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The Infinities (2010)

by John Banville(Favorite Author)

3.25 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0307272796 (ISBN13: 9780307272799)

languge

English

genre

Fantasy

publisher

Knopf

review 1: Infinitely Banville, October 7, 2013The book involves a reunion of the Godley family and the story is narrated by the Gods Hermes, his father Zeus(god of sky & thunder) and mother Maia. I use the word story loosely, as Banville's tales always seem to be more character driven than plot driven. I rather enjoyed the God's interfence with the mortal characters, they toy with the humans like Banville does with language. His prose is extraordinarily good and despite the fact that I had to reference the dictionary more times than I was comfortable with, I still couldn't put the book down. I read Banville for the poetics, the lyricism of his language which transports me to another place and time. I realise some find Banville's writing tedious and haughty, but I find it rich, imagi... morenative and elegant. If its language and its magical potency you're after then The Infinities comes highly recommended.
review 2: infinitely interestingThis novel was quite interesting because its narrative, while chock full of exquisitely described minutia and wonderful prose, it managed to have a somewhat lightheartedness to it. While the characters are not deeply drawn out, one is left knowing them just enough to care about what may happen to them after Banville's narrator is finished. This book, for a person who is not thoroughly schooled in the Greek classics, probably had some more references in it than I was able to catch. But that's the beauty of a good book and author, you can always go back again. And, this is one of the few novels that I plan to reread after becoming little more learned in Greek mythology and some more years under my belt.Take your time reading this novel to appreciate Banville's style. I did.Note: 4 stars because this novel isn't the kind of novel you can put down for a week and then pick right back up. I don't know if it is his style, the context, or the switching narrator, but it's a little difficult to get immersed back into the story if you put it down for too long. I only had about 4 days between putting it down and picking it back up again. Then again, this could have been because I was in a different state of mind and was near the very end of the novel. So, maybe 41/2 stars really! less

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