The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

I loved this book but it is not the place to start if you have never read any Greene before. The subject matter is dark, the outcomes bleak, and the characters largely unlikeable. It is the writing and the psychological and philosophical layers that lift the book into something far more enjoyable than the sum of its parts.

The End of the Affair is as the title suggests a postmortem of a love affair. Set during and just after the second world war we enter the world of Maurice Bendrix. Bendrix, a novelist, has had an affair with a married woman, Sarah, over the course of several years. Abruptly she ends the affair during an air raid. The novel begins after the war when the still heart broken Maurice bumps into Sarah's husband starting a chain of events that involve all three of them. Being Greene, these events are mostly psychological rather than external or dramatic. The post war events are interspersed with Bendrix's memories of the affair and what he discovers through the use of a private detective engaged to discover if this post-war, post-Bendrix Sarah is having another affair with someone else.

Bendrix is a duplicitous social spy, controlling, selfish and often unpleasant and it is hard to have any sympathy with him yet Greene manages to handle his characters so that despite everything one does feel for Bendrix. Sarah is a subtler, more delicately painted figure whose feelings and motives we experience always at one remove. Her dilatoriness in ending her stale marriage is odd to modern eyes, and her reasons for ending the affair, when they are revealed, may seem even odder but they are pure Greene, and somehow it works.

The unpleasant characters, war time austerity and incessant English rain are offset by the rather Shakespearian use of the private detective Parkis and his son. Like the porter in Macbeth Parkis is the rude mechanical there to provide humour and emotional relief. You can feel the joins in the construction sometimes here, but in such a bleak book, Parkis and son are necessary, however unsubtle.

Greene is often bleak but not often this bleak. It is a tribute to his prose style that this is something I still feel I can recommend highly. The Ralph Fiennes/Julianne Moore film which lacks Greene's prose but has all the bleakness, is another matter entirely and scalped of its literariness The End of the Affair as a film narrative is not good at all.

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I read The End of the Affair in the lovely matt red and grey Vintage Classics series. It came with an incisive introduction by Monica Ali and is well worth looking out for in this edition. The first link above is Amazon but it is also available at The Book Depository.

Comments

[Bloomsbury Bell]

I have seen the film but have never read the book - your review has urged me to get it for my 'books to be read' pile. I will look out for the Vintage Classics edition.

[Simon S]

This was my very first Greene and agree maybe its not the best way in, having said that I havent read any others so have nothing to compare to. Have heard Our Man in Havana is brilliant and a good starter.

I really liked this book yet for some reason always thought that I wouldnt. It's a smallish book that shouldnt be rushed.

[Kristen M.]

So, where would you start with Greene? I haven't read anything by him yet.

[Jenny]

What a beautiful review, and I agree with every word. For those looking for a start with Greene I would recommend The Power and the Glory or perhaps Monsignor Quixote.

[Juxtabook]

Welcome to Juxtabook Bloomsbury Bell and thank you for commenting.

Simon- Agree that OMIH is an excellent place to start. You're right about rushing this book and I think it might be a book that benefit from re-reads too.

Kristen - apart from what Simon and Jenny suggest, Stambol Train maybe or Brighton Rock. BR is dark but quite action packed and compelling. It was my first Greene.

Hi jenny - thanks for those suggestions.