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.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.

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

Fabulous narration by Colin Firth

Story by Graham Greene is good but I personally prefer a couple of his other novels. The performance by Colin Firth is excellent, however, and well-worth the listen.

brilliant

Graeme Greene's exceptional prose and storytelling plus an simply perfect performance by Colin Firth. Prefect book for audio.

I could listen to Colin Firth read the phone book

So his performance of Graham Greene's story of love, hate and God really is something special. Greene's prose digs into your soul directly. If Greene errors in over-aestheticizing doubt and hatred of the divine, he does it sublimely. Absolutely worth 8 hours of your time.

Loved it!

Loved this book, could relate to it so personally and on so many levels.

I didn't review this book immediately after reading it and now can't remember super specifics about it and I don't think my words could do it justice now!

However I will say that I would recommend this book to any introspective person who often thinks about life at a deeper level and likes examining their own emotions.

This book says so much about life and the many relationships we form as well as the range of emotions we go through in life and in love, during high and low moments.

Definitely a great book that I would recommended and will read again in the future!

Beautifully written, magnificently performed

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

I would absolutely recommend it, and I have. Like so many reviewers have mentioned, Colin Firth's performance of this work is stellar, and complements the novel itself well. His reading is powerful and evocative, and really captures the nuance and lyricism of the work.
This is the first Graham Greene novel I've read, and I absolutely loved it.

What did you like best about this story?

Even though it's set in pre-war, wartime and post-war London, from around 1939 to 1946, its themes and the struggles of its all too human characters are timeless. It is a beautiful meditation on love, hate, reason, faith, spirituality and human potential. It's wonderfully written, and I was taken aback more than once by the force of its simply stated truths. I don't know that I fully agree with everything Greene seems to be saying in the work, but I enjoyed it immensely nonetheless.

What does Colin Firth bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Colin Firth's narration is extremely evocative, without being at all overwrought. His performance is nigh perfect, and contributes to the lyricism and power of the book.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No. Even though it's a short work, and I really enjoyed it--in fact, because I really enjoyed it--I wanted to take the time required to really take it in and appreciate it. I listened over a period of about three days.

Any additional comments?

I'll be reading more Graham Greene, and I would listen to anything else Colin Firth narrated as well.

Fully Engaging

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.

Colin Firth could read the phonebook...

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Worthwhile for listening to C. Firth narrating a well written novel. Not worthwhile for the story itself, which was the least interesting story by Graham Greene I ever read.

Has The End of the Affair turned you off from other books in this genre?

No. This was my choice and I'm sure there are a lot of stories that I will enjoy reading in the future.

What does Colin Firth bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The tone, the accent, the dramatization. He was the only reason I listened to the very end. I would have dropped the book in mid course if I had been reading it.

Did not finish

Is there anything you would change about this book?

There did not seem to be much "meat" to the story. It did not appeal to me.

Would you recommend The End of the Affair to your friends? Why or why not?

No. Not much to the story line.

Have you listened to any of Colin Firth’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. But I love him as an actor.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No.

Any additional comments?

No.

Worthy of the Label Classic

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

The beautiful, beautiful prose and imagery of Greene read expertly by Firth.

What did you like best about this story?

The underlying message conveyed so beautifully and organically.

Have you listened to any of Colin Firth’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not listened to Colin Firth's other performances.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Hendrix's grudging acknowledgment that God is waiting to welcome any sinner ready to make that leap of faith. "For if this God exists . . . we could all be saints by leaping as you [Sarah] leapt . . ."

Any additional comments?

Highly, highly recommended.

This book brought me to tears – sad tears.

This novel at first seemed like the character’s self-indulgent contemplation of his own emotional naval—his worry-warting of his own failings and fears. However, the novel developed into a profound examination of death, and perhaps life. Either way, the novel brought me to tears, causing me to examine my own beliefs and to realize the depth of my own faith in God and his creation, man.

Not every reader will read it this way, but that makes the book even more beautiful. Colin Firth is a spectacular reader.