Poetic writing, masterfully narrated. But you have to be in the mood for something gloomy, and deep.

Warning: This novel has little to do with adultery or love and everything to do with finding God. Or not finding God. Who knows? Narrated by an obnoxious (but articulate) atheist, it largely consists of characters ranting against a God they claim not to believe in. There's some good wordsmithing but the plot is thin and turns on contrivance and coincidence designed to direct the story ever back to the tiresome question of God's existence. Not that it will influence readers' opinions either way. The narrator's lover, whose religious struggles end their affair and muck up both their lives, is a man's poorly imagined view of a troubled good woman. She has no weight or credibility as a dramatic character. There's no real chance for any actual feelings to take hold, since it's more confused op-ed than novel. But enough. It was thought great at the time - back when atheism was edgy, I guess. You can look up literary exegesis if that interests you, but I doubt you'll care by the end. If you MUST read this book, Colin Firth's narration is as good as it gets and better than this indulgent, badly dated novel deserves.

As a writer, I know writers who would appreciate his language and story structure.

Loss is universal. True love is rare. Combining these two powerful emotions with a backdrop of war, religion and the forbidden was a haunting premise.

No, but I'd risk my life just to hear Colin Firth tell me loves me and then using my name. Of all presenters, he wins the Grand Prize for reaching deep inside me and seducing my soul. I can hear him now as I write this.

Again, Colin Firth, and his narrative of the pain of missing her.

Colin Firth is an amazing reading and made the protagonist come to life. That being said, the story was even better. I like how the story was separated into books so that you got a new perspective from each one. In the first book, the reader rather despises Sarah because she seems so unfaithful and cold. By the last book, the reader's understanding has totally changed. We get to read her diary in one of the books and hear the true status of her thoughts and hear how much love she carries within her. Needless to say, the way Greene writes engages the reader in such a way that she fully feels one with the protagonist and Sarah.

Jealousy. This book is not about love or hate; it is all about jealousy. The jealousy of man and the jealousy of God.

I listened to the audio version, read by Colin Firth and that was exquisite. He earns a solid five stars! I wish I could give the book the same rating. I loved the first two thirds of the book but the ending third went off course for me. For me there was so much emotion mined from the relationship between the three lead characters. It was a wonderful examination of what it means to involve ourselves with another person, and what it is to love. Sarah is in a quietly loveless marriage and enters into an affair with a neighbor named Maurice. Unfortunately Maurice is incapable of loving in the moment. He is obsessively jealous... of her past lovers and of the men who he believes will be her lovers next. He doesn't allow himself to love the real and present Sarah. Eventually his jealousy pushes her away...

Sarah's husband, Henry, also loves her. The problem for them is that his love is dull and passionless. He fails to recognize and give to her what she needs.

I expected Sarah to leave them both and to find another man. I suppose the fact that the author twisted the tables here is a positive thing. Surprise is always good. But at this point Sarah finds God, and she doesn't find joy in God either -- and neither did I.

The book simply meandered off course here...

SPOILERS AHEAD:

Sarah looks for God but tells neither man, and struggles in her desire to return to Maurice.
Sarah dies. Maurice lives with Henry. They both learn about her exploration of God. And still none of these men seem to know her. The end.

Collin Firth really made the story for me since the protagonist is often unlikeable. Definitely worth listening to.

Everything about this story kept me listening. I just have to wish it had ended with some kind of epiphany for Maurice.

Top five. That is, definitely better than the sixth.

The great gatsby. They are both short. They are both twentieth century masterpiece. Writers always seem to like them. Every sentence is quotable.
Differences: The great gatsby might have made me a better person. I feel after reading the end of the affair I become worse. Also, I am not interested in listening to the audio book of the great gatsby.

Sympathy. Greene relentlessly created the buffoons out of each and every character. I saw a documentary in which the daughter of Katherine, Greene's lover when he wrote the book when he was in the heat of the affair, said that Greene was a mean man and I agree. I love reading this book. When I listened to Colin Firth's narration, I may have cried here and there, but I never had to pause it and gasp. Parkis felt less like a clown, Sarah's self confession less hysterical, Maurice not so much a maniac or not even that jealous, and the overall harshness was toned down. I was much more ready to forgive.

Yes. I could also start at any place in the book and get lost in it within eleven seconds.

This is my most reread book in the last ten years and the first time I read it was only a year ago. There are so many layers of good writing in it. How incisive a writer can be! To say things you know but could not say it yourself. It is a reference of how to write English sentences and how to build up plots. It is up to you to decide whether it is a book of love or hate, or a spoiled child's whining, a predator tapping on ones insecurity, or a showman's showmanship.There are new discoveries each time I read it, even though like Sarah there is only one way of love I can imagine. I am considering reading the translation in my mother tongue next time. Of course, being a short book also helped.

The narration was fantastic. Colin Firth's pacing was perfect throughout the book. While he didn't perform extravagantly different "voices" for all of the characters, his inflections and pacing made if clear which characters were speaking.

Probably not all in 1 sitting, but the story was very engaging. I made time to listen to this in the car and at home. Quite often, I juggle a few audio books simultaneously, but this was one that grabbed and kept my attention. The author set up conflict between 2 key characters on the very first pages of the book, so this was an easy story to jump into.

I would love to hear Colin Firth narrate more audio books. At this point, he may have ruined me for other narrators. This was my first Graham Greene book, and I would definitely listen to it again.

Captures the listener from the very beginning, a masterpiece to be read or heard thoughtfully.