The End of the Affair

Greene's The End of the Affair could have been the compelling story of a doomed affair -- with World War II, the Blitz, and a private detective in the mix -- but instead becomes mired in endless ruminations on a selfish, unlikable Christianity. Consisting mainly of two characters' maddening "conversations" with the God they can't decide whether or not to believe in, the novel is a slog through Sarah and Bendrix's inner monologues (or diary entries) blaming or thanking God, depending on the situation, for everything that they themselves have done -- their belief is perfectly clear, whether they like that belief or not. The most frustrating part of this setup is watching these characters rest their motivations and actions at any moment entirely on God (who seems much like one of the petty and vindictive -- that is, human -- ancient Greek gods), never taking any personal responsibility for their lives. (This might actually make the novel an amazingly accurate depiction of many people's religion.) There is much talk in the novel about coincidences and miracles; Bendrix repeatedly discounts the possibility of miracles, but the book finally leaves no ambiguity regarding which worldview triumphs. The fact -- revealed toward the novel's end in a bit of deus (in the form of Sarah's mother) ex machina -- that Sarah was baptized(!) as a two-year-old (too young to remember, of course) is supposed to be a revelation explaining her later behavior, but it feels extraneous. Likewise extraneous is the detective Parkis's son, who is plenty likable and funny (Parkis and his son are the most entertaining characters in the book, offering a little levity among all the Godly doom and gloom) until it becomes clear that his character exists merely to provide one of the neat little miracles (the novel tells us not to read them as coincidences) that seal The End of the Affair's ultimately religious outlook -- a Christianity of the least compelling, least worthwhile, least likable sort. I might recommend this book to a recovering agnostic who's leaning, God forbid (get it??), toward a Judeo-Christian view of things, but for the atheists among us all this talk of God is too circular and tiresome.

I just finished listening to Colin Firth's reading of this book. He's amazing. That is all.

greene is delightful as always, and this is a good “Catholic” novel with a twist