Name: The Infinities
ISBN: 9780307272799

John Banville

Attending the deathbed of a renowned mathematician, a second wife and his adult children reflect on their personal demons, including the son's pretty wife, who has caught the attention of the mischievous god Zeus. By the Booker Prize-winning author of The Sea.

The Infinities

Attending the deathbed of a renowned mathematician, his second wife and adult children reflect on their personal demons, including the son's pretty wife, who has caught the attention of the mischievous god Zeus.

Will Vunderink

The intriguing setup of The Infinities, involving Greek gods overseeing and interfering with the lives of a modern-day family faced with the imminent death of its patriarch, drew me to the book but left me frustrated at its execution. The story is primed for some Olympian hijinks wreaking havoc on the unsuspecting Godley family -- because we know the Greek gods are a sex-crazed, jealous, vindictive sort -- but the gods' roles are so minor as to be irrelevant. We're left with a half-baked family drama without a proper ending. 

Adding to the book's frustrations is its narration, which is supposedly from the point of view of Hermes. It so easily slips between third- and first-person -- inhabiting a range of characters' minds (including a dog and a near-comatose old man) while repeatedly reminding us that Hermes is relating their thoughts to us -- that Hermes' role, again, becomes irrelevant. I've got nothing against narrative omniscience, but the way it plays out here feels careless. 

The great mystery of Benny Grace never fully resolves -- he just leaves suddenly, toward the novel's end -- and the slapdash happily-ever-after ending does not satisfy. Banville is much better than this.