A Separate Peace
Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.
An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to World War II.
Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.
An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to World War II.
Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.
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Community Reviews
this abridged audiobook was okay but I'm gonna need to listen to the unabridged. always loved this story.
John Knowles’s book at first glance seems like a quick read. Sitting at a comfortable if not light 192 pages, it doesn’t depict itself as any kind of adversary− something you could pick up and for some of us, read in a fortnight or two, drop it back on the bookshelf, and be on our way. The story seems speciously simple, starting off with one tiny event characteristic of many a boy’s adolescence (no, nothing sexual). However the repercussions run deep, and the two main protagonists, best friends Gene and Phineas, start questioning who they are in relation to each other and even how they relate to themselves, written in a period where entire nations were also forced to question their own identities, loyalties, and courage in the midst of chaos and clashes on a global stage: the 1940s.
What I loved about the story was that, in addition to Gene and Phineas, the the school positioned itself as the third major character, serving almost as a halfway house, sheltering these boys from the cruel reality that awaits them yet, concurrently, smoothing their transition from boys of academia to men of the war. It was the constant backdrop for their mishaps, mayhem and development. In fact, it made me nostalgic for my own college years. However, the one thing I couldn’t quite wrap my head around was why this book was not narrated in third person omniscient but instead only through Gene.
Gleaning details about Phineas through Gene’s point of view allows you to appreciate the broader understanding you have of Gene but leaves something to be desired of Phineas. You’re like a child in a sea of adults, dodging protruding limbs and bulbous heads to get a better glimpse of the action. And in this book, Phineas is the source of action. Nevertheless, Knowles does a great job imbuing the readers with what life was like for boys on the brink of manhood living in a world on the brink of war.
What I loved about the story was that, in addition to Gene and Phineas, the the school positioned itself as the third major character, serving almost as a halfway house, sheltering these boys from the cruel reality that awaits them yet, concurrently, smoothing their transition from boys of academia to men of the war. It was the constant backdrop for their mishaps, mayhem and development. In fact, it made me nostalgic for my own college years. However, the one thing I couldn’t quite wrap my head around was why this book was not narrated in third person omniscient but instead only through Gene.
Gleaning details about Phineas through Gene’s point of view allows you to appreciate the broader understanding you have of Gene but leaves something to be desired of Phineas. You’re like a child in a sea of adults, dodging protruding limbs and bulbous heads to get a better glimpse of the action. And in this book, Phineas is the source of action. Nevertheless, Knowles does a great job imbuing the readers with what life was like for boys on the brink of manhood living in a world on the brink of war.
The strange thing about re-reading books you read in high school is how your age and (I assume) wisdom, changes how you view the book. I remember reading this and despising Phineas and Gene. I didn't know why I didn't like them, I was a dumb teenager, but I didn't like either of them.
After a re-read, I still do not like Gene but Finny has a pass. I realize, now, that the codependency of the two is what led me to not like either of them. I've never been a codependent person, never needed someone around all the time. I don't need to be a leader, I don't want to be a follower. Relationships like this have always irked me. But now I see that Finny became codependent out of necessity. Gene still sucked.
Set in a boy's school in New England, Gene and Finny are roommates and best friends. Finny's personality is outgoing, confident and incorrigible. Gene is meek, quiet and self-loathing. The leader-follower relationship is set. As Gene becomes more envious of Finny, he causes a deliberate accident that causes Finny to shatter his leg, thus ending his athletic dreams. Shitty move, Gene.
Finny eventually comes back to Devon, the same but crippled, and is forced to rely on Gene. Gene is still hating himself for what happened (which he should) and actively delves into daydreams and trying to become "Phineas" for Finny. Keep in mind that while this is all happening World War II is going on and each student at Devon is in danger of being drafted. The book never goes near the war, it just keeps it as a dark cloud over everyone and influence their decisions.
Just to keep the spoilers at bay, know that Finny and Gene's story gets more complicated with help from Brinker, another self-important student at Devon. Things do end badly and lessons don't entirely seem to get absorbed.
I couldn't remember anything about this book when I picked it up, except that I read it and it was set at a boy's school. Each page gave me deja vu and I realized it was there all along. I just didn't realize the plot I had in my mind was to A Separate Peace.
After a re-read, I still do not like Gene but Finny has a pass. I realize, now, that the codependency of the two is what led me to not like either of them. I've never been a codependent person, never needed someone around all the time. I don't need to be a leader, I don't want to be a follower. Relationships like this have always irked me. But now I see that Finny became codependent out of necessity. Gene still sucked.
Set in a boy's school in New England, Gene and Finny are roommates and best friends. Finny's personality is outgoing, confident and incorrigible. Gene is meek, quiet and self-loathing. The leader-follower relationship is set. As Gene becomes more envious of Finny, he causes a deliberate accident that causes Finny to shatter his leg, thus ending his athletic dreams. Shitty move, Gene.
Finny eventually comes back to Devon, the same but crippled, and is forced to rely on Gene. Gene is still hating himself for what happened (which he should) and actively delves into daydreams and trying to become "Phineas" for Finny. Keep in mind that while this is all happening World War II is going on and each student at Devon is in danger of being drafted. The book never goes near the war, it just keeps it as a dark cloud over everyone and influence their decisions.
Just to keep the spoilers at bay, know that Finny and Gene's story gets more complicated with help from Brinker, another self-important student at Devon. Things do end badly and lessons don't entirely seem to get absorbed.
I couldn't remember anything about this book when I picked it up, except that I read it and it was set at a boy's school. Each page gave me deja vu and I realized it was there all along. I just didn't realize the plot I had in my mind was to A Separate Peace.
We had to read this in high school and I hated it then. I recently reread it to see if I still hate it and I do. First of all, the main character has no sense of the significance of World War II.
The only good part of the entire book is how well the author captures that sense of anger that those we love the most can inspire-- but nothing is ultimately made of it. The main character regrets his feelings and actions and even tries in a limited way to take responsibility but the whole literary exercise feels pointless, boring, and despicable all at once.
The only good part of the entire book is how well the author captures that sense of anger that those we love the most can inspire-- but nothing is ultimately made of it. The main character regrets his feelings and actions and even tries in a limited way to take responsibility but the whole literary exercise feels pointless, boring, and despicable all at once.
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