Currently reading
A London Family, 1870-1900: A Trilogy
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Lives of a Cell: Notes of a Biology Watcher
All the Names
A History of the World in 100 Objects
Down the Garden Path
Virtue Betray'd, Or, Anna Bullen
Year of Wonders
Swallows and Amazons
Illusion in java
The End of the Affair
The writing was so good, I wanted to give it 4 stars. So few writers these days write at this level. Well, I guess that was probably true then as well; plenty of penny dreadfuls to go 'round every era. The first few chapters were interesting and engaging, even though it was hard to like the protagonist/narrator. On the first page he says, "..this is a record of hate far more than of love..." and so it is. That's part of what makes it compelling, this record of how hate can be the flip side of love. Or rather, in his case, petulance is the flip side of not getting what he wants. I found it difficult to believe this character capable of something as intense as love or hate. Mostly, he stayed in his head, was selfish and self-involved, and fond of being flip. But for the first few chapters, I enjoyed getting to know this guy and understand his view of the husband he is cuckolding (Henry) and the wife (Sarah) he is seeing. But then the viewpoint changed to Sarah and I started skimming. Conversion-to-faith stories bore me to tears and I don't feel like Greene was able to get into the mind of a woman very well. By the end of the book, all the characters bored me. I wouldn't want to know them and I am glad I am done with them.
So, two stars for enjoying the first 70 pages, but not the rest.
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