The King of Infinite Space

As someone who loves Hamlet I knew I had to read this book as soon as I heard of it. It is a rather clever retelling. It felt very faithful to the source material but still managed to catch me by surprise. I loved the portrayal of these well known characters and was continuously charmed by the prose.
My only main problem with this story was Lia’s plot line. While at the end its relevancy was explained and incorporated into the main plot her narrative often felt out of place compared to Ben and Horatio. One moment they’re investigating murder and the next she’s helping arrange flowers with three strange old women. It was a bit jarring and I kind of wish there could have been some way to involve her more in the main story earlier on show more instead.
Regardless I really enjoyed this book and it gets kudo’s for making me cry more than any other book so far this year. show less

When I realized Lindsay Faye—a very fine writer, indeed—had her own take on the story of Hamlet, I couldn't wait to read it.

Let me tell you, The King of Infinite Space is a remarkable book. Faye plays in productive ways with the original. Horatio is in love with Ben (Faye's version of Hamlet); Lia (Faye's Ophelia) is an avant-garde artist doing installations using horticulture. Faye also ropes in her version of other characters from Shakespeare's plays, including the three weird sisters (Macbeth, anyone?) and Robin Goodfellow (Faye's Puck).

The mix of "variations on" and completely new elements is delightful. Anyone who loves Hamlet is going to love The King of Infinite Space. Enough of the novel's action follows Shakespeare's script show more that it has the comfort of familiarity, but there are lots of unexpected surprises along the way—"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore" type surprises. The language is pin-sharp. Faye really nails and shares the inner lives of these characters. There's enough menace, absurdness, and humor to make The King of Infinite Space an enjoyable read for those who have never picked up any of Shakespeare's plays. This is a title you don't want to to miss!

I received a free electronic review copy of this title from the publisher via Edelweiss; the opinions are my own. show less

In modern-day New York Benjamin Dane, his friend Horatio, and his ex-fiancée Lia become embroiled in figuring out the mysterious circumstances surrounding the death of Ben's father Jackson - an oil tycoon with a hand in the New York theatre scene. Ben's mother quickly marrying Ben's uncle Claude afterward is just one alarm bell that's ringing in Ben's ears. Digging into his father's death, Ben keeps circling around the past and realizes that his eyes have been closed to what's been going on around him since his and Lia's breakup nearly two years before.

The King of Infinite Space is probably one of the best Hamlet retellings / adaptations I've ever encountered. Lyndsay Faye did such a fantastic job of bringing this story to a modern show more timeline, but also keeping the heart of the original play fully intact.

I appreciated that Faye dropped in more Shakespearian Easter eggs I think the choices in characters was really indicative of those same characters having this almost supernatural quality about them in their own plays, and they bring a little something extra to this story. They were all right at home here. Not really wanting to go too in-depth because I fear that will ruin some of the surprise twists that Lyndsay Faye played with in this iteration.

I thought that Ben (Hamlet), Horatio, and Lia (Ophelia) all pulled their weight in terms of each getting their own points of view alternating throughout and really commanding their sections. Ben is really a character to be reckoned with - the titular "King" if you will - but I felt like Horatio and Lia both hold their own up against Ben's undeniable frenetic energy.

This story took me a little longer to parse my way through and not because I wasn't engrossed, but mainly because the words were so important that I took my time with each sentence and phrase especially where Ben was concerned where asides and breaks were par for the course. I feel like in being so careful to take in each word I really feel like the story has left it's mark and will be one that I continue thinking about for a long while afterward.

This one is definitely my favorite by Lyndsay Faye. I'd honestly love to see what she can do with other works by the Bard.

If you're looking for an engrossing updated spin on one of Shakespeare's most famous plays, The King of Infinite Space ticks all the boxes and then some. show less

What an intriguing book. It's a retelling of Hamlet, with a sprinkling of other Shakespearean plays. It's a love story. It's an exploration of three characters whose lives intertwine in a theatre in Manhattan. It's about life and death. It's gorgeously written. It's also a mystery, though that's probably less important than the other factors.

I came close to putting it down early on. I found the central character of Benjamin annoying, and didn't entirely believe that two other characters could find him so endearing. They all seemed a bit too smugly privileged, orbiting a wealthy young man. But I'm glad I persisted and, while he continued to be irritating, I grew involved in how he related to Lia and Horatio, and his show more philosophical-scientific speculations helped make up for his more immature characteristics.

Ben's father has died, and he doesn't believe it was a suicide. He suspects his uncle, who is planning to marry his mother. Sounds familiar, yes? Though Ben doesn't dither or prevaricate; he's going to find out who killed his father, a Texan oil baron who tried to make it in Manhattan society by putting on unpopular plays in the New World Theory. He relies on his friend Horatio, a tall South Asian Brit who is much too good for this world. Lia, who had been engaged to Ben but broke it off as her alcoholism got the better of her, and whose father (not named Polonius, but he's pretty much Polonius) is the energetic and slightly ridiculous figure who keeps the theatre going. Lia now works with three eccentric women from New Orleans, making artistic bouquets that are charged with enchantment. All of them are gearing up for a gala fundraiser that will bring the glitterati of New York together, and will give Ben a chance to lay a trap and reveal who killed his father.

There's much, much more and some surprising twists along the way. And romance. And sparkling wit. I wasn't at all sure about it at first, but it ended up being a delight. show less

Thanks to G.P. Putnam’s Sons for the advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review.

As usual, for me, it’s all about the witches. The witches in Lyndsay Faye’s retelling of Hamlet, who are both sisters and not-sisters, are fabulous New Orleans witches: think Marie Laveau meets Practical Magic. Mess with them at your peril.

The witches have adopted Lia (Ophelia) and she works for them in their florist shop. They witches are Lia’s found family. Unlike Shakespeare’s Ophelia, Lia is powerful, with gifts far beyond that of being a great artist.

Horatio Patel loves Benjamin Dane/ Hamlet, and his passion for him is the tragedy within the tragedy. Ben is almost exhaustingly philosophical and given to monologues, but all of his show more deep thinking (or is he just plain unhinged?) can’t bring him to the terrible truth about his mother, Trudy, and his uncle Claude.

The Danes have a “royal” amount of Texas oil money, Jackson Dane (murdered) invested in an NYC Theater company called New World Theatre. The first one burned down, and Lia’s father Paul supervises all aspects of the theater, and knows a curious amount about the Dane family as well.

Weird, sexy, heartrending, and full of asides from a bit of everything from mythology to quantum physics to flower lore, Faye’s latest is not to be missed by fans of retellings of the classics. Faye proved her chops in 2016, with a great spin on Jane Eyre, "Jane Steele," a personal favorite. Ben Dane may be the most poignant rendering of Hamlet ever, unless by a great actor on a stage. When Ben is with his Horatio, the gay romance is on the level of “The Song of Achilles.” show less

I'm a sucker for anything Shakespearean, I liked the reimagined setting, (reminiscent of Ethan Hawke's Hamlet film). And I really liked the way Ophelia's role was recast (kudos to Faye for crafting that surprise - I didn't se it coming). BUT, Hamlet's idiosyncratic "genius" struck me as sophomoric and over the top. I know it's possible to read the original Hamlet with the same criticism, but I get the sense that Shakespeare wants us to root for Hamlet in spite of his obnoxiousness; I'm left with the suspicion that Faye just thinks he's lovable because of his adorable quirkiness.

This is a modern, queer, well-crafted take on Shakespeare's Hamlet, with some magic realism tossed into the mix. As it's been 55 years or so sine I read Hamlet, I'm sure I missed many nods to the original. I decided against reading a summary of the play before starting the book, though I did so after I finished. People with more recent experience with Hamlet, or a better memory of it, might enjoy this more than I did, though I did enjoy it.

There are three alternating POV characters: Lia Brahams, Horatio Patel, and Ben Dane (Hamlet. It took me a while to warm up to Ben and Horatio, but Lia was interesting enough to keep me reading. The plot is familiar. Ben's father, a rich theater owner, has died under suspicious circumstances. Though show more his death is ruled a suicide, Ben refuses to believe his father killed himself. Learning his mother just married her late husband's brother, sends the emotionally fragile Ben into a tailspin. With the return of his closest friend Horatio, he insists on investigating his mother and uncle/stepfather. Meanwhile, Ben's ex, Lia, is learning about the power of flowers at a florist shop where the owners -- three sisters -- have some mysteries of their own.

Faye is an excellent writer and once I got into the book -- after hitting pause for a couple of weeks -- it was a fast, spell-binding read. I'm glad I stuck with it. show less