Reviews

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

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donnaloubishop's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

fbroom's review against another edition

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5 Stars for Colin Firth's Narration

amywong's review against another edition

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slow-paced

2.0

Not sure this aged well or if this is just for a specific audience. This book, though a solid drama story, has a religious agenda. It paints everyone who isn't religious constantly going through little karmic retributions. The nonreligious characters are consistently shoved good happenings that are supposedly due to supernatural interventions through faith. Bendrix never got Sarah and is friends with Henry at the end and implied to be going into Catholicism. Sarah is dead and to the end struggled with her faith as she wanted to be with Bendrix but felt guilt for her religion and is found to have been baptized and officially Catholic. But she didn't get her funeral proceedings done the Catholic way due to bendrix. Again, like a reminder that her sins caused everything. The two main nonreligious characters are just punished to the end. Even the atheist who Sarah met up with is turned religious because his face scar is suddenly gone. I'm not the audience for this. If the religious notes were taken out, maybe this would be a good drama.

heidi_meredith's review against another edition

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fast-paced

4.75

I'd never read anything by this author before. I found the characters relatably flawed. It reminded me of 'Rebecca' by Daphne du Maurier and 'Enduring love' by Ian McEwan.

roe_'s review

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4.0

Strange, intense little book. The settings and the little personal moments of interaction are captivatingly realistic, beautifully drawn. Agreed with the introduction (by Monica Ali in my Vintage edition) that the touch of kindness in Bendrix -- the scar on his shoulder -- is perhaps misplaced, but overall Bendrix is brilliantly malicious and unkind and hurting and fearful. The Blitz setting (largely ignored by the characters) adds another fascinating level of depth. Searching for something among the oblivion. The prose is preaching, delirious, crying into the void (or the vapour). Sarah can't love someone who's turned to dust. Nor, it seems, can Bendrix.