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Apr 30, 2010

David rated it:

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 o More...

8 comments like (24 people liked it)

Jan 03, 2012

Jack rated it:

“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 re More...

3 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 11, 2012

Benjamin rated it:

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 dyi More...

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Jan 30, 2012

Eric rated it:

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" an More...

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May 26, 2011

Catachresis rated it:

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:

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 t More...

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Sep 17, 2010

Laurie rated it:

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 rated it:

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 h More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2010

Megan rated it:

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" More...

0 comments like

Jun 10, 2010

Michael rated it:

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 More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 28, 2010

Stephen rated it:

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 More...

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 12, 2010

Michael rated it:

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...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jun 26, 2011

Efseine rated it:

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:

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 v More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 02, 2010

Michael rated it:

What is like to be a god?

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jul 31, 2011

Catherine added it

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 More...

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Aug 12, 2011

Caitlin rated it:

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 muc More...

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Jul 31, 2011

Catherine added it

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 More...

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Mar 31, 2010

Bill rated it:

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 us More...

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Jul 12, 2011

Anda rated it:

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 More...

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Aug 06, 2010

Tarfah rated it:

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.

More...

4 comments like

Apr 20, 2010

Karen rated it:

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 re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 06, 2010

Bookmarks Magazine rated it:

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...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Mar 07, 2010

Shawn rated it:

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 besid More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Nov 11, 2011

JerryB rated it:

I loved this book. The characters are amazing, and each one charming in his or her own way, and their interactions with one another, also a source of endless delight. To be introduced to such an interesting group of people at such a critical watershed event in their lives, is almost all one could possibly want. The story -- or I should say, interleaved and interpenetrating stories -- well, I found those compelling too, but once you care about the characters, perhaps that's not surprising. I More...

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Sep 08, 2010

Eric rated it:

The Infinities takes place is one of the multiple universes whose existence was proven by the dying patriarch in the novel – the mathematician Adam Godley. In this universe, the Greeks gods are more than mythological. Hermes acts as narrator and influences the plot along with Zeus and Pan. While the storyline isn’t unique (family gathering for the impending death of a father), the perspective undoubtedly is. Banville comments on the limits of human expression using the senior Adam Godley:
More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Apr 25, 2010

Matt rated it:

I was drawn to this book because of the plot. But I quickly found that this book is not meant to be read for the plot, but for the prose. The story is simple. A dying, brilliant mathematician is surrounded by his family, associates and the Greek gods Zeus and Hermes on the last day of his life. Arguably, there’s an enigmatic visit by Pan as well. There’s an internal reference, as well as a mention by Banville in an interview, that the book loosely reflects playwright Heinrich von Kleist's s More...

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Apr 07, 2010

Aubrey rated it:

Well, this was a curious book! The writing style was just what I was looking for in a Banville novel. The premise though was kind of silly!

The story takes place around the deathbed of a father. He is surrounded by his family and some obtrusive visitors and in his coma-state, is unable to communicate with them. Mingling in the house as well are a couple of the Ancient Greek Gods. Wait.... what?

I can't quite place my finger on what it was that made the novel poignant More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 09, 2009

Magdalena added it

On the surface of it, The Infinities is a simple story, set, like Joyce’s Ulysses within the space of 24 hours in a single setting – an old country house in Ireland. The story pivots around Adam Godley, the aptly named family patriarch and famous mathematician/scientist who lies comatose and dying after a massive stroke. During this time, although a number of visitors come and go, and there are revelations, resolutions, and perceptions, nothing particular appears to happen, at least by human st More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 21, 2011

Chuck rated it:

This was an artfully constructed book, and the interplay between the mythical gods, father and son, and the human family keep the story moving along sharply. And some of the characters, human and divine, are very cleverly drawn, especially the daughter's scheming boyfriend.

I didn't carry much from this novel except the recollection that it was a pretty good story that required a greater suspension of disbelief than, say, No Country for Old Men. But I seem to insist on more than " More...

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