I just finished reading "The End of the Affair" by Graham Greene and am struggling mightily with my feelings/understanding of the ending. Sufficient to say, I did not expect miracles. And I don't really appreciate that they were there.
My initial reaction to the inclusion of the miracles was just a feeling like it was cheap writing, akin to a deux ex machina of sorts or a similar vibe to "It was all a dream." It changed the entire feel of the book, retrospectively. For a Catholic, it takes the novel and makes it into a surreptitious study of a saint. For non-believers, I imagine it makes it read like low-key fantasy. Either way, it cheapened (though that feels like the wrong word) the conversion – instead of Bendrix struggling through skepticism, being brought to belief through his love of Sarah and retroactively witnessing her own conversion, the actual hand of God came down and made clear the path.
For full disclosure, I'm reading the book as part of a Catholic book club, and I already know my fellow book clubbers are going to be moved by the miracles and the conversation will revolve around that, but all the English major reader in me wants to protest that it's not good writing (though it feels presumptuous to criticize a novel that is so widely respected).
Though I could be entirely off-base on all of this, and wouldn't be surprised in the least to discover most readers had a different feel/interpretation about it.
by My_Poor_Nerves
1 Comment
Had to think for a minute to remember what the miracles were. From what I recall they were obviously not confirmed miracles and could have been written off as coincidences as much as intervention. My feeling is that Bendrix chose to take them as miracles because he wished for Sarah to be divine, which gives meaning to her death and reason for the end of their affair.