From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

The End of the Affair

Graham Greene

Start date: March 1, 2026

Finish date: March 31, 2026

Discussion: 2026 Romance

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 1 of 1 topics — 14 comments total

2026 Romance

2026 Romance Classic Schedule
By Lesle , Appalachian Bibliophile · 8 posts · 42 views

last updated Nov 27, 2025 11:36AM

showing 8 of 8 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 10, 2017 Sara rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, classics

This book was not at all what I expected. It took a turn that I could not have imagined and then it became about so much more than just an ending of a love affair, it became about love itself, about hate, about jealousy and indifference. And it became about religion and about God, which is an entirely different thing than religion itself. I felt pain and confusion and sorrow and anger. I was Bendrix and then I was Sarah, and I understood and misunderstood them equally.

Greene is a masterful stor ...more

63 likes · Like · see review

Aug 30, 2017 Denise E. rated it it was ok

Oh my gosh - this book starts out GREAT, with Bendrix's proclamation that this won't be a love story but a revenge story. Greene was a wildly successful film writer, I think (having written the Third Man and other spy classics, but not the Julianne Moore/Ralph Fiennes vehicle that this book was turned into). So he REALLY knows how to get a reader's attention, it can be subtle, but it's a gift. I wanted to be hooked to this in the same way as Brighton Rock, his more youthful crime classic. Unfort Oh my gosh - this book starts out GREAT, with Bendrix's proclamation that this won't be a love story but a revenge story. Greene was a wildly successful film writer, I think (having written the Third Man and other spy classics, but not the Julianne Moore/Ralph Fiennes vehicle that this book was turned into). So he REALLY knows how to get a reader's attention, it can be subtle, but it's a gift. I wanted to be hooked to this in the same way as Brighton Rock, his more youthful crime classic. Unfortunately, the more the book went on, it just turned into... I don't know. *Spoiler* So Bendrix had strong feelings for Sarah and Sarah was married to someone else. Sarah also had strong feelings for Bendrix, but did not wish to hurt her husband's feelings by ending the marriage; however, Bendrix took this personally. Okay? I feel terrible for not liking this more, because obviously there is a spiritual component to it too. It is a strongly Catholic and religious novel, about the concept of faith and fidelity, both religious and secular, and I have to admit, it does get you thinking about these bigger things in life. But while you feel the fact that for Greene, this combination really packs a punch, it just drags so much in practice. There is literally NO momentum and only about three events. The entire thing is basically just a detailed declaration of Sarah's ambivalence (about everything!) and Bendrix's reactions toward it, and he started out as a much more sympathetic character but in the end, I sort of liked the husband best. I guess maybe Greene wanted to make it clear that he took the theme seriously? The big reveal surrounding one of the turning points of the book was genuinely exciting though. The drippy, dark, upper middle class/Bloomsbury Square type surroundings were interesting. The end was completely ridiculous, but it won me over for its sheer difference from the rest of the book (and from Brighton Rock). Greene was obviously an extremely unpredictable and versatile writer but this one didn't do it for me. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Jan 02, 2021 Jill rated it liked it

The first halfish of this book was a real slog for me reading the selfish whinging of two people embroiled in an affair. I found myself wondering why the narrator was drawn to Sarah and I really don't think that was clear. Then the book became fascinating as I realized it was about a woman's conversion to belief in God and a man's rejection, not even rejection but active hate of God. The points made in this last half of the book are so thought provoking and I imagine I'll be thinking about them ...more

Like · see review