The End of the Affair

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene
Read: 10/21/08-11/3/08
LibraryThing tags: SLOBS (a reading group), Character, Movie Inspiration, Theology, Catholic, Atheism, Suffering, Redemption

A book I probably never would have picked up on my own, but I'm glad I read it. Not being fantasy, I didn't have an addiction to fight and had to push myself just a little to read it, but I still finished it in only three sittings. It's a short book. Very well done, too. I don't want to give away too much, provided you haven't seen either of the movie versions (I haven't yet). At first, on the surface, it's the story of an affair; it's actually a story of the nature of love; human love, religious love, hate, jealousy, indifference. By the end, it becomes very moving. It's a story that can be read and enjoyed on several different levels. As a Christian, I loved it, but I think one could easily enjoy it regardless. Technically speaking, it's skillfully done, seamlessly weaving past and present and two different viewpoints. Certainly it's rightly shelved with the general fiction rather than the Christian fiction (although... that tends to happen with classics, anyway...). The questions raised are ones that Christians are concerned with, but the answers are left... relatively vague, I suppose. And the questions certainly aren't exclusive to Christians. I think an atheist would have to wrestle a bit with this book... but they could probably ignore it or discount it, if they chose. Meh. Recommended.