High on our list of favorite novels is The End Of The Affair by Graham Greene, a strange but altogether fascinating example of a 20th century English Catholic novel. Anyone who doesn't own it should go out and grab a Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition that came out as part of the Greene Centennial. Today. On the surface, the book is about an affair between the novelist Maurice Bendrix and his neighbor's wife mixed with a discussion of jealousy and the nature of faith and miracles. Deeper within the story is a hint to the writing process itself. We learn a bit more about Greene's perspective on the ritual, the meaning, the cathartic and meditative properties of putting pen to paper (something the film versions lack). The first-person narrative is couched within a description of the novelist character, no doubt modeled on Greene himself, writing the story down and further into the novel you get to read the diary of the woman Bendrix is having an affair with. It's a great effect and it raises an otherwise well-worn topic to great heights. There's a reason why William Faulkner said of the book "for me [it's] one of the best, most true and moving novels of my time, in anybody's language." Ben's study of the SLeBaron reveals a different sort of realization, one that DealKiller seems to understand.
This is like some weird Crying Game kind of moment, where you start peeking underneath and yell, OMFG!, what the hell is THAT doing there!
Bonus trivia: The Crying Game was directed by Neil Jordan, who directed the not-so-great film version of The End Of The Affair.