The End of the Affair

The End of the Affair

First edition
(with 'Daily Mail Book of the Month wrapper)
Author Graham Greene
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Publisher Heinemann
Publication date
 1951
Media type Hardcover (first edition)
Pages 237 p. (first edition)
Preceded by The Third Man (1949)
Followed by The Quiet American (1955)

The End of the Affair (1951) is a novel by British author Graham Greene, as well as the title of two feature films (released in 1955 and 1999) that were adapted from the novel.

Set in London during and just after the Second World War, the novel examines the obsessions, jealousy and discernments within the relationships between three central characters: writer Maurice Bendrix; Sarah Miles; and her husband, civil servant Henry Miles.

Graham Greene's own affair with Lady Catherine Walston played into the basis for The End of the Affair. The British edition of the novel is dedicated to "C" while the American version is made out to "Catherine." Greene's own house at 14 Clapham Common Northside was bombed during the Blitz.[1]

Synopsis

The novel focuses on Maurice Bendrix, a rising writer during the Second World War in London, and Sarah Miles, the wife of an impotent civil servant. Bendrix is based on Greene himself, and he reflects often on the act of writing a novel. Sarah is based on Greene's lover at the time, Catherine Walston, to whom the book is dedicated.

Bendrix and Sarah fall in love quickly, but he soon realises that the affair will end as quickly as it began. The relationship suffers from his overt and admitted jealousy. He is frustrated by her refusal to divorce Henry, her amiable but boring husband. When a bomb blasts Bendrix's flat as he is with Sarah, he is nearly killed. After this, Sarah breaks off the affair with no apparent explanation.

Later, Bendrix is still wracked with jealousy when he sees Henry crossing the Common that separates their flats. Henry has finally started to suspect something, and Bendrix decides to go to a private detective to discover Sarah's new lover. Through her diary, he learns that, when she thought he was dead after the bombing, she made a promise to God not to see Bendrix again if He allowed him to live again. Greene describes Sarah's struggles. After her sudden death from a lung infection brought to a climax by walking on the Common in the rain, several miraculous events occur, advocating for some kind of meaningfulness to Sarah's faith. By the last page of the novel, Bendrix may have come to believe in a God as well, though not to love Him.

The End of the Affair is the fourth and last of Greene's explicitly Catholic novels.

Adaptations

In 1955, the book was made into a film, directed by Edward Dmytryk, with the screenplay adaptation by Lenore J. Coffee. David Lewis was the producer and David E. Rose executive producer. It starred Deborah Kerr as Sarah Miles, Van Johnson as Maurice Bendrix, John Mills as Albert Parkis, and Peter Cushing as Henry Miles.

In 1999, the novel was again made into a film (The End of the Affair), directed by Neil Jordan. Jordan also wrote the screenplay and produced the film with Stephen Woolley. It starred American actress Julianne Moore as Sarah Miles, English actor Ralph Fiennes as Maurice Bendrix, and Irish actor Stephen Rea as Henry Miles. Julianne Moore was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance.

In 2004, Jake Heggie composed an opera based on the novel. It premiered at the Houston Grand Opera in March of that year, and was subsequently revised into its final form.

In 2011, the novel was adapted into a play by Karla Boos and had its world premiere at Quantum Theatre.[2]

In 2012, an audio edition performed by Colin Firth and produced by Audible.com was released; the recording was recognized as Audiobook of the Year at the Audies Gala in May 2013.[3]

Various websites have suggested that the 2012 Bollywood film Jab Tak Hai Jaan might have drawn inspiration from the novel.[4][5]

The Italian band Daisy Chains has released an album titled A Story Has No Beginning or End, which is the first line of the novel by G. Greene, and whose own second track is titled "The End of the Affair".[6]

References

  1. ↑ Graham Greene, uneasy Catholic – TLS Highlights – Times Online
  2. ↑ "Quantum looks to have an 'Affair' in Polish Hill" (25 Aug 2011) Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
  3. ↑ "Colin Firth Wins Audiobook of the Year for 'The End of the Affair'" (31 May 2013) Galleycat
  4. ↑ "'Jab Tak Hai Jaan': Inspired by Graham Greene's novel 'The End of the Affair'?" (17 November 2012) IBNLive
  5. ↑ "Is JAB TAK HAI JAAN inspired by THE END OF THE AFFAIR?" (17 November 2012) Glamsham
  6. ↑ Daisy Chains
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