made me smile a few times in appreciation, but I didn't laugh out loud. And so without characters or a plot to follow, without real laughs to keep me going, all I had was appreciation for the cleverness of the writing and the zany creativeness of the plot. It was alright, but for me it wasn't really enough. ( )

Everytime i reread Lux the Poet I am assailed by feelings that are difficult to put into words.
Lux the Poet seems like a simple novel - it is short, it can be read in one sitting. It is far from simple though, i think. It is efficient. It has a sort of humane, riffy minimalism I associate with only the best punk music. Lux the Poet tackles head on, with wit and a sort of sympathetic anti-sentimentality, sexuality, poetry, religion, death, and fame.
What i wouldn't give to have heard Lux recite that final poem. ( )

Reviewed by LaLeesha Haynes for TeensReadToo.com

LUX THE POET, by British author Martin Millar, offers a fun, eccentric story of a poet in search of eternal fame and fortune.

As Lux searches a Brixton riot for Pearl - the lesbian love of his life - he meets the resistance of those he has wronged while avoiding the brutality going on around him.

Lux's positive attitude of eternal optimism and vanity make this book an enjoyable read. However, this story would not be complete without the escapades of Lux's past lives. We learn more of his antics through the eyes of an angel who has been misjudged and sent to earth to complete a million acts of kindness, only to be foiled by her nemesis, an angel who revels in evil-doing.

It was these stories that give the book depth and make Lux an enjoyable character.

There are moments in this book that make it more suitable for an adult audience because of its crude nature; although fleeting, it would still be inappropriate for a younger audience. But it is this mix of oddities that makes the book an entertaining and witty novel. ( )

this book is about a vain 'poet' wondering around a riot searching for the woman he loves(who is a lesbian), whilst trying to recite his poetry to very annoyed reporters. And to top off the wierdness, reincarnated angels are also wondering around, one trying to do good deeds, and the other determined to thwart her. ( )

If you never discovered Mr Millar then you are missing an English treat! describing himself as a punk novelist, he captured his native London in a way that Irvin Walsh did with Trainspotting...a time and a place frozen perfectly for us all to share. But unlike his scottish counterpart Millar always manages to infuse all of his novels with a little ray of in amongst all of the city chaos. THat's why even atfer all this time I still go back and re-read them all again and again and again! ENJOY! ( )