The End of the Affair

By: Graham Greene

Narrated by: Colin Firth

Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audie Award Winner, Audiobook of the Year, 2013

Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013

Academy Award-winning actor Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) won the Audie for Audiobook of the Year in 2013—for his first audio performance, The End of the Affair. The love affair at the center of this 1951 classic novel takes place in the bomb-strewn last days of World War II, and just after. Bendrix, a writer in war-torn London, has fallen in love with Sarah, the wife of an acquaintance. Though unhappily married, Sarah won’t leave her husband; she ends their affair and abruptly vanishes, reducing Bendrix's inner life to rubble. His investigation of Sarah’s disappearance reveals the role her newly-awakened Catholic faith played in her decision to leave, and other startling truths.

The End of the Affair mirrors Greene’s own relationship with a married woman, and positions religion as a pivotal element in both the inner turmoil and outer destruction occurring in his life at the time. Firth brilliantly conveys Greene’s characteristically bleak emotional terrain in an intimate, nuanced, and unhurried performance.

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©1951 Graham Greene (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Great narration of a touching and thoughtful story

What made the experience of listening to The End of the Affair the most enjoyable?

Colin Firth does an excellent job with this narration. It's a powerful and thought provoking story of "hate, as much as love". Definitely worth a listen.

An audio exemplar

This outstanding book is also an outstanding use of the audio format, with Firth giving wonderful voice to each character

Sublime

I've seldom enjoyed anything so much. I'll be listening to it again and again. Perfection.

Good performance. Meh story

Colin Firth has a great voice but he is no audiobook performer. It's nearly hard work to understand dialogues because he does not voice his characters not that differently. The biggest drawback for me was the story. It has a promising story of love and skies and it ends up being this story about religion and one's beliefs.

I could not stop listening!!!

Where does The End of the Affair rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of my very favorite Audios. Every word like melting wax, warm and covering. I adore Colin Firth and his to ability to make the character endearing even during dark moments.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Sarah.... She has the love of every man she encounters.

Which character – as performed by Colin Firth – was your favorite?

All of them.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

"Ends and beginnings are synonymous"

Any additional comments?

Give this novel a chance. It is masculine enough for the male reader and so rich that every woman will love hearing Firth whisper to her.

Awesomely good

I have never read or listened to Graham Greene's work before, and he was an incredible writer. His use of language is so poetic and beautiful. Colin Firth is of course an awesome actor, and that shows in his work here. He does justice to the power of the language. It was a great listen.

This is not one of those heavy plot books. This is a reflection on love and faifth with characters and a plot that move it along. A true work of art.

Firth almost makes it great

For the author, such
deserved self-disgust.
Heart-breaking descriptions of love. combined with basically rotten character.

Simple and beautiful

Would you listen to The End of the Affair again? Why?

Absolutely! Anything to hear more of Colin Firth's voice. The writing was also beautiful though, and there were passages I really would like to hear again.

What other book might you compare The End of the Affair to and why?

I can't think of any specific books, but it actually reminds me of a lot of Norwegian books in that they tell simple stories like this. But the writing was exceptional and set it apart.

What about Colin Firth’s performance did you like?

He portrayed each character excellently with subtle differences in the way they spoke. He is also just very comfortable to listen to in general.

Tedious, Bitter

What did you like best about The End of the Affair? What did you like least?

With this book, Graham Greene seemed to be exorcising himself of an affair of his own. But his "hero" is a selfish, bitter, mean-spirited, poisonous person, and he doesn't grow much as a human being. Six hours of him is hard to take.

Would you ever listen to anything by Graham Greene again?

Yes, his political thrillers like the Third Man and the Quiet American.

Did Colin Firth do a good job differentiating all the characters? How?

No. He has a pleasant voice, but he reads the entire novel in a bitter, accusatory tone so that the two illicit lovers (male and female) often sound like the same sour person. The best narrators read a story well while illuminating the material through their performance, but that didn't happen here.

Could you see The End of the Affair being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

It's been made into a movie twice, so hopefully that will be enough!

Any additional comments?

Skip it.

Depressing, But So Good

I normally don't care for books that obsess self-indulgently and at length about love and spirituality, but this was so well written and so well narrated by Colin Firth that it kept me completely engaged. The characters, while not exactly likeable, were complex and interesting and very, very human and I loved the theme of unconventional relationships. This isn't a happy or comfortable book at all, but it's a good one.