The Infinities by John Banville | Borzoi Books Collection | Literary Fiction Novel for Book Clubs & Reading Enthusiasts
$16.35
$29.73
Safe 45%
The Infinities by John Banville | Borzoi Books Collection | Literary Fiction Novel for Book Clubs & Reading Enthusiasts
$16.35
$29.73
45% Off
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SKU: 42610481
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Description
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 relations with the Godley children are strained at best; and Petra’s “young man”—very likely more interested in the father than the daughter—who has arrived for a superbly ill-timed visit.But the Godley family is not alone in their vigil. Around them hovers a family of mischievous immortals—among them, Zeus, who has his eye on young Adam’s wife; Pan, who has taken the doughy, perspiring form of an old unwelcome acquaintance; and Hermes, who is the genial and omniscient narrator: “We too are petty and vindictive,” he tells us, “just like you, when we are put to it.” As old Adam’s days on earth run down, these unearthly beings start to stir up trouble, to sometimes wildly unintended effect. . . . Blissfully inventive and playful, rich in psychological insight and sensual detail, The Infinities is at once a gloriously earthy romp and a wise look at the terrible, wonderful plight of being human—a dazzling novel from one of the most widely admired and acclaimed writers at work today.
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Reviews
*****
Verified Buyer
5
I found this novel to be highly creative and entertaining. I enjoy novels that stimulate ideas, challenge me with unique use of the English language, are not based just upon characterization and plot, and offer me something unique. This novel delivers on all four of these characteristic.This is a novel of ideas and reflection, a novel of an alternate universe than our own and yet this universe is populated with humans engaged in the same fragile and often dark mysterious existence as our own universe. Banville is crafty at conveying to the reader every 60 pages or so that this is an alternate universe, one where Mary Queen of Scots becomes Queen of England and beheads the traitor Elizabeth. There are many other hints including reference to the peace-loving diplomatic Caesar Borgia that populates this different world from our own. The games and complexity continues as the famous mathematician and philosopher of science Adam lies dying while being surrounded by his family and associates. Yet, he is famous for his mathematical proofs of alternate and infinite realities, one of which must be this book. He also is instrumental in developing salt water into an energy source and thus solving the issues of oil product shortages and pollution of the atmosphere. To further complicate the picture, this alternate reality is populated with the Greek gods interfering in human lives. These gods produce demi-gods such as Pan who in a Jungian twist is the unbridled Freudian Id of the dying genius Adam.Banville's use of the English language is superb, sending me to the dictionary and amazing me with his unique word combinations that so powerfully evoke the sensual world. He brings the reader to their sense with his continued themes of sight, taste, touch, smell, and hearing woven into the story.The characters in the novel are fun and drawn just well enough to carry the themes Banville wishes them to carry and to become more than vehicles. His characters are frail, vulnerable, sensitive, confused, conflicted, and challenged. They are not heroic though in this novel he makes the point that faulty humans can on occasion create brilliance. All the action takes place in one long day, so there is no plot in the narrative sense but with his flashbacks and narration through the eyes of the god Hermes, much of the past and future of these characters is revealed by this single day.A novel of ideas can be frustrating but I found this one to be a beautiful dream.
