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Summary: The nature of love.....and God
Review: Graham Greene's "The End Of The Affair" is one of the most powerful and gripping books I have read all year. If I had to describe in a word or a phrase what the novel is about, I'd say it's about the nature of love. Does love between human beings share the same source as that between Man and his creator ? The question of faith and Catholicism in particular has long been a favourite theme of Greene's and here he digs deep and mines it to the fullest. The novel's unique structure and way the love story between Maurice and Sarah is told with multiple flashbacks gives it an expansive romantic sweep that lends itself to cinematic adaptation. I have yet to see the film version but if it succeeds in capturing the essence of the novel, it promises to be breathtaking. Oddly enough, I detect shades of the grand love affair between Count Almasey and Katherine Clifton in "The English Patient". Just when you think the novel has reached its emotional climax, Greene surprises by going the extra mile to infuse the denouement with a deeply religious flavour that is simply brilliant. The execution is deftly handled, never threatening to overload the love story with heavy duty meaning. "The End Of The Affair" makes for wonderful reading. Don't miss it !
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Summary: Skip the movie; read the book
Review: One great benefit of the recent release of Neil Jordan's version of "End" is that it prodded me into re-reading the book, sending me off into a bit of a Graham Greene kick. Jordan's movie version makes some rather key changes (not for the better), while sticking eerily close at other times. The bottom line is the familiar one: the book is much better than the movie, especially in delivering the message Greene intended to convey. Faulkner described "End" once as the best novel in any language he'd ever read. (No doubt providing the impetus for innumerable doctoral theses in the meantime.) While I think "The Power & the Glory" is better, this is still a wonderful work, wrestling with the themes of love, faith, and religion as one.
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Summary: Is Sarah a Saint?
Review: The End of the Affair is at heart a simple novel. It explores the love triangle existing around the relationship of Bendrix, Sarah and God, not as many people seem to believe between Sarah, Bendrix and Henry.The protagonist is Bendrix who is telling us the story in first person narrative, which increases the intensity of the emotions that are felt when reading this novel.We are told of Bendrix's confusion when Sarah left him, supposedly for another man. However we find out that Sarah left Bendrix due to a promise she made to God. The question should be in the readers mind as the novel is finished. Is Sarah a Saint?Many strange events or miracles did seem to evolve from Sarah and I personally believe that Greene wanted her to be thought of as a saint in death.Perhaps he wanted to portray a person that although sinful, in her adultry, could also be seen as elite in her goodness. Perhaps he also wanted to demonstrate how a faith in God can lead to all matter of wrenching, emotional situations. This book is written with amazing insight into the dilemmas facing someone pursuing a soul consuming belief in god, and I think Greene must have had some first hand experience. I would advise people to read this book without any preconceptions and to perhaps think about the events that happen in the novel afterwards. I think a lot of people will be surprised at the depth at which the author manages to penetrate the mind of the reader.
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Summary: The End of the Affair
Review: His use of language took me by surprise... Once in a while I read a book, and the author's use of language captures me. Graham Greene is such an author. His language, his voice is poignant and honest. He was able to express the frustration and agony we may feel as human beings in our love relationships. He was able to show us how those very frustrations and agonies can destroy us in the end, including the very way they may manifest in us physically. It is a passionate story and very easy to read. I recommend it, as well I plan on reading other books he has written.
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Summary: A Must Read Again
Review: Upon the first reading of this book, you are glad to be at the end. But, after finishing I began to think of the many things that were going on simoutanously. It is a deep, almost subconscious book at times and hard to read. I had to read it again. It reminded my of the movie sixth sense. Once you see it, you must see it again to pick up on all that you realized you had missed.
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Summary: simply moving
Review: Following a very interestingly created chronological build, the reader develops a deep empathy with Bendrix, the main character of the book. But its not only the line of time and the characters that are fascinating: London at the time of war is the perfect place for the story of a love affair the author has presumingly not just imagined. Thus, the plot is very lively. The often occuring philosophical thoughts aren't just ornaments, they were a real input for me to discuss again our world and aspects like the possible existence of a higher being.
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Summary: A wonderful atmosphere...
Review: An unconventional love story between a married woman and a lover. Just great!
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Summary: stunningly beautiful writing
Review: I decided to read this book before watching the film, but now I don't think I can bear to watch the film. Why? Because this was one of the most beautiful pieces of writing I have ever read, and I want to keep it as I remember it. His writing is simply mind blowing..Greene let's us peer into the minds of Bendrix and Sarah Miles, and let's us decide what is the truth. I expected a basic tragic love story,and it has turned out to be anything but basic. It is a complicated tale of many individuals struggling to "find themeselves" and to solidify their set of beliefs..whether it be about love, religion, faith, or hatred. It is a about a love that is so intense that it swings between the desire to destroy and to protect ( the pendulum that Sarah mentions...)Graham Greene's characters are some of the most fascinating in literature: Sarah Miles, Bendrix, Henry, Smythe...they are all consuming characters. It is almost written like a mystery; the reader keeps discovering the truth about each enigmatic personality. This is the perfect book to read on a rainy afternoon ( read it with a pencil! ); it is a short and brilliant read.
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Summary: Expertly written, but cold...
Review: This was my first foray into the work of Graham Greene. As a study on the "thin line between love and hate", it works quite powerfully. I just couldn't warm up to the characters. I found myself more interested in the novel's prose and it's theories of hate as the flipside of love than in any of the characters. Only the cuckolded husband, Henry, elicited any sympathy from me. I do though very much look forward to seeing the Neil Jordan film adaptation with Ralph Fiennes, Julianne Moore, and Stephen Rea. They seem to all have been expertly cast. Perhaps they can breathe some life into this cold, dispassionate world of the dead. I do recommend this book, but don't expect an emotional connection.
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Summary: It gets you thinking....
Review: The book at first starts out as a story about a jilted lover trying to rekindle an old but intense love affair, but evolves into something more. The heroine seeks to understand her relationship to God---she has always been agnostic, but a miracle starts her on the path to believing in God. I think most readers can identify with Sarah's quest to ascertain for herself that God exists at all. Later, the narrator and others whose lives she has touched are forced to confront the uncomfortable possiblility that God exists, forcing a paradigm shift for each to deal with. The writing was a bit heavy, the pace was slow, but it is a novel that invites self-reflection.
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