Customer Reviews

A Separate Peace

5 star:		(240)
4 star:		(187)
3 star:		(87)
2 star:		(48)
1 star:		(88)

 

 

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 Although some young readers may find it to be out of date and filled with references and feelings they cannot relate to, I believe it is relevant and does encapsulate some of the darker, internal struggles of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.)

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.

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.

The main character Gene is jealous of Finny's natural athletic ability and fluid walk, but believes he compensates for this lack of ability by excelling in academics. Gene leads himself to believe that Finny is attempting to sabotage his academic success with nights at the beach, and the Super Suicide Society. Yet the reader learns later that Finny thought Gene possessed a natural academic ability when he told him to study and not come the Super Suicide Society meeting. This incident further annoys Gene since he realizes he is lacking in a way Finny is not.

Another issue involves Finny's denial of the events surrounding his accident. He refuses to believe that Gene caused him to fall from the tree. However, when Brinker begins to question Finny about that day he runs from the room instead of acknowledging the truth. Another manifestation of this denial of reality is Finny's inability to admit that the war exists. Instead Finny claims it is a fabrication of fat old men to stop the young people from enjoying themselves. This provides a convenient excuse since he cannot participate in the conflict. He refuses to accept the loss of his athletic ability by forcing Gene to train for the 1944 Olympics.

Gene's insecurity is one of the key factors in the development of the novel. He doubts his own abilities, and believes that Finny is attempting to destroy his academic success. Yet the reader learns that it is actually Gene's paranoia over his own lack of talent that leads to his distrust of Finny, and eventually to taking the opportunity to destroy Finny's unique nature.

If you want to learn about the disasters of friendship and jealousy, this is definitely for you. I read it several months ago, and it is a truly touching novel. John Knowles wrote a masterpiece, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," a raw, oddly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

The main character Gene is jealous of Finny's natural athletic ability and fluid walk, but believes he compensates for this lack of ability by excelling in academics. Gene leads himself to believe that Finny is attempting to sabotage his academic success with nights at the beach, and the Super Suicide Society. Yet the reader learns later that Finny thought Gene possessed a natural academic ability when he told him to study and not come the Super Suicide Society meeting. This incident further annoys Gene since he realizes he is lacking in a way Finny is not.

Another issue involves Finny's denial of the events surrounding his accident. He refuses to believe that Gene caused him to fall from the tree. However, when Brinker begins to question Finny about that day he runs from the room instead of acknowledging the truth. Another manifestation of this denial of reality is Finny's inability to admit that the war exists. Instead Finny claims it is a fabrication of fat old men to stop the young people from enjoying themselves. This provides a convenient excuse since he cannot participate in the conflict. He refuses to accept the loss of his athletic ability by forcing Gene to train for the 1944 Olympics.

Gene's insecurity is one of the key factors in the development of the novel. He doubts his own abilities, and believes that Finny is attempting to destroy his academic success. Yet the reader learns that it is actually Gene's paranoia over his own lack of talent that leads to his distrust of Finny, and eventually to taking the opportunity to destroy Finny's unique nature.

If you want to learn about the disasters of friendship and jealousy, this is definitely for you. I read it several months ago, and it is a truly touching novel. John Knowles wrote a masterpiece, but try it for yourself! Pick up a copy! Another book I need to recommend -- very much on my mind since I purchased a "used" copy off Amazon is "The Losers' Club: Complete Restored Edition," a raw, oddly entertaining little novel I can't stop thinking about.

John Knowles captures the loss of innocense in his "A Separate Peace." Set on the eve of a larger conflict overseas in World War II, the book is a stream of consciousness writing, as the narrator reflects after the war the incidents at Devon that were a sort of rites of passage for him into adulthood.

But 'A Separate Peace' also reveals the deep twists of an unusual friendship between a scholar and an athlete. Their bond and the betrayal that follows. It is a moving drama on a human scale, the climax and conclusion being most unexpected, but reminicent of the tragedy of war, not the resoluution of Peace.

For looking at the youth that will fight the war, rather than the war itself, the author details the peace found between friends that will have to recreated on the battlefield. An agonizing book, it will live in your heart long after you have read the last page.

This book is a good book. in the beggining it starts slow but then it picks up the pace, it starts getting personal with the characters, and all the action happens after the introduction of the characters, when Finny and Gene become real good friends.
i like this book, and i think you will enjoy it too. and also watch the movie, but they act kind of gay but they are not, so dont take it the wrong way.
1love

We had to read three "coming of age" books in school recently, and all were extremely good and completely different from each other. "Catcher in the Rye," "The Bark of the Dogwood" and this one, "A Separate Peace," were the books. We voted in class, and "Peace" was our favorite, followed by "Dogwood." Knowles book is so well-written and moving that I don't see how anyone could not like it. Whether you have to read it or not for class, pick up a copy!

This novel deals with the friendship of two prep schoolboys, Gene and Phineas, A.k.a. "Finny." Gene is intellectual and somewhat introverted and Finny is athletic, daring and outgoing. As often happens, these two temperamentally different people become friends.

I will not go through the entire story here; others already have, and besides -- I think the reader should do it for him/herself! However, I think that its strength lies in the realistic portrayal of adolescent friendship in both the positive and negative sense. At a time when female friendships are being dissected and examined, this book shows that male friendships are no walk in the park, either.

Many themes are dealt with here -- reaction to war, uncertainty about the future, the treatment of people perceived as "weaker," but through the story runs the relationship of Gene and Finny.

This is a book that is studied a lot in high school, but is worth reading again as an adult. We may wonder how much we have REALLY grown up!

A Separate Peace explores the issue of adolescence from the perspective of an all boy's school set in New England in the 1940s.

Gene, the protagonist, is friends with Phineaus, an outgoing and athletic guy. Although they are friends, there are differences that come between them, and this is what sets the story in motion. When the story begins, Gene is coming back to Devon, the school where a tragic accident happened that would forever change his life. We flashback to the story at hand, with Gene returning to the tree and place where everything changed.

Although Gene does admire Phineus (Finny), there is a certain amount of envy that he has. Gene, who is the intellectual type, wants to succeed in his studies and feels that Finny is out to "destroy" this. Finny is the type who does not have to be insecure about himself, and Gene sometimes misinterprets this.

One reviewer mentioned that this is a novel that uses stream of consciousness as a tool for its development, which I also agree with. This is not a novel with a lot of "action" per se, but its strength is particularly built from characterization of Gene and Finny's relationship at Devon. As the reader, we are only given Gene's perspective, and so we have to decide on our own how much truth there is to what Gene believes.

Many issues of adolescence are touched on. Jealousy, envy, conformity/ non-conformity and the issue of whether to participate and be part of the war are all felt by those who attend Devon, and Gene and Finny are at the core of this issue mainly because they are opposites with the exact same physical abilities up until Finny's accident. Knowles uses these tools to make a commentary on how a single perspective can change an adolescent's entire world, and then shows how an individual can use this to finally move on to adulthood by overcoming these.