The End of the Affair by Graham Greene

Today's Featured Book: 

The End of the Affair

by Graham Greene

Genre: Fiction 

Published: 1951

Page Count: 196 pages

Summary: 

Maurice Bendrix, a writer in Clapham during the Blitz, develops an acquaintance with Sarah Miles, the bored, beautiful wife of a dull civil servant named Henry. Maurice claims it’s to divine a character for his novel-in-progress. That’s the first deception. What he really wants is Sarah, and what Sarah needs is a man with passion. So begins a series of reckless trysts doomed by Maurice’s increasing romantic demands and Sarah’s tortured sense of guilt. Then, after Maurice miraculously survives a bombing, Sarah ends the affair—quickly, absolutely, and without explanation. It’s only when Maurice crosses paths with Sarah’s husband that he discovers the fallout of their duplicity—and it’s more unexpected than Maurice, Henry, or Sarah herself could have imagined.

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY is hosted by Rose City Reader. What book are you happy about reading this week? Please share the opening sentence (or so) on BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAY! Add the link to your blog or social media post and visit other blogs to see what others are reading.

Happy Friday and welcome to the FIRST LINE FRIDAY, hosted by Reading is My Superpower! It’s time to grab the book nearest to you and leave a comment with the first line.

A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead. I say ‘one chooses’ with the inaccurate pride of a professional writer who—when he has been seriously noted at all—has been praised for his technical ability, but do I in fact of my own will choose that black wet January night on the Common, in 1946, the sight of Henry Miles slanting across the wide river of rain, or did these images choose me? It is convenient, it is correct according to the rules of my craft to begin just there, but if I had believed then in a God, I could also have believed in a hand, plucking at my elbow, a suggestion, ‘Speak to him: he hasn’t seen you yet.’

Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (p. 7). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

THE FRIDAY 56 is hosted by Anne of Head Full of Books. To play, open a book and turn to page 56 (or 56% on your e-reader). Find a sentence or two and post them, along with the book title and author. Then link up on Head Full of Books and visit others in the linky. 

When I began to write I said this was a story of hatred, but I am not convinced. Perhaps my hatred is really as deficient as my love. I looked up just now from writing and caught sight of my own face in a mirror close to my desk, and I thought, does hatred really look like that? For I was reminded of that face we have all of us seen in childhood, looking back at us from the shop-window, the features blurred with our breath, as we stare with such longing at the bright unobtainable objects within.

Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (pp. 56-57). Open Road Media. Kindle Edition. 

Graham Greene was considered "one of the finest writers of his generation." He was nominated for the Nobel Prize for Literature several times. The End of the Affair is on the list of 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die, Library Journal's Most Influential Fiction of the 20th Century, The Guardian's 100 Best Novels Written in English, and James Mustich's 1000 Books to Read Before You Die. 

I almost never read about man-woman relationships from a man's point of view. Most of the books about relationships I've read in my lifetime have been written from a woman's point of view. The End of the Affair is about a man-woman relationship, and it is written from the man's point of view.

Maurice Bendrix has a relationship with the wife of a civil servant, Sarah Miles. The relationship comes to an end. Bendrix explores the whys and hows. 

It's a story about a relationship that is full of misunderstandings, the unsaid, and confusion---just like relationships in real life. 

One of the things I liked most about this book is how the author told the story; the reader changes in the way he sees characters based on observations of what the character does and says and from what others say about what the character does and says. Greene accomplished this in a masterful way. 

The sense of unhappiness is so much easier to convey than that of happiness. In misery we seem aware of our own existence, even though it may be in the form of a monstrous egotism: this pain of mine is individual, this nerve that winces belongs to me and to no other. But happiness annihilates us: we lose our identity.

Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (p. 47). Kindle Edition. 

I want men to admire me, but that’s a trick you learn at school—a movement of the eyes, a tone of voice, a touch of the hand on the shoulder or the head. If they think you admire them, they will admire you because of your good taste, and when they admire you, you have an illusion for a moment that there’s something to admire. All my life I’ve tried to live in that illusion—a soothing drug that allows me to forget that I’m a bitch and a fake.

Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (p. 101). Kindle Edition. 

I went back home and again I tried to settle to my book. Always I find when I begin to write there is one character who obstinately will not come alive. There is nothing psychologically false about him, but he sticks, he has to be pushed around, words have to be found for him, all the technical skill I have acquired through the laborious years has to be employed in making him appear alive to my readers.

And yet one cannot do without him. I can imagine a God feeling in just that way about some of us. The saints, one would suppose, in a sense create themselves. They come alive. They are capable of the surprising act or word. They stand outside the plot, unconditioned by it. But we have to be pushed around. We have the obstinacy of nonexistence. We are inextricably bound to the plot, and wearily God forces us, here and there, according to his intention, characters without poetry, without free will, whose only importance is that somewhere, at some time, we help to furnish the scene in which a living character moves and speaks, providing perhaps the saints with the opportunities for their free will.

Greene, Graham. The End of the Affair (pp. 185-186). Kindle Edition.

The purpose of THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is to give bloggers a chance to follow other blogs, learn about new books, and befriend other bloggers. THE BOOK BLOGGER HOP is hosted by Ramblings of a Coffee Addicted Writer.    

January 24th-30th - What books do you look to for inspiration at the start of the year or to motivate you to make positive changes in your life? (submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer)

I am always looking for good books about creativity in hopes of living each day with a shot of creative zip. I also love to look for good books on happiness. In Britain, there has been a movement to encourage people to read what they call Mood-Boosting Books. I hope to read more of those this year.

Three of the books of this sort that I began the year with are Anam Cara by John O'Donohue, a poet and philosopher; One Bird One Stone by Sean Murphy, a collection of modern Zen stories; and Blue Horses, a book of poetry by Mary Oliver.

The Ten Most Recent Additions to My Bookshelves

These are all books I got for my birthday in November. 

I finished Team of Rivals and The Day the World Came to Town in January. Two five-star reads.

I've read Because of Winn-Dixie at least four times, and I will probably read it several more times. 

I've both read and listened to Three Simple Lines, a book about Japanese haiku by the wonderful writer-about-writing Natalie Goldberg. 

What person who loves birds and lives in Texas could resist an e-book of Book of Texas Birds by Houston Chronicle writer Gary Clark? 

Our book club is reading The Comfort of Crows later in the year; it will be a reread for me. I have my finger hovering over the Buy Button for a journal that goes along with the Margaret Renkl book, The Comfort of Crows, at the new bookstore in Galveston. If I press go, (and I probably will) Leaf, Cloud, Crow will be my most recent addition to my shelf, I guess.

What are the most recent additions to your bookshelf? 

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.    

The Sunday Salon: Snow Might Be (But Probably Isn't) On the Way to Houston!

 

I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. Welcome! 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

Cold rainy days slowed me down this week. A quiet week. 

I'm reading eight books, including three really long books (one is 625 pages, one is 417 pages, and one is over 900 pages), so I decided to set those aside for three library books that came in. 

All three were lovely, strong 3.5 star (rounded up to 4) reads. One is a collection of humorist James Thurber's pieces; one is contemporary fiction that had brilliant places but also places that could have used a good editor; and one is a book of essays about animals that are both amazing and endangered.

What I Read Last Week:

The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber (Classics Club)

Definitely Better Now by Ava Robinson (Fiction)

Vanishing Treasures: A Bestiary of Extraordinary Endangered Creatures by Katherine Rundell (Nonfiction)

What I'm Reading Now:

The Book of Love by Kelly Link (Fiction)

In Search of the Perfect Loaf: A Home Baker's Odyssey by Samuel Fromartz (Baking)

Out of the Silent Planet by C. S. Lewis (SciFi)

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene (Classics Club)

Roots by Alex Haley (Chapter-a-Day)

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (Naturalist Book Club)

Devotions by Mary Oliver (Poetry)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Book Club)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

I Discover a New Bookstore in Galveston

Bookish Goals for 2025

The Sunday Salon: Incessantly On-the-Go; Incessantly Reading

One Minute Park

If you are tired of winter, visit one of these parks. It will just take a minute.

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

Finished my second junk journal.

Good Thing #2:

I joined a group on FB 

that is following in the footsteps of 

poet William Stafford,

writing a poem every day.

Good Thing #3:

Snow next week here in Houston?! 🤞

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.

I Discover a New Bookstore in Galveston

 My friend, Cindy, and I came out of Taquilo's Tex-Mex with full stomachs, and walked toward the car.

"We could stop in the bookstore before we leave," Cindy said.

"It's not open on Tuesdays," I told her. I tried the bookstore twice before on a Tuesday. Closed.

"It is now," Cindy said, and we turned to walk a short distance down Postoffice St. 

Hurray! Cindy was right. It was open.

I was expecting a used bookstore, but, no, it has all the latest and best brand-new books. The owner, Lori, retired from working as a preschool teacher and librarian, and decided jump into bookselling after her daughter gave her a push. 

It's a gorgeous bookshop, and I want to go back and just hang around and talk to other book people and look carefully at all Lori has on her shelves. 

Of course I had to bring home a book, and after considering about fifty books I really wanted to buy and take home, I finally decided on Devotions by Mary Oliver.

I am certain I will be back soon. Those fifty books are waiting for me.

For more photos, link up at Wordless Wednesday, Comedy Plus, Messymimi's Meanderings, Keith's Ramblings, Create With Joy, Wild Bird Wednesday, and My Corner of the World.

Bookish Goals for 2025

My only goal is to read anything I want, any place I want, any time I want.*

What are your goals for 2025?

*I hope to be led by what M at Rain City Reads calls Whatever Sparkles At Me this year, by what Marie Kondo calls Choosing What Sparks Joy.

Top Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January of 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Each Tuesday That Artsy Reader Girl assigns a topic and then post her top ten list that fits that topic. You’re more than welcome to join her and create your own top ten (or 2, 5, 20, etc.) list as well. Feel free to put a unique spin on the topic to make it work for you! Please link back to That Artsy Reader Girl in your own post so that others know where to find more information.    

The Sunday Salon: Incessantly On-the-Go; Incessantly Reading

 

Welcome! I am delighted that you joined us here at the Sunday Salon. 

What is the Sunday Salon? 

The Sunday Salon is a place to link up and share what we have been doing during the week. It's also a great opportunity to visit other blogs and join in the conversations going on there. 

I hardly had an hour of free time last week; I was either on-the-go or deep into a good book.

On-the-go: A last get-together of my writing group before one of our members left for her new life in Italy...an outing to the Galveston Symphony...a holiday lunch with my Houston book friends...a little family gathering for my dad's 98th birthday...breakfasted with a new face-to-face book club...joined a cycling class at the rec center...naturalist club meeting featuring a snake expert...

Books: Hiroshima Diary is a chronicle of a Japanese doctor after the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima in 1945. I felt like I was right there with the doctor as he puzzled over the results of the bombing on his neighbors, family, friends, and fellow members of the Hiroshima community, and as he tried to treat both the initial burns and injuries they suffered as well as the radiation poisoning that developed over time. It was horrifying to read this account, but it also feels like something that needs to be widely read.

My friend who was moving to Italy left her copy of a much-loved book, Mary Oliver's Blue Horses, with me when she left, and I felt compelled to read it. Blue Horses is beautiful and wise, just like all of Mary Oliver's work, and I bought a copy of a collection of Oliver's best poetry, Devotions, when I visited a new bookstore in Galveston this week.

I've been befuddled since the election here in America, and I've been searching for ways to move forward in a world that feels intolerant and poorly informed. I latched eagerly onto One Bird, One Stone and Anam Cara, and both were deeply satisfying reads. I'm a poor reviewer, but if you are looking for wisdom that transcends the moment we are in, I encourage you to look for these. And if you have other recommendations for my wounded spirit, I'd love to hear them.

What I Read Last Week:

One Bird, One Stone: 108 Contemporary Zen Stories by Sean Murphy

Blue Horses: Poetry by Mary Oliver

Hiroshima Diary: The Journal of a Japanese Physician by Michihiko Hachiya

Anam Cara: A Book of Celtic Wisdom by John O'Donohue

What I'm Reading Now:

Roots by Alex Haley (Chapter-a-Day)

A Sand County Almanac by Aldo Leopold (Naturalist Book Club)

Devotions by Mary Oliver (Poetry)

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride (Face-to-Face Book Club)

The Thurber Carnival by James Thurber (Classics Club)

What I Posted Last Week Here at Readerbuzz:

Most Anticipated Books Releasing in the First Half of 2025

The Sunday Salon: A Tornado Hits

The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

I began to list 3 Good Things every day during the pandemic. Now I've established a regular routine of writing down my 3 Good Things. Here are 3 Good Things from last week:

Good Thing #1:

I visited a new bookstore

in Galveston.

Good Thing #2:

I had such a great time at the 

Galveston Symphony Ba-Roque and Roll Concert

held at the1894 Opera House.

Good Thing #3:

My dad at 98!

Weekend linkup spots are listed below. Click on the picture to visit the site.

        

I hope you will join the linkup for Sunday Salon below.