Welcome to Litsy!

Got these from a Little Free Library on the way home from ballet this week.

I enjoyed having Colin Firth‘s voice in my ears for a few hours, but oh, Maurice, you are a self centred jerk. I love Graham Greene and this is a marvellously written novel about a man who is consumed by hatred at the end of an affair. I do hope Greene was purposefully showing us the errors in Maurice‘s possessive “love” ! A very good book but I was cross for such a lot of it!

I enjoyed listening to Colin Forth read this, but I didn‘t particularly care about the story.

#1001books #audiobook #Roll100 book 94

“this is a record of hate far more than of love” so begins the novel. Wonderfully written but terribly tragic. I found it interesting that this is known as one of his Catholic novels questioning how can you hate a god you don‘t believe in. The book seemed familiar, and then I realized I had seen the movie years ago. lol. All the stars though!

In this novel the narrator Maurice Bendrix is so obsessed with the end of his affair to a married woman, Sarah, that he hires a private detective to follow her. Bendrix is spiteful, conceited and self absorbed. I got extremely frustrated and almost bailed. With the switch to Sarah‘s perspective my frustration grew. The writing is good, some humor and the ending are wonderful, but overall it was tedious and disappointing.

Took a short walk 🚶‍♂️ this afternoon and began listening to the tagged audio book.

Photo is of a flowering cherry tree in my neighborhood.

#litsybitsy

All books should be narrated by Colin Firth. Ok, not all books, but most books. 😆 What can I say, I love his voice. Anyhoo, looking at the reviews for this, I can see where some of the negative reviewers are coming from, but I personally really enjoyed this. It‘s a tragic love story, and the two main characters are very flawed, which I think makes it more relatable. I‘d recommend it. 4⭐️

#audiobook

#TheEnd? #SoaringScores
Thanks for hosting @CrowCAH @Cinfhen!

I really wanted to love this. But the further into it I got, the more self-indulgent it seemed to get. I didn‘t find either Maurice or Sarah all that interesting later in the book, and my earlier intrigue at how their affair played out gradually wore into annoyance and determination just to finish the damn thing.

I listened to this on audiobook and Colin Firth‘s performance was marvellous so that‘s one thing I liked, I guess. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Well crap. Once it shifted to the woman‘s POV, it was so ridiculously written (how a man thinks women think about love) that I had to just put it down and stop. Just...no.

The End Of The Affair is a short novel about a scorned lover‘s creepy pursuit of his best mate‘s wife, who dies mid-way through her conversion to Catholicism. It‘s not a romantic read, and probably not one to pick up if you‘re looking to restore your faith in God or humanity, but it's an interesting cautionary tale: never dump an author without telling him why. Full review: http://keepingupwiththepenguins.com/the-end-of-the-affair-graham-greene/

Cider on the porch on a temperate evening, and a new ebook to read.

Listening to this one again. Colin Firth is perfect.

#TheEnd #MayMovieMagic @rohit-sawant @Cinfhen

Sorry this just not my cup of tea. 💁🏼‍♀️Love, jealousy, obsession, God and an angry narrator

Book and movie: The End of the Affair
Song: You Give Love a Bad Name

🎶 Shot through the heart
And you're to blame
Darlin', you give love a bad name 🎶

#ManicMonday

I think I would listen to Colin Firth read the dictionary...but I‘m loving this book!

A thought provoking story about forbidden love, love lost and believing in God.

My first time listening to an audiobook — and I absolutely love it! #audiobook #classics

Got this today at the Audible sale (along with Alas, Babylon).
I really don‘t care how it is as long as Colin Firth is reading it. ❤️

Audible 2 for 1 sale. I can not resist a classic read by a celebrity. I have never even heard of The End of the Affair but Colin Firth is everything. I antcipate major swooning.

#adventrecommends Day 18 @emilyrose_x
I love Graham Greene—I love everything he writes. IMHO, this is his best. A story fraught with marital indiscretion and it‘s incumbent chaotic “messiness,” Greene (it‘s said) was writing about himself and his love for Catherine Walston (Greene‘s dedicatee). The setting is WWII England, and the bombings in London create a certain tension for one side of a love triangle—quite literally, in fact, as Sarah ⬇️

GG & I go wayyyyy back to university days & I am always down to gobble up one of his novels. On multiple trips to Vietnam I have made pilgrimages to those haunts of his still standing. His voice moves me.

So I don‘t know why it took me until now to get to one of his most well known novels, but gosh it was a treat.

#NoFemmeber #jealousguy
This story is as much about jealousy and obsession as it is about love....
I highly recommend the audiobook read by Colin Firth...... Soooooo good! 💕🎧

Don‘t think I was in the mood for this book. Didn‘t get to finish it. I think he wrote it based on an affair he had in real life. Might try it again in the future . Now on to something I can finish! ( hopefully) 😊 @MrsMalaprop

Amazing. I fell in love with Greene‘s writing - straightforward, but powerful, expressing complex emotions with high impact. The title says it - this book is about the end of the affair, of the pain of separation, anxiety, the inability to move on; it is also a religious book, about finding God within another love - ironically, an adulterous affair. I am floored by this book and will be reading more of Greene‘s work. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Mixed thoughts on this one. I hated it to begin with but came to love Sarah and the way the love/hate was described. It turned into a kind of sad, restrained Gone Girl between Sarah, Maurice and Henry. I hated the narrator though and I hated the constant self conscious references to writing and narrative structure. The whole protagonist and all his literary devices could have sodded off and left me with a much better book about Sarah. #1001books

Sarah and I never drank Chianti and now the act of drinking it reminded me of that fact. I might as well have had our favourite claret, I couldn‘t have thought of her more. Even vacancy was crowded with her.

Jealousy, or so I have always believed, exists only with desire. The Old Testament writers were fond of using the words ‘a jealous God‘, and perhaps it was their rough and oblique way of expressing belief in the love of God for man.

I‘m not really enjoying this book honestly - I hate brusque masculine early 20th century fiction - but this line really stood out to me.

Next book is The End of the Affair! This has been sitting on my bookshelf for probably nearly ten years! I‘m enjoying the feeling of getting through all these books that I honestly started to doubt I‘d get round to

Such intense emotions at play. A pretty complex and interesting examination of love and hate (which is not all that different in this story), and throws questions on belief and faith in religion. Maurice‘s self-destructive jealousy and hatred hastened the ruin of their love affair. Didn‘t love it but am fascinated by the interplay of emotions. My first Greene and I look forward to read the few more on my shelf.
#litsyclassics

My #currentread seems apt for #mylovemylife . In fact, Maurice‘s love for Sarah slowly turns into an obsession (not a spoiler, it‘s in the blurb).

#ABBAInAugust

#currentlyreading

This was an excellent audiobook, Colin Firth should narrate everything! This book was about so much more than I expected it to be. It wasn‘t just about an affair ending. It was about belief, and the struggle against believing. Belief in God, in love, and in the reasons for existing. An interesting, and beautifully written book.

I started this audiobook earlier this morning. Colin Firth should narrate all audiobooks! 🙌

I keep accidentally reading super Catholic books. 🤔

4.25
My first Greene was a great experience. He surprised me with an unexpected depth. Love and hate tore the protagonist apart, both making him unhappy. TEOTA, said to be, “... one of Graham Greene‘s Catholic novels.”, portrayed by many of the characters‘ struggle with morality, love and faith. I recommend it, it‘s readable and layered. I have several more Greene‘s on my shelf that I look forward to opening!

The end of another chapter in our lives: @WanderingBookaneer and I said goodbye to our school in Puerto Rico yesterday, in a long day that culminated with the senior graduation and post-grad dinner. Lots of tears and bittersweet moments. Next up: moving to our new home in Bradenton, Florida at the end of the month.

This might be closer to a So-So. The writing is great, but there‘s too much religion for me. I want to give Greene another chance. Can anyone suggest another of his that is more ‘secular‘? #1001books

#LitsyClassics G
I had rd this yrs ago but seemed to take more from it on this reread. The story of a love affair but it is about how love and hate are so close & how the ultimate jealousy is with faith, + the 'you' (god) which seemed fundamental to the graeme greene story. The writing brings 1946 London to life + the interaction of characters is beautifully drawn - a brilliant read that dared to change our perception of the apt ending.

#GetMovin #Believer
Letter G in my #LitsyClassics challenge is a reread and is deeply based in Greene's catholicism - here the heroine Sarah emotes her belief in the face of her affair.

I love hunting for second hand books . They have so much more character and you can‘t beat that old book smell! #Myhappiness #marchintooz

4⭐️ for the Audible audio edition narrated by Colin Firth 😍 The book works best when it's in the head of Maurice; Greene is less convincing when he's writing from the viewpoint of a woman.

The scene where Bendix and Sarah see a film adaptation of one of his books made me smile; he kept wanting to lean over and say "That's not what I wrote" every few minutes.

Perfect Valentine's Day reading 😂

I'm reading the audiobook narrated by Colin Firth 😍
Also, how adorable is Ralph Fiennes? 😍

#litsyclassics #litsyclassicsmatches

@merelybookish @Earlene @PolaroidPoet @andrew61

New in @erzascarletbookgasm

This book is an almost favorite. I don't know why I like sad novels but that's the main reason I love this, it just seems real. I also love the way Graham Greene connected love and hate and humans and God. A must read classic!

This one rattled my tea-drinking, crying sweater wearing, philosophy discussing, little soul. I have my complaints but overall, it's a beautifully written story about believing in love and in God and our complicated relationships with both.

Note: Listened to this one on Audible as narrated by Colin Firth. I'd listen to Mr. Firth narrate a takeout menu and then the phone book. He's emotive and simply... sigh... amazing.

Perfect day for a walk and audiobook.

So, I decided to do this one on audio instead of a mystery right now. I‘ve been wanting to read this one for a while, and then I saw that Colin Firth narrates it. Yes please!!!