- Audio CD
- Publisher: Recorded Books (Sep 1 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1428124381
- ISBN-13: 978-1428124387
- Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 13.5 x 2 cm
- Shipping Weight: 136 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (650 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #147,625 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From School Library Journal
Grade 9 & Up--The volatile world of male adolescence provides the backdrop for John Knowles' engrossing tale of love, hate, war, and peace. Sharing a room at Devon, an exclusive New England prep school, in the summer prior to World War II, Gene and Phineas form a complex bond of friendship that draws out both the best and worst characteristics of each boy and leads ultimately to violence, a confession, and the betrayal of trust. Narrator Scott Snively's ability to switch seamlessly from the perspective of a teenager tormented by feelings he doesn't want to understand to the reflective musing of a man looking back at the formative experience of his youth provide both the story and the setting with an immediacy that quickly engages listeners. Not only does Snively give a distinctive voice to each of the main characters, he also delineates the mannerisms and personalities of the other boys and the teachers surrounding them. Intense, mesmerizing, and compelling, this rendition of a classic coming-of-age tale belongs in all public library collections, and will be especially helpful to high school students as an accompaniment to the written text.
Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.
Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.
Review
Aubrey Menen I think it is the best-written, best-designed, and most moving novel I have read in many years. Beginning with a tiny incident among ordinary boys, it ends by being as deep and as big as evil itself.
National Review A masterpiece.
The Observer A model of restraint, deeply felt and beautifully written.
Warren Miller Mr. Knowles has something to say about youth and war that few contemporary novelists have attempted to say and none has said better. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
National Review A masterpiece.
The Observer A model of restraint, deeply felt and beautifully written.
Warren Miller Mr. Knowles has something to say about youth and war that few contemporary novelists have attempted to say and none has said better. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
Envy and Hatred under an Idyllic Surface,
By
This review is from: A Separate Peace (Mass Market Paperback)
This novel stands the test of time. Although some young readers may find it to be out of date and filled with references and feelings they cannot relate to, I believe it is relevant and does encapsulate some of the darker, internal struggles of adolescence. Gene is a teenager at a private boys' school who is searching for an identity and finds himself forging one from emotions and responses that come easily to him- sarcasm, jealousy, hatred, and fear. As a boy on the brink of manhood in a time of war, Gene knows he is supposed to represent all that is good and peaceful in the world, but in fact he realizes that he has the potential for great ugliness within himself. He strives for the greatness, grace, and exuberance that practically ooze from his best friend Finny, but finds that he is in many ways empty and frightened of his reality and the consequences of his own actions. This is a coming of age story, but simultaneously a novel of complex introspection and depth. The character of Gene is not pretty, but he does feel real in his attempt to deal with the ghosts of his past and the guilt that resulted from hurting the one he loved. (I also suggest watching the film The Talented Mr. Ripley after reading this book...I think that there are some interesting parallels between the characers of Gene and Tom and Finny and Dicky.)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Coming of age story like no other,
By Don BlueSky (Brittany) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Separate Peace (Paperback)
While there are a multitued of coming of age stories in print ("To Kill A Mockingbird" comes to mind, like "Catcher in the Rye") Knowels's "A Separate Peace stands heads above the rest for a couple of reasons: The writing is incredible and detailed, and even the most uncomfortable scenes are written with delicacy. Also, the story is about friendship and betrayal ("Kite Runner, anyone?) and growing up; how you see things as a kid and then later see them. Granted, there are some good cliches in this novel about boarding school life, but most of them are true. We have two friends--Gene and Finny. Gene is jealous of Finny's athletic abilities and decides to over compensate by becoming the "brain." It works to an extent. Both boys have to wrestle with the consequences of their own actions as the story unfolds, and this is what makes it a great novel. We get to see not only how each percieves himself, but how the friend percieves him. I can't think of a lot of other books that go this much into detail in a realistic way. Certainly this book has stood the test of time and will be reaching generations for future decades to come.
4.0 out of 5 stars
A Study of Adolescence,
By Alex (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: A Separate Peace (Paperback)
I had picked up A Separate Peace on a whim, having heard good things about it from others. I had gone into it knowing nothing; not character, plot, or setting. I was immediately immersed in a thunderously engaging, frightening, and discomfiting novel. It was full of human fallibility, calculated reason, and, above all, inherent love. A masterpiece in every sense of the word; from the first chapter it captures you - I couldn't help but read the entire thing in one sitting. From Finny's Tom-Sawyer-like behaviour to Gene's astuteness and seeming betrayal, it played out like a tortured scene from an uncomfortable childhood. With those scenes came moments of pure joy and pleasure - the beach scene springs instantly to mind. The language used to describe these seemingly ordinary events is vivid, unusual, and delicate. There's a tone of understatement riding through the novel - what is left unsaid being far more important than what is being said. I am reminded of a philosopher who, in a letter, had decreed that his greatest work was the work he had not written. This holds true to A Separate Peace. It is the undercurrent of friendship (and yes, even romantic love), of respect and the lack thereof, the violence, and evil in men's hearts that proves to be the most interesting aspect, all of which are merely hinted through Gene's self-analytical ranting and Finny's unprovoked romanticism and vivid beauty. I would most unquestioningly recommend this book. While solid in its boarding-school clichés, it offers something far more bleak and real than, say, Thomas Hughes' Tom Brown's School Days or P.G. Wodehouse's school stories. This does come with a warning, though. For all I loved A Separate Peace and wouldn't change an iota of a fragment of it, it does carry with it, particularly in the last few chapters, an incomplete feel to it. The last chapter surpasses the kind of melancholy air the first sections of the novel support, and becomes unsettling and even more notably, unsatisfying. While perhaps intentional, it does leave a rather bitter taste in the mouth of the reader. So, while I urge you to jump into the warm embrace Knowles provides, do so with care and caution. It's not a book to be handled lightly.
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