The Infinities

John Banville swung for the fences with his fifteenth novel, The Infinities (2009). Banville's book brings together a collection of real-life and mythical characters, as the story of a dying patriarch and his troubled family is narrated by the Greek god Hermes, who moves from character to character to explore their psychologies and interior thoughts. The book is sustained by its sly wit as it explores mortality, grief and even physics (among other subjects), however its comedy is often too farcical — and the lightness of Banville's scenes fails to match the philosophical heaviness of his themes.