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The Infinities

3.22 of 5 stars 3.22 · rating details · 1,218 ratings · 276 reviews

On a languid midsummer’s day in the countryside, old Adam Godley, a renowned theoretical mathematician, is dying. His family gathers at his bedside: his son, young Adam, struggling to maintain his marriage to a radiantly beautiful actress; his nineteen-year-old daughter, Petra, filled with voices and visions as she waits for the inevitable; their mother, Ursula, whose rela...more

Hardcover, 273 pages

Published February 23rd 2010 by Knopf (first published September 4th 2009)

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Apr 30, 2010 David rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pretentious assmarmots

Shelves: hideously-vile-protagonists, intellectual-con-artist-at-work, mind-numbingly-boring, read-in-2010, utter-dreck, embarrassed-to-own

I've read somewhere that the main thing a novelist needs to accomplish in the first 10% of a story is to convince the reader to keep reading. John Banville obviously does not feel bound by this advice. Hell, no, with a kind of oblivious arrogance that might almost be admirable, if it weren't so irritating, he launches this grotesquely overwritten galley of pretentious claptrap, and let the reader be damned!

The domineering patriarch lies dying in the upper chamber. Assorted members of the family...more

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Feb 06, 2013 Ian rated it 3 of 5 stars

John Banville is one of the great stylists of contemporary English-language fiction, and his abundant talents are on exuberant, rollicking display in The Infinities. The action of the novel takes place over a single day, as Adam Godley, the famous theoretical mathematician, lies dying in a top floor room of his huge country home (called Arden House). Surrounding him are his much younger wife Ursula (a closet alcoholic), his neurotic and profoundly insecure daughter Petra, his ungainly and impres...more

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Jan 03, 2012 Jack rated it 3 of 5 stars

“Banville has astonishing powers…This is unequivocally a work of brilliance” blurbs the Spectator on the back of the dust jacket. And my hometown paper, the KC Star placed it among its top 10 novels of 2009. So what the heck, I bought it on discount at Borders a year ago. It has been in my “to read” stack ever since. It never seems to move up. With a wild hair, I moved it above Adrian McKinty’s Bloomsday trilogy and several others that I know I will enjoy. It’s been a while since I have read any...more

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Aug 25, 2012 Terri rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, audio-books, fiction

I wanted to like this. It had moments where the writing was really engaging, and one metaphor early on that was really moving. But I just couldn't buy it. Overall, I found the language overbearing, the mythology ridiculous and shoe-horned into the story, and the "plot" completely pointless. I don't even mind, sometimes, there not being a plot. I resolved, pretty early on, that this book was more of a vignette of a day than a plot driven novel, and I could live with that. But the ending was absur...more

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Aug 04, 2012 Κατερίνα Μαλακατέ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Δεν θα ξεκινήσω να εξηγώ γιατί πήρα το «Άπειροι κόσμοι» του Μπάνβιλ, γιατί δεν θα έχει κανένα νόημα. Πριν από μερικά χρόνια, όταν διάβασα τη «Θάλασσα», δυσκολεύτηκα να βρω την όποια γοητεία στη γραφή του, οπότε μάλλον έφταιξα που εμπιστεύτηκα το οπισθόφυλλο και έδωσα στο συγγραφέα μια ακόμα ευκαιρία. Μου πήρε χρόνο να τελειώσω το βιβλίο, και το έκανα από αναγνωστική διαστροφή και τίποτε άλλο. Ούτε το τέλος με ενθουσίασε. Είπαμε, στην τελική ανάλυση έχει να κάνει και με τη χημεία βιβλίου- αναγνώσ...more Δεν θα ξεκινήσω να εξηγώ γιατί πήρα το «Άπειροι κόσμοι» του Μπάνβιλ, γιατί δεν θα έχει κανένα νόημα. Πριν από μερικά χρόνια, όταν διάβασα τη «Θάλασσα», δυσκολεύτηκα να βρω την όποια γοητεία στη γραφή του, οπότε μάλλον έφταιξα που εμπιστεύτηκα το οπισθόφυλλο και έδωσα στο συγγραφέα μια ακόμα ευκαιρία. Μου πήρε χρόνο να τελειώσω το βιβλίο, και το έκανα από αναγνωστική διαστροφή και τίποτε άλλο. Ούτε το τέλος με ενθουσίασε. Είπαμε, στην τελική ανάλυση έχει να κάνει και με τη χημεία βιβλίου- αναγνώστη.
Ο Αδάμ Γκόντλι, άλλοτε βραβευμένος μαθηματικός, έχει πάθει εγκεφαλικό και οι συγγενείς του μαζεύονται στο σπίτι πριν πεθάνει. Ο γιος του, Αδάμ, είναι ένας αδέξιος αλλά αξιόπιστος άνθρωπος, η κόρη του Πέτρα μια σαλεμένη τρελή, η μαμά Ούρσουλα μια γυναίκα τριάντα χρόνια μικρότερη του Αδάμ του πρεσβύτερου που κάνει όμως σα να πεθαίνει αυτή.
Δυσκολεύτηκα να ταυτιστώ με τους χαρακτήρες κυρίως γιατί δεν τους γνωρίζουμε παρά αμυδρά. Το όποιο ενδιαφέρον του βιβλίου εστιάζεται στον αφηγητή που στο μεγαλύτερο μέρος δεν είναι άλλος από τον θεό Ερμή, που με κάποιο απροσδιόριστο τρόπο μπουρδουκλώνεται στις ζωές αυτών των ανθρώπων που δεν κάνουν ούτε παθαίνουν απολύτως….τίποτα. Την εμφάνιση του κάνει κι ο Πάνας, ο πιο μη σεξουαλικός Πάνας που έχω συναντήσει ποτέ στη λογοτεχνία. Με λίγα λόγια, οι «Άπειροι κόσμοι» με συντρόφευσαν σε άπειρα χασμουρητά.(less)

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Feb 11, 2012 Benjamin rated it 3 of 5 stars

I have long wanted to read a book by John Banville. I've started a few, sometimes among the shelves of a local bookstore, but have never gone past a few pages. Banville's stated goal when writing prose is to provide it with "the kind of denseness and thickness that poetry has." As a lover of especially poetic prose, I was curious.

Quickly put, "The Infinities" follows the Greek god Hermes as he watches a modern family come together to pay final respects to their dying patriarch. He narrates thei...more I have long wanted to read a book by John Banville. I've started a few, sometimes among the shelves of a local bookstore, but have never gone past a few pages. Banville's stated goal when writing prose is to provide it with "the kind of denseness and thickness that poetry has." As a lover of especially poetic prose, I was curious.

Quickly put, "The Infinities" follows the Greek god Hermes as he watches a modern family come together to pay final respects to their dying patriarch. He narrates their actions, explains their thoughts, and waxes on immortals' place in the universe. As the book progresses, the identity the narrator comes into question and subtle hints that this book takes place in an alternate universe emerge from the memories of the Godley family.

I found the conceit of the book intriguing, but I'm afraid it starts to lose its charm half-way through the book. By the time some of the characters begin to reveal their true selves, Banville had lost my interest. (Granted, I still finished the book.) The man's prose is pretty solid and remarkably particular in its word choice. (Sometimes Banville even seems to be showboating, using 25¢ words which I had to look up the meanings for. [Thanks Kindle for the handiness of your dictionary function!]) But his pedantic devotion to saturating his language drowned the story and its characters, obfuscated the alternate world he was trying to hint at, and just lost any of the whimsy that a modern tale featuring ancient gods may have had. Even with hit-you-over-the-head-with-a-hammer symbolism in the character's names, references to Greek myth and Bible stories, the novel just seems to reference itself and never comes to anything more than the book it is. Banville is somewhat disliked in some circles because of his clear statements that his writing, unlike those of many of his colleagues, is art. If so, his dexterity with words is impressive, but in the end this work of art had the curious and oxymoronic distinction of being heavy-handed and empty. Oh, well.(less)

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Jan 30, 2012 Eric rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Greek gods are still hanging around, apparently, unbeknownst to us, overseeing and to varying degrees affecting our earthly passages (while making sure that "all divots [are] replaced" after their interventions). So Banville's latest novel imagines, at least, which suggests a rather beguiling cross-pollination of, say, Wim Wenders' luminous film Wings of Desire and Virginia Woolf's introspective fictional style. The gods here -- as they look down on their "little ones" and try to ward off th...more

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May 26, 2011 Catachresis rated it 2 of 5 stars

I lasted only 30 pages, though do feel slightly bad only giving 2 stars given the reasonable writing calibre - but then again, reasonable prose does not make a book (and that's what this prose is - reasonable, not jaw-dropping, for good flow is not all it's about (though Banville, to be sure, does achieve very good flow)). I came to Banville having heard some people really rate his style. Sure, it flows, is pretty light on the eye, and he takes care over his words; but, to be brutally honest, I...more

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Oct 16, 2010 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

i liked this book more than most people.

i love taking greco-roman mythological characters and placing them in a modern setting... i do, i'll admit it. i loved woody allen's grecian tragedy complete with chorus in 'mighty aphrodite.' to me that's just good humor. and an interesting other-worldly view to take on a basically human story.

and i liked the way banville does it in 'the infinities.' a novel about the oncoming death of a family member could have been a somber tome revisiting grief and th...more

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Sep 17, 2010 Laurie rated it 4 of 5 stars

As old Adam Godley lies in a coma in the top room of the house, presumed to be dying, his family gathers. His alcoholic wife, Ursula’ son Adam and daughter-in-law Helen; somewhat mad daughter Petra; erstwhile biographer Roddy; housekeeper (and former owner of the house, fallen on hard times) Ivy; and the cowman, Duffy, mingle in the house along with some Greek gods, both seen and unseen (and in one case, felt)- Zeus, temporarily in love/lust with Helen, Pan in his guise of a long time friend of...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Charles Matthews rated it 3 of 5 stars

I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's clever, witty, imaginative and filled with ideas -- all things I prize in a book. And yet it lacks coherence, perhaps even a sense of full commitment by the author to his novel. I don't feel Banville's dedication to the material, a sense that he really had a compelling reason or desire to tell this story.

It is a kind of homage to the story of Amphytrion -- the mortal cuckolded by Zeus, who took Amphitryon's own shape to seduce his wife, Alc...more I really wanted to like this book more than I did. It's clever, witty, imaginative and filled with ideas -- all things I prize in a book. And yet it lacks coherence, perhaps even a sense of full commitment by the author to his novel. I don't feel Banville's dedication to the material, a sense that he really had a compelling reason or desire to tell this story.

It is a kind of homage to the story of Amphytrion -- the mortal cuckolded by Zeus, who took Amphitryon's own shape to seduce his wife, Alcmene -- and to Kleist's play based on the story. And there is something theatrical about the setting -- an isolated country house where a family has gathered to wait for the death of the father, comatose after a stroke. The place is also haunted by the Greek gods -- Hermes keeps watch on things while his own father, Zeus, has his way with the beautiful actress wife (named, rather obviously, Helen) of the son of the dying man. Both son and father are named Adam, which only adds another layer of confusion to the story, which is narrated by Hermes, and then by the elder Adam in his comatose state, and then by both of them, blending and alternating until it's not clear who, other than Banville, is telling the story.

The elder Adam is a prominent intellectual -- a mathematician or a philosopher or a theoretical physicist -- whose ideas about infinity, or rather infinities, have changed the world: applications of his theories have led to automobiles that run on seawater. But the world in which the novel takes place is not our own: In this alternate world, for example, Mary, Queen of Scots, beheaded Elizabeth I, not the other way around. And Alfred Russel Wallace, not Darwin, was credited with the theory of evolution, which in any case has been disproved.

Yes, Banville is having fun, playing as much with Shakespeare (there is a character whose name, Wagstaff, is a translation of "Shakespeare") as with the classic myth or Kleist's version of it. Another character, Benny Grace, is both the god Pan and a version of Shakespeare's Puck, and the whole thing has a Midsummer Night's Dream quality to it. But the novel has a dark side, too: Old Adam's first wife drowned herself; his current wife, Ursula, is an alcoholic; their daughter, Petra, is a morbid young woman who is compiling a list of human ailments and secretly mutilates herself.

Is the problem with the novel that there is too much going on and not enough of it winds up anywhere meaningful? Perhaps. It's a verbal feast -- Banville is often compared to such word wizards as Nabokov and Joyce -- but I came away from it feeling a little queasy, as if I'd just been to a banquet of appetizers. (less)

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Jul 30, 2010 Megan rated it 3 of 5 stars

The writing is overwrought in an addictive way, the characters are totally, adorably screwed up, and the setting (a sweltering day in Ireland…I guess that happens in these climatically changed times) is lovely. But once you've been sucked into the world of The Infinities the ground gets a bit slippery (or "oleaginous," as Banville might say). The multiple characters (Zeus, Hermes, a cute blonde girl from Dublin, etc) lay claim to omniscience, and yet, at times Banville calls "cut" on what seemed...more

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Jun 10, 2010 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

As enchanted as I was by Banville's beautiful prose, this farcical meditation on what it means to be silly foolish human things, babes really, I can't deny I was ready for this novel to end. To say by closing page I was well-worn would be fitting. Time to move on, as though from an exotic restaurant, from a dinner perhaps appreciated more than enjoyed.

Other reviewers have noted the distinct lack of story here, and I can understand. While the novel has a feel of timelessness, in fact could be sa...more

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Mar 28, 2010 Stephen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Does anyone write a richer more mellifluous prose than John Banville? Still, at times I find his style too oleagenous for my taste, to use one of his favorite words (moreover, his obsession with "f" alliteration can sometimes tires). This novel, very much in the Irish tradition, deals with a dysfunctional family--or, actually two, dysfunctional families, the second being the family of Greek gods who overlooks and at certain points interferes with the earthly family. The narrator is Hermes who ha...more

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Mar 12, 2010 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

I cannot resist reading Banville aloud. His command of prose style is without equal among contemporary writers in English. When Banville uses a comma, it is for a very good reason and must be read to preserve the rhythm of the sentence as well as the sense. Despite the beauty of his prose, which borders often on poetry, he is playful in The Infinities with both characters and readers, as befits a comedy. One can, in fact, read this novel as a play. It is, in part, a restaging of Amphitryon, comp...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Margaret rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Margaret by: Erik

This is simply a stunningly beautiful book. It focuses on a family which is gathered together because the father, Adam Godley, a brilliant theoretical mathematician, is on his deathbed. He is attended by his second wife, his son Adam (and Adam's wife Helen), and his daughter Petra. Petra's "young man" visits, although his interest in Petra is not clear. There are a few others stopping by the Godley home as well. The narrator of the novel is Hermes, the Greek god (aka Mercury), and Zeus and Pan p...more

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Jun 26, 2011 Efseine rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: unfinished

Yet another example of perfectly decent contemporary literary fiction that just doesn't do it for me. The concept fascinated me - the Greek gods are real, and Hermes acts as our narrator as he watches the Godley family, the father of whom is dying - and I did enjoy the POV, finding Banville's writing quite evocative in places. Sometimes it had more rhythm than sense, though, so while beautiful I couldn't manage to get ahold of the narrative. This happens to me a lot with literary fiction, unfort...more

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Jul 04, 2010 Lisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: library-book-or-loan

I should have bought my own copy of The Infinities; it’s a book to linger over, not read in haste because it’s due back at the library. It is a beautiful book.

I like Banville’s playful characterisation. This is a story about a household reunion because the patriarch old Adam Godley is dying, but the household is watched over by the ancient Greek gods. They watch the vigil with cynical amusement and mild jealousy; they interfere out of malice and selfishness. They are petty and vindictive; they...more

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Mar 02, 2010 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

What is like to be a god?

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Jul 31, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it · review of another edition

I agree with two other reviewers--this is a curous book, and it probably bears a second read--perhaps after reading the original story. The writing is impeccable, so the fact that the story seems overtly odd at times and at best is unusual is easier to tolerate when the writing kind of transports you along. This is an author who is a non-linear thinker, and so it is on occasion hard to follow him---this book is one of those times--so it seems quite mundane and then suddenly Zeus is having sex wi...more

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Aug 12, 2011 Caitlin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

I was skeptical of this book at first: the plot involves a dying mathematician's family gathering around his deathbed, as narrated by Hermes (yes, the messenger god, who is waiting around to escort the man's soul) and involving nearly the whole pantheon of Greek gods (Zeus bangs the daughter-in-law, Pan shows up to cause trouble, etc.). But then the pronouns shift and you realize that the comatose genius is the one possibly narrating, having invented/created the pantheon as/for himself. I'm much...more

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Jul 31, 2011 Catherine Woodman added it

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Mar 31, 2010 Bill rated it 3 of 5 stars

With this novel,I think i fell prey to the "high expectations" syndrome I sometimes encounter with books and films that are blessed by excessive hype, and honestly I should realize that the cover synopsis and review blurbs on the book itself are representative of the very best things anyone had to say about it. I'm not saying I didn't like this novel, there's plenty I did like about it, but I just can't honestly say I found it to be "dazzling", which was an adjective I saw used more than once.

By...more With this novel,I think i fell prey to the "high expectations" syndrome I sometimes encounter with books and films that are blessed by excessive hype, and honestly I should realize that the cover synopsis and review blurbs on the book itself are representative of the very best things anyone had to say about it. I'm not saying I didn't like this novel, there's plenty I did like about it, but I just can't honestly say I found it to be "dazzling", which was an adjective I saw used more than once.

By the author's own admission (in a brief interview I read), the story is nothing spectacular. Adam Godley, a renowned mathematician, lies on his deathbed in the "skyroom" of his rather eccentric house, mentally tripping through his past while the members of his rather dysfunctional family gather to keep vigil. His son, also named Adam, has arrived with wife Helen, and seems to be struggling to hold his marriage together. Daughter Petra is a withdrawn and morbid young lady whose favorite pastime (we think, at any rate, until late in the story) is writing an encyclopedia of human diseases and medical conditions. Second wife Ursula has clearly been struggling for some time to figure out her relationship to her step-children, as well as to her husband whose memories of first wife Dorothy (obviously still considered his soul mate) seem to call her status into question. Throw into the mix a few Greek gods who can't resist getting involved, and you actually get a nice juxtaposition of dysfunctional "families." Zeus has a thing for Helen, and has brought Hermes (our narrator) along for assistance while he stages a booty call in the guise of young Adam. Meanwhile, Helen is also intrigued by Roddy Wagstaff, a young man Petra has become fixated upon, but whose main interest is clearly old Adam, whose biography he hopes to write. When Pan unexpectedly shows up in the form of old Adam's colleague from the past, everyone's plans are thrown into a tailspin.

The thing I found most satisfying about this book was really the prose. Banfield's use of language is skilled and beautiful. His physical descriptions of places manages to be detailed at the same time it's concise, and all the settings are consistently shrouded with a magical sort of atmosphere. His insights into the motivations and hangups of the characters are intriguing. And permeating everything is a delightful comic sense of the absurd.

OK, maybe I was dazzled just a little.(less)

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Aug 22, 2012 James rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, audiobook

I really wanted to like this book as it has some beautiful writing in it and some wonderfully keen observations, but I doubt I would have gotten through it if I hadn't read it on audiobook.

Synopsis from Amazon: "On a languid midsummer’s day in the countryside, old Adam Godley, a renowned theoretical mathematician, is dying. His family gathers at his bedside: his son, young Adam, struggling to maintain his marriage to a radiantly beautiful actress; his nineteen-year-old daughter, Petra, filled w...more

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Sep 24, 2012 Andrew rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

John Banville writes 'modern' fiction that rhymes with so little in the less-than-poetic world of the twenty-first century,harking back to classical themes & eternal verities.He is not for the casual,'general' reader,as concentration is a requirement,as almost every paragraph or draught of dialogue encapsulates something important,something resonant.As an Irish writer,he has a certain style with English which deserves the adjective 'elegaic';the stroking of harp strings rather than the whine...more

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Jul 12, 2011 Anda rated it 3 of 5 stars

Infinities?? Yes, there could be many as worlds could be. Like at Arden, where old Adam is lying on his deathbed, while the Greek Gods are continuing their demiurgic jobs. Where life is never ending, though the death is pretty close. Where gods and people are the same: half funny and half gloomy, half smart and half stupid, unpredictable. Pretty normal, could be said. Banville created this mixed universe full with “the mysteries of the others” using his unmistakable style, which consists of a sm...more

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Aug 06, 2010 Tarfah rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: available-at-raspberry-s, never-again, 2010

What utter rubbish!! I JUST finished this book and I swear I don't know why I bothered! Well, I do- it's because I promised myself that I would complete each and every one of my "current" books, even though I am not remotely invested in them, just to keep giving them a chance. But this one, a total waste of time!

The entire books is centered around this dying man and those connected to him. And oh yes, some silly bored gods who mischievously tamper with their lives.

I mean, seriously??!!! I thoug...more

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Apr 20, 2010 Karen Loveridge rated it 1 of 5 stars

I was looking forward to this book because I thought the story concept was interesting. However, the story totally fell apart under the EXTREME weight of similee and description. I listened to the audio version and couldn't get to the story because so much time was spent establishing mood. No object or person esecaped a minimum 3 sentence description chock full of metaphores.

Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a good descriptive phrase, and metaphores are a good thing -- but a bit of restrait would hav...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Bookmarks Magazine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: may-jun-2010

The Infinities replays the myth of Amphitryon, in which Zeus seduces a mortal woman while disguised as her husband. Banville's modern-day retelling, however, with all its conceits of the classical gods' ability (or inability) to impersonate humans and its celestial-earthly humor, met with dissent from critics. Many thought that the novel reached the literary heights of The Sea in its rich, elegant writing, sensuous details, and witty farce. But a few reviewers described the novel as overwritten...more

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Mar 07, 2010 Shawn rated it 5 of 5 stars

A great mathematician lies dying in another of the infinity of separate but intermingled worlds that he has discovered exist. It is subtly different from ours -- cold fusion works, Wallace and not Darwin is remembered, Kleist is the great genius and Goethe forgotten, and, most importantly, the Greek gods continue to fumble about in the lives of mortals. The place is called Arden and has more than a little of the whiff of Shakespeare's wood about it.

But this is really mostly beside the point, si...more

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About John Banville

Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His father worked in a garage and died when Banville was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. He is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. His sister Vonnie Banville-Evans has written both a children's novel and a reminiscence of growing up...more Banville was born in Wexford, Ireland. His father worked in a garage and died when Banville was in his early thirties; his mother was a housewife. He is the youngest of three siblings; his older brother Vincent is also a novelist and has written under the name Vincent Lawrence as well as his own. His sister Vonnie Banville-Evans has written both a children's novel and a reminiscence of growing up in Wexford.

Educated at a Christian Brothers' school and at St Peter's College in Wexford. Despite having intended to be a painter and an architect he did not attend university. Banville has described this as "A great mistake. I should have gone. I regret not taking that four years of getting drunk and falling in love. But I wanted to get away from my family. I wanted to be free." After school he worked as a clerk at Aer Lingus which allowed him to travel at deeply-discounted rates. He took advantage of this to travel in Greece and Italy. He lived in the United States during 1968 and 1969. On his return to Ireland he became a sub-editor at the Irish Press, rising eventually to the position of chief sub-editor. His first book, Long Lankin, was published in 1970.

After the Irish Press collapsed in 1995, he became a sub-editor at the Irish Times. He was appointed literary editor in 1998. The Irish Times, too, suffered severe financial problems, and Banville was offered the choice of taking a redundancy package or working as a features department sub-editor. He left. Banville has been a regular contributor to The New York Review of Books since 1990. In 1984, he was elected to Aosdána, but resigned in 2001, so that some other artist might be allowed to receive the cnuas.

Banville also writes under the pen name Benjamin Black. His first novel under this pen name was Christine Falls, which was followed by The Silver Swan in 2007. Banville has two adult sons with his wife, the American textile artist Janet Dunham. They met during his visit to San Francisco in 1968 where she was a student at the University of California, Berkeley. Dunham described him during the writing process as being like "a murderer who's just come back from a particularly bloody killing". Banville has two daughters from his relationship with Patricia Quinn, former head of the Arts Council of Ireland.

Banville has a strong interest in vivisection and animal rights, and is often featured in Irish media speaking out against vivisection in Irish university research.(less)

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Quotes from The Infinities

“You will remember this when all else fades, this moment, here, together, by this well. There will be certain days, and certain nights, you’ll feel my presence near you, hear my voice. You’ll think you have imagined it and yet, inside you, you will catch an answering cry. On April evenings, when the rain has ceased, your heart will shake, you’ll weep for nothing, pine for what’s not there. For you, this life will never be enough, there will forever be an emptiness, where once the god was all in all in you.” — 17 people liked it

“This love, this mortal love, is of their own making," Hermes muses, "the thing we did not intend, foresee or sanction. How then should it not fascinate us? . . . It is as if a fractious child had been handed a few timber shavings and a bucket of mud to keep him quiet only for him promptly to erect a cathedral. . . . Within the precincts of this consecrated house they afford each other sanctuary, excuse each other their failings, their sweats and smells, their lies and subterfuges, above all their ineradicable self-obsession. This is what baffles us, how they wriggled out of our grasp and somehow became free to forgive each other for all that they are not.” — 6 people liked it

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BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6595136-the-infinities?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1320500563l/6595136.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6595136-the-infinities?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]The Infinities by John Banville[/url]

The Infinities

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