A review by mattstebbins
The Infinities by John Banville

2.0

I expect a great deal from Banville: The [b:The Book of Evidence|3659|The Book of Evidence|John Banville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320464622s/3659.jpg|2388621], [b:Ghosts|88253|Ghosts|John Banville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320429767s/88253.jpg|1391424], and [b:The Sea|3656|The Sea|John Banville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320474389s/3656.jpg|987554] are some of my favorite works, and to this point I've found everything else of his quite solid. His lyricism here, though, doesn't quite hit the same notes, and while I appreciate his aim - The Infinities was originally intended to be a re-write of Kleist's adaptation of Molier's [b:Amphitryon|665266|Amphitryon|Molière|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1176919997s/665266.jpg|1592933], as well as something of a continuation of his science novels ([b:Doctor Copernicus|3661|Doctor Copernicus|John Banville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1165030171s/3661.jpg|969712], [b:Kepler: A novel|984211|Kepler A novel|John Banville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1180007890s/984211.jpg|2199821], etc) - I struggled to get myself through this. His character's hesitations and about-faces, normally endearing, were here disappointing, and seemed only to take up pages, rather than develop characters. Were it not Banville, and had there not been occasional flashes of the lyrical beauty I love in his work, this would have only merited one star. For being a Banville, it nets an extra half.
[1.5 stars]