4 crazy stars. First things first: I listened to this narrated by Colin Firth and he has a sexy voice. I feel like it's pertinent to note this.
I described The End of the Affair like this to one of my friends: It's about a crazy man lusting after his crazy ex-lover under the watch of a crazy god in a crazy world.
If I do say so myself, I believe my synopsis nailed it.
The writing was gorgeous, pensive and fluid. Quite often, it can be hard to appreciate good writing when listening to an audiobook, but this book boasted such gorgeous prose that I believe it doesn't matter what format you devour it in. The characters were tainted, innocent, corrupt and complicated. This is the kind of book where the synopsis sounds crazy (a man wanting to stalk his ex-lover), but the writing makes it almost philosophical.
Morris, the narrator, is a jealous man; jealous to such a degree that I don't think I have ever met anyone so jealous. When Morris meets Henry again, the husband of his ex-lover Sarah, he finds that Henry has been suspecting his wife of an affair. Our narrator then hires a private investigator to stalk both Sarah and Henry, becoming inextricably linked into their lives again, falling deeper and deeper into their relationship and his own jealousy. He wants to know if Sarah is having an affair and he also wants to know more about Henry, the man Sarah chose over them. And in becoming so utterly involved in their lives, he begins to love them as well.
Throughout the book, there are many references to God and how the characters don't believe in Him. They are so adamant about it, so absolutely certain to the point that it doesn't sound certain at all. Sometimes things happen -- these things that happen everyday can be seen through the lens of rationality or faith; meetings can be coincidence or fate; healings can be psychological or supernatural; love can be a simple mixture of neurons and synapses or magic. What is comes down to is that it is about how much you're willing to see, in both directions. Morris wasn't willing to see anything. Morris, quite frankly, was blind.
Recommended for fans of The Great Gatsby and Their Eyes Were Watching God.
