A Separate Peace (The Teacher's Companion)

This book deserved more like 3 1/2 stars
In A Separate Peace John Knowles' character development was superb, especially when explaining how Gene became a part of Phineas. Gene's urge to become Finny, added complexity to the book, making it more interesting to read. Knowles temporarily takes away this intricacy for an entire chapter when Gene leaves school to go to visit his friend Leper. Gene's trip to Lepers house was the worst part in the book because the intricate relationship between Gene and Finny that had sucked me into the book was put off by a long boring explanation of Gene's visit to Leper's house. The way Gene slowly brought out that he wanted and was going to become Phineas was extraordinary. He starts becoming him by wearing his clothes and ending with almost taking over Phineas' life. Knowles shows that Gene is becoming a part of Finny when Gene says, "...and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas" (77). Knowles has a great talent in writing, however he should have worked harder at leaving out scenes that stray from the subject. When Gene receives an invitation to go visit Leper I thought I might have to read a couple boring pages that strayed from the relationship between Gene and Finny that so easily had grasped my attention. However, I realized that this trip was not as short as I had wished when Gene said, "It was another brittle-looking Vermont House, white of course, with long and narrow windows like New England Faces" (132-133). Knowles spent entirely too much time away from the description of Gene and Finny's relationship that the book started to lose my interest quickly. When Gene returns to school, Knowles gets back to the subject and resumes his captivating writing that made me enthusiastically finish the book.

Dear John Knowles:
One of the most compelling and interesting novels I have read was your, "A Separate Peace." Not only did it present a heart felt story of a boy experiencing high school during World War II, it also raised certain issues, such as ways to deal with bad times. The association between adolescents and an ongoing world war in your story, shows your understanding of the teenage life. Being an adolescent, I can relate to the story. Although I have never experienced a war, I have fought through numerous trials and tribulations along side my friends and have grown a bond with them as strong as brotherhood. The fact that the setting of the story was at an all boys school where boys have the chance to grow together as brothers, pulled me into the story even more. I liked the way that the main characters of the story, Gene and Phineas, were so different yet still managed to be best of friends. Gene, who actually told the story as I read, was an intellect and a high achiever in academics at Devon high school. Phineas, on the other hand, was more of an athlete than an intellect. Together, the two boys participated in many sporting events with their fellow students and had realistic experiences that best of friend usually have. Who would imagine that breaking a leg while jumping out of a branch of a tree into a creek would result to a later death, as Phineas did? In the summer that Phineas broke his leg, Gene blamed himself for the accident since he was beside him on the branch when Phineas fell. However, when school started in the fall, he didn't pay much attention to Phineas' disability. I believe that Gene handled the situation the way he did in order to not remind Phineas of his problem and show him that he accepted Phineas for the kind of person he was on the inside. Unfortunately, due to some marrow from his broken leg traveling through his arteries to his heart, Phineas passed away. Every moment of the story captured my attention even greater. A major reason to why this book interested me was because I felt as if I was reading about my own experiences. Roughly four years ago, my friend by the name of Ed and I were playing games associated with wars which was very similar to the "blitzball" game played by Gene, Phineas, and the rest of the children at Devon high school. The object of the game was to attempt to hit a person with a tennis ball. As I looked for people to hit, I spotted Ed on a branch near the tree next to which I was standing. With all of my might, I tossed the ball toward Ed. In order to get out of the way, he suddenly jumped to the branch next to him but missed his landing and fell awkwardly on his right leg. His doctor announced that he had fractured his leg and that there was a possibility that he would never be able to use it again. The next month, Ed and his family moved away from town and I lost my best friend forever. Although Ed did not die as Phineas did toward the end of the story, he has left me for good as Phineas left Gene. One of the messages I received from reading your novel is that one can always make the best of bad times. At the time of the story, World War II was in progress. I can imagine the depression that American families were in as their sons went off to fight for their country. However, instead of living their lives in sorrow Gene and Phineas found peace in the lives they lived at Devon high school. They seemed to disregard the war and live life as if there was no war, although it was on their minds. I believe that life itself would not be, without making the best of such times. Life is full of problems and depression. How can one live life to its fullest extent if they are always burdened with problems and let their problems get the best of them? After reading this novel, I sat and thought about this message and figured that it is indeed true. This was such a well written story that I have nothing bad to say about it. I recommend it to people of all ages and cannot wait to read one of your other novels.
Sincerely, anonymous

A Separate Peace is a book about a conflict between two friends at a New England boarding school during World War II. I didn't like the book as much as most other people. Although at certain points I could not stop reading, I more often thought, "why am I reading this?" A Separate Peace didn't have enough action. It focused more on conversation and thoughts. For example, at one point Finny takes up an entire page to try and explain his way out of trouble. I ended up skipping that dialog. I can relate to this book because I am attending a boarding school and have friends like Finny, one of the main characters. John Knowles uses symbolism frequently throughout the book. Several parts were too drawn-out and it took a long time to get to the point. The "up" side to this is you get a full picture of what is happening, but on the "down" side you may get lost in the midst of all the symbolism. Often I got lost and had to reread a few time to figure out where the book was going. This drew me away from it. It took me a longer time to read it and bored me. All in all, if you like emotional yet meaningful stories, this is the book for you. But if you like action-packed thrillers, keep on looking.

This was by far The best book I've ever read. ( my last one being His dark Materials) My friend convinced me to pick it up after her 8th grade class read it in her 8th grade english class.
Even just as it starts out, I knew I'd love it, with the great wit and style the author has.
Throughout the whole story runs the ever impending setting of the second world war. I wouldn't characterize it as Dark, but more in the way of shadowy. Its basically about boys in their last few years in school, in peace, and seperate from the war around them.
But it's a book thats so much more than basic. Its leads into how the boys learn to have to accept the inevitable growing up an loss of such a simple, seperate lifestyle, and move into drafting, leaving the school, and the world changing around them.
The two main characters are a perfect symbolism, Phineas, a perfect leader, respected through the school for his athletic skill and way with words. Yet he is also a symbol of innocence, and sometimes even ignorance. His roomate, Gene, was the shadow to Finny's athletic skill, but also the one aiming for valedictorian, in trying to match his friend. He is more plauged with experience, and continuously overanalizes his world.
I dont want to tell everything that happens, because it's much more enjoyable if you dont know, but this is a beautifull novel, and I love every word of it.
When I finished it, I was left with grim, yet hopefilled and refreshing views. Its a wonedfull book that makes you think. I would recomend it to anyone that likes looking at the world and people, and all sorts of deep thinking, but dont ruin it by overanalizing the symbolism. The overall mood is what's really important.
Even though the reading level is set for people twelve and up, I would say reading it in highschool would be you're best bet. Maybe seventeen and up, though I read it when I was 14, and loved it. Depends on who you are. Just make sure you read it.
... This book is fantastic!

The novel a Seperate Peace, by John Knowles, is a story about a young boy's struggle to find himself in an everchanging world. This first person narritive revolves around two central characters, Gene Forrester and Phineas. Gene,the narrator,is the intellectual, who is basically reserved, tends to go with the crowd. Phineas, on the other hand is the natural athlete, who is very extroverted and tends to hold a special power over people. However, when the boys become roommates Gene can not stand living in Finny's shadow. Then something takes over gene, and he develops an intense resentment toward Finny. The odd thing is that he still admires him. It boils over, and Gene causes Phineas to break his leg and lose all of hi previous athletic prowess. Over the next few months, Gene deals with his guilt and begins to become more honest with himself. During a mock trial, Gene is accused of Finny's fall. Phineas becomes so upset that he trie to run away, but falls on the slick marble floorof the First Academy Building, and breaks the same leg. Although a cleaner break, while the doctor was setting the the bone, a few particles of marrow escaped into his bloodstream causing his heart to stop immediately. Through this Gene matures into a responsible, and kills his enemybefore ever putting on a uniform, his own youth. The previous paragraph summarizes very briefly the basic storyline of this detealied and complex novel. Throughout the rest of this review, I will list and explainthe reasons why I liked and disliked A Seperate Peace. In my own opinion what made this a classic is its symbolic language, and it evolved with the story. At the center of this story is the infamous tree whose branches extend over the Devon. Described by Gene as "...tremendous, an irate, steely black temple," this is the tree that allows Gene tro mature into an adult. In symbolic terms, the tree represents the tree of Good and Evil in the book of Genesis. Another prominent theme is falling. when Finny is pushed from the tree, gene "falls from innocence" and thus begings acquring knowledge, of both himself and the world. It is only through his "friend's" accident, that he could move away from Finny's fantasy world where the war was a practical joke on the younger generation, an into the world of reality. Searching inside himself he is able to understand "...that wars were made instead by something ignorant in the human heart." This he realizes was the same thing that causes conflicts among men, and boys to push each other from trees. Other symbols include the school's two rivers, the Devon and the Naguamsett. The Devon is sweet and pure, with its "dreaming summer calm," sharply contrasting the "ugly, saline" Naguamsett. The devon represents the good in the in the world and the innocence of youth, while the Naguamsett shows the ugliness of reality. The Devon is an extension of Knowles' Eden motiff, with his exaggeration on the beauty of this river. After his fall from innocence, Gene is "baptized" in the marshy Naguamsett. This forces Gene to think about how he has been acting. All of the symbols are interconnected, and reflect what is happening to the characters. This is one of the main reasons why I enjoyed this book. however it was not perfect. I found the beginning of the book to be very slow and boring. Although I did like the descriptions of the scenery, some parts were drawn out, and had no real importance to the book. Considering everything, I think that A Separate Peace was a well written book with an important message that all of all of us can learn and benefit from.

"A Separate Peace" is about a friendship acquired by two boys while attending an elite prep school in New Hampshire. The two boys, Gene and Phineas, are drawn to each other by magnetic forces. The boys remain friends throughout many hardships, and begin to live through each other to excape from their own reality.
John Knowles' use of the theme from innocence to evil is a brillant use of literary devices. The theme throughout the novel allows the reader to feel Gene's battle within theirselves. The battle allows the reader to comtemplate Gene's own battle: if it is against himself or against Phineas. It allows the reader to recall their own memories of childhood as the grow from innocence to adulthood filled with evils. The novel is written like a diary, but does not reveal too much of Gene's emotions and leaves the reader full of suspense. The use of these literary devices in this novel are brillant making the novel have a deeper meaning, and therefore making it one of the best I've ever read.

The novel A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a great story about friendship in a time of war. The setting is a boarding school for boys in New Hampshire named Devon. The two main characters, Gene and Finny, are enjoying a summer and then school year of innocence, while the rest of the country is off at war against Germany, Japan, and Italy (World War II). However, a different kind of war creeps silently into Devon when Gene becomes jealous of Finny, his best friend, and wrongfully suspects him of deliberately wrecking his grades. Finally, after an epiphany, Gene comes to the truth about how Finny is just too good a person, and the battle was all in Gene's head. That night, the boys are making a midnight jump from a mammoth tree near the river, when Gene subconsciously "jounces" the limb causing Finny to fall and shatter his leg. This is the end of Finny's brilliant athletic career. The remainder of the story discusses Gene's inner examination of his evil heart and his becoming more mature as he takes responsibility for his actions.
All of the characters in the story are extremely plausible and well rounded. Gene especially, has mental battles with his evil heart and spends much of his free time pondering Finny's motives. Finny is a very idealistic character with a kind heart and innocent mind. Indirectly, this innocence leads to his death, as he wasn't able to survive the "war". The theme can be interpreted many ways but all are very complex and involve the loss of innocence and the potential for evil in the human heart. The greatest battles against evil are those fought in the human mind.
I felt that this story moved at a moderate pace, although some parts were bogged down with description. There is a great deal of symbolism in this story concerning a war motif and a Garden of Eden motif. This is a good story on its own, but is much more interesting and puzzling when read between the lines when you take the symbolism into account.
John Knowles did an excellent job on this novel, but I felt that one thing could be changed. The epilogue summarizes the remainder of Gene's life and war experiences in only a few sentences. This could have been explored further.

This is a book about two teenagers, who are completely opposite, but are the best of friends. The story takes place in New Hampshire at a boarding school called Devon. Finny, the handsome, athletic, popular, and not so smart friend, falls from a tree one night and breaks his leg while attempting to make a double jump with his best friend Gene. Gene is the smart, not so much athletic, and not so good-looking friend who is blamed for jouncing the tree limb on which he and Finny were standing on. At a mock trial of the falling one evening, Brinker Hadley, the boys friend, forced Gene to tell Finny that he deliberately made him fall. Finny got upset over this because he didn't believe that his best friend would push him from a tree and stormed out of the meeting and fell down the stairs and re-broke his leg. This creates a complicated plot and causes the ending to become more suspenseful. I rate this book a four because I don't quite get all the details that John Knowles goes into, so therefore I don't understand all the language and symbolism that he expresses. I liked this book a lot and would recommend it to anyone. One thing that really stood out to me was how the boys were so into going to the war and couldn't wait until they turned 18. I also liked how Finny and Gene were two completely opposite people, with totally different personalities, but were the best of friends. Together, they were the perfect person.

I find it disturbing that some people thought "A Separate Peace" was a "waste of time" but I guess everyone really does have different taste when it comes to reading books. I'm a sophomore and my class had to read this book during the beginning of the year. It is a good book and I know half of you would agree and the other half would disagree. I just find it insulting that some of you people didn't have the decency to recommend this book to other people who might find it interesting. You should be encouraging people to read and not turn them off by the mere mention of an uninteresting book. I think Phineas and Gene had a strange friendship but in a way it relates to how we treat our "friendships" with our peers and other people. People always take things for granted and we seem to end up learning our mistakes after the fall of others or after things are too late. Pity this world and the humans who live on it. I enjoyed this book immensely and give the book a try. I was just as skeptical as first when I started reading it but I changed my mind later on in the book.

I have recently read this novel and became quite fond of it. After reading it became one of my favorite novels. This story is about two seniors who go to a school called Devon, during the world war II crisis. My favorite charecter in the book is one of the two main charecters. Gene Forester is a quiet young book worm. He is not very athletic but he still finds a way to get by at his school. The second charecter is Phineus, unfdortunetly there was no last name gicen to this charecter. This charecter goes under the alias of Finny. Finny is a daredevil athlete who has no boundries. The conflict of this story begins when Gene and Finny begin a secret soceity on the campus grounds of Devon. The name of this secret club is the Super Suicide Soceity of the Summer Session. The club meetings begin with ene and Finny jump off a tree into a river. This is were the trouble begins. One evening while Gene and Finny prepare to jump off Finny falls off the tree onto the ground. Finny is then taken to a doctor to find out what his injuries were. It turns out that the fall completly shattered Finny's leg and he will never play sports again. To find out how this tory ends read A Separate Peace by John Knowles.

I liked John Knowles' A Separate Peace because Gene and Finny's relationship is similar to my own friendships. When Gene broke Finny's leg, Finny didn't want to believe that his best friend did it to him. Gene did almost everything with Finny because he didn't want to lose Finny's friendship. I hurt my friend's face and he now has a scar. Even though he had the right to say bad words and shout at me, he did not. Instead he forgave me. Our experience is related to Gene and Finny's. When Finny says, "We'll jump together to cement our partnership", (PG 24), he shows that he and Gene are very closely related and spend most of their time together. My friend and I always spent time together too. When I skipped the class, he did the same and we both spent our time playing while others were in school. He was always there for the important things in my life. It feels like my personality is made of elements from both Gene and Finny's characters. This book is nicely written, and I think that people should read it. Even though it does not have that much action, when you relate the book to your own life, it seems that you are in the book and experiencing the same emotions of the characters.

A Seperate Peace by John Knowles is a spellbinding book that captivates the readers attention with an surprisingly evil story line that builds throughout the plot. The main characters, Finny and Gene are best friends and seniors at the Devon School for boys. Finny is an egotistical atheletic young man who is good at every sport ever invited, and Gene is a quiet shy boy who seems very bland and plain. Together they make an interesting blend. When an accident shatters through the glass of their world, things begin to change. This book held my attention throughout the plot, although the beginning was a little slow, starting with a reflection from Gene. I liked how the book was so realistic, showing the interaction between boys around my age group. It was also interesting to learn how life was during WWII, the time period in which this book is set. I didnt like the abrupt ending of the book, and I feel that it could have been done more skillfully, to reflect upon the rest of the book, which was very good. Overall, this is a good read. Go out and buy this book if you like stories with evil twists and excitement, and enjoy observing interactions between friends, and even enemies.

The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver, is a tale about the experiences of a lady named Marietta Greer. Ms Greer is leaving her childhod home of Pittman Kentucky for her personality does not allow her to fit in. She heads west with a barely running Volkswagen Bug, determined to change her name as soon as she reaches the first place she stops at. She ends up in Taylorville. Now Taylor Greer, she drives through the Cherokee Nation area of Oklahoma and her car breaks down. This is where an abused, abandoned baby girl is unloaded upon her. She names the child Turtle because of the baby's grip. Taylor and Turtle drive on together. Challenged with unexpected motherhood and two flat tires, Taylor arrives at Jesus Is Lord Used Tires in Tucson, Arizona. The tire shop is run by a woman named Mattie. The shop also serves as a safe house for Central American refugees. Mattie gives Taylor moral support and a job. Taylor learns that her own troubles are small compared to those of Estevan and Esperanza, a couple who had to give up their daughter and are fleeing from both a Guatemalan rebels and the I.N.S. As the result of a newspaper ad looking for a roommate, Taylor now lives with Lou Ann Ruiz and her baby boy. Lou Ann's husband has left her and Lou Ann is without any confidence or self-esteem. Ironically, Lou Ann is from the same area of Kentucky as Taylor. They find comfort in each other's spirited, Kentucky dialect and share the burdens of new motherhood. Taylor's relationship with Turtle grows. Her relationships with Mattie, Estevan and Esperanza also grow. The story climaxes as Taylor risks her own safety to transport Estevan and Esperanza to a church/safe house in Oklahoma. While there, Estevan and Esperanza pose as Turtle's parents to allow Taylor to legally adopt the child. The struggles of the human condition are resolved for the time being in the lives of those Taylor has touched. Taylor discovers a new appreciation for everyday miracles and a new definition for family.

Knowles book withstands the test of time because the issues he confronts -- through the school boys whose lives he details -- are timeless: the need to find enemies amid the confusing forests of our lives, and the need to recognize the true enemy within each of us: ego, envy, and mean spiritedness. This is not a book simply for young adults, but for all of us who must reconcile ourselves to rejection, loss and our own inner demons. Knowles writes with haunting clarity and tells a story that is as compelling as it is tragic.

After reading ¡§The Catcher in the Rye,¡¨ I wanted another book with the same powerful stream of consciousness that binds a magnificent novel. ¡§A Separate Peace¡¨ tells a story more moving than a plot with a chain of events. Also, because the stream of consciousness belongs to an adolescent, Gene, I easily relate to his feelings. His circumstances also mirror mine.
During World War II at Devon, a boarding school, Gene and Phineas, roommates and best friends, are opposites. Gene is a quiet intellectual, Phineas a daredevil athlete. Gene often feels jealous of Phineas¡¦ athletic skills and charisma. He feels that Phineas is also jealous of his academic achievements. One day, Phineas and Gene attempt to jump out of a tree into a river. However, Gene shakes the limb then Phineas falls and breaks his leg.
After this trauma, Gene feels that Phineas¡¦ incapacitation is his fault and he soon loses his hate and jealousy for Phineas. Their friendship starts regularly, simply, and almost perfectly, but soon transforms into betrayal and resentment. Simultaneously, the war is encroaching on their lives. Enlisting has become a popular topic, and one of Gene¡¦s friends, Leper, a quiet, peace-loving boy, enlists first. Here appear the themes of war and peace and loss of innocence. Leper loses both unassuming existence in life as well as sanity after joining the war. The loss of innocence includes war and peace and coming into adulthood.
Because Leper¡¦s case was unexpected, using him, a ¡§goody boy¡¨, more effectively captures the drama of profound transformation in a person than Brinker, another schoolmate, a head-honcho, highly political figure, who talks about enlisting but doesn¡¦t. War raging around them metaphorizes Gene¡¦s internal battle. His nature illuminates the nature of human beings. Enmity, jealousy, and competition drive the selfish desire to harm others, which connects to loss of innocence as self-interest develops.
Another theme concerns rebellion and conformity, which Phineas and Gene embody respectively. I think adolescents ponder rebellion against others based on their own values. Young people are most volatile during this age and are more prone to be transformed easily. I am also in the mainstream with other adolescents and I too am sifting through my identity. I hope all adolescents can read this book as I believe it is perfect for such an age.

A Separate Peace is a tale of two friends at an elite prep-school in New England during world war II. Gene is an intelligent and studious boy with much ambition, while his friend Phineas is more outgoing, athletic and charismatic. Gene feels jealous of Finny which leads him to believe that Finny doesn't really like him and is just using him. This insecure assertion leads to devastating results...

Masterfully interwoven with the war happenings, this book offers ponderings into the nature of friendship, jealousy, spite and social harmony. Ultimately, it redefines the concepts of war and peace in both every individual and the world at large. Well written, with great character descriptions.

It's a shame John Knowles couldn't follow up his act in the subsequent books he wrote, but this book will forever remain a great american classic.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a great book. in his writing he uses metaphors about nature and his surroundings. Also in his writing he has a great choice of words or diction. " I felt fear's echo, and along with that i felt the unhinged, unontrollable joy which had broken out sometimes in those dats like Northern Lights across the black sky." ( page two ) The characters in the book are characters we can relate to. Gene is the main character, he tells the story as an adute looking back at his teen years. He struggles with his friendship and the way has to deal with the war going on. Phineas is supposedly Gene best friend. ' Naturally Finny was going to be the first to try, and just as naturally he was going to inveigle others, us , into trying it with him. " ( page seven ) The plot happens mostly at their school, Devon. Devon is an all boys school. " Devon is sometimes considered the most beautiful school in New England, and even on this dismal afternoon its power was asserted." ( page four ) This book is wonderful and that's why I give it four stars. If you have not read the book you don't know what your missing.

A Separate Peace has an equal amount of positive and negative points and, therefore, I could not be one-sided. In my opinion, there are just as many bad sides as there are good. I can really relate to the characters in this book. The author, John Knowles, makes it possible for the characters' situations to be transferred into a group of seventh graders. As a 12-year-old, I am going through maturity changes along with the rest of my classmates. I found the book to be boring and dull in the beginning, and then get better toward the end. But, this can also be interpreted that as the main characters life got more interesting and he got more mature, so did the book in quality.This book had a very good lesson to teach,but it was not very obvious. However, if you do notice it, you feel driven to achieve it. In order to teavh the lesson, this book used many metaphors. Many were difficult to comprehend. I had to have them explained to me throughout the book. There are many situations in the book that were to complex to understand, and some people and situations were not needed. one point that is widely focused onis the changing of people within, as the seasons turn. The main characters in the book were naive and immature in the beginning. But, as you turned the pages, you would see the major differences in their feelings, attitude, and pints of view.This book had good and bad points, but that is arguable. If you want to make a decision for yourself, read it!

I read this during my 7th and 9th grade but it wasn't until last week, when showtime aired a made for tv about A Separate Peace, that I really appreciated the meaning and depth of this book. I bought the book the next day and to my surprise read it in just about 3 hours and in one sitting. The thing that disappoints me is that, I wished it was longer. It is now that I truly loved this book and the lessons and themes it brings with it. I felt as though I was there, physcially and emotionally.

This is a war novel with no actual fighting. It is about the inner struggles of one's self, the loss of innocence, friendship, and redemption. It starts in 1958, Gene visits his old High School of Devon and retells what happened to him during summer 1942 to winter/spring of 1943. He is 16, turning 17, and this will be his last year before being drafted into fighting in WWII. We meet his best friend, Phineas, charasmatic, athletic, and charming. It is beautifully written, and every character feels as if you know them yourself, which is what makes the novel so touching to your emotions. It is hauntingly beautiful, and achingly sad. I knew what happened already, but I felt as if it were my first time and almost cried.

What an interesting study of maturation. When does competition become malice? When does admiration become jealousy? When does ignoring cover fear? When does control become abusive? When does friendship become manipulative? All these ideas emerge in the setting of a boy's school in the 1940's. The questions continue to rise in subsequent generations of young men trying to fit in and find their way. I especially loved the straightforward and simple dialogue that portrayed confidence and challenge. Much can be said in few words.

I had to read this book once. When I first saw the book, I wondered why we had to read this. But now I feel as though I have missed out on a great work of literature.

The story begins in 1957 when Gene returns to Devon School. There, he reflects on the year he met Phineas.

Phineas had created a society whose sole purpose was to jump from a tree, the tree that was being used to train the upperclassmen for war. But Gene thinks Phineas wants to destroy his chances of being valedictorian.

One day on the tree, Gene shakes the limb and Phineas falls. Phineas tells Gene that he has to play sports. But Gene does not have the courage to tell Phineas the truth.

Leper goes off to the war and returns. He claims to have seen things while on the frontlines.

Gene stands on trial for the accident. While the trial occurs, Leper comes and says that he saw what happened. Phineas tries to leave, but a terrible incident occurs.

I was absolutely captivated and spellbound by this book. I know I might read it again to recapture the memory of this great American novel.

I read " A Separate Peace" as a required reading book over the summer. I wasn't particularly thrilled about summer reading and this didn't sound like it would be the most exciting book ever, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it pretty interesting, with a much deeper meaning then casually met the eye at a glance. This story took place in New England at Devon ( a private high school for boys) during World War II, and involved mainly two boys, Gene and Phineas, who were best friends. It tells of how Gene, who represents the experienced grown up, is overcome by jealousy and anger towards his friend. The jealousy that he holds within himself eats away and eventually leads him to push his friend from a tree and permanently injure him in a way that will eventually lead to his death. As Phineas is representative of the innocence we have as a child, this is very symbolic; Gene, the symbol of experience, "destroying" Phineas, the symbol of innocence.( growing up, losing our innocence) The tree is also symbolic , it is like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (The Garden of Eden). In the story it is Phineas's idea to climb the tree that has thus far been used for military training as a fun new thrill. When he decides to climb it and jump and convinces Gene to do the same, it is symbolic of taking the forbidden fruit that will lead to death and pain in the end. This is especially true for Gene who, when he "destroys" Phineas he is really destroying the innocent half of himself. He had forebodings at first when Phineas wanted him to climb the tree, but he ended up brushing them aside and in a sense, with that decision , it was the beginning of the end. I think this was a good book. It was sad in some ways but it was a meaningful and interesting story.

In John Knowles Novel The Separate Peace, Knowles uses many literary devices throughout the novel some being his tones, themes, and his use of symbolism and foreshadowing. Knowles did a good job of using each literary devices throughout the novel. Knowles had a fast moving climax it got to the point. The book had a short plot but had gotten a lot better towards the end. The climax being that Gene breaks the branch of the tree and then making Finny fall and shatter his leg. Gene was the cause of Finny's death because if he had not broken the limb that Finny was on, he would not have a broken his leg and therefore would not need to have surgery on it. Knowles tone was very sad and depressing, he wrote with a lot of attitude in his work. Some themes in the Separate Peace would be that every human has or creates an enemy for themselves and go to war with. Everyone has an enemy except Finny who is the king of innocence, who refuses to believe that anyone could be his enemy. Finny's death is almost predictable; his innocence makes him too good for the war sometimes. Knowles use of symbolism is very interesting he uses World War II as a symbol. Each character eventually finds a war and an enemy, they would spend their lives trying to defend themselves away from their enemy. It seems that Finny is immune to this spirit of hatetrede, which is why he denies that the war exists. The spirit of war can sometimes hold influence over the school only after Finny's death. A Separate Peace was pretty good. Knowles showed the difference between good and evil. The Author should have let Finny live at the end of the story because he made a big impact in the community.

This book deserved more like 3 1/2 stars
In A Separate Peace John Knowles' character development was superb, especially when explaining how Gene became a part of Phineas. Gene's urge to become Finny, added complexity to the book, making it more interesting to read. Knowles temporarily takes away this intricacy for an entire chapter when Gene leaves school to go to visit his friend Leper. Gene's trip to Lepers house was the worst part in the book because the intricate relationship between Gene and Finny that had sucked me into the book was put off by a long boring explanation of Gene's visit to Leper's house. The way Gene slowly brought out that he wanted and was going to become Phineas was extraordinary. He starts becoming him by wearing his clothes and ending with almost taking over Phineas' life. Knowles shows that Gene is becoming a part of Finny when Gene says, "...and a soaring sense of freedom revealed that this must have been my purpose from the first: to become a part of Phineas" (77). Knowles has a great talent in writing, however he should have worked harder at leaving out scenes that stray from the subject. When Gene receives an invitation to go visit Leper I thought I might have to read a couple boring pages that strayed from the relationship between Gene and Finny that so easily had grasped my attention. However, I realized that this trip was not as short as I had wished when Gene said, "It was another brittle-looking Vermont House, white of course, with long and narrow windows like New England Faces" (132-133). Knowles spent entirely too much time away from the description of Gene and Finny's relationship that the book started to lose my interest quickly. When Gene returns to school, Knowles gets back to the subject and resumes his captivating writing that made me enthusiastically finish the book.

John Knowles' A Separate Peace was a great book because it was easy for the reader to identify with the two main characters in the book. The readers can sympathize with Gene's insecurity because they would admire Finny and maybe feel jealousy toward the "Finny" in their lives. Since the readers can relate to Gene, they better understand Gene's unusual actions in this book. Gene constantly reassures himself that he is equal with his roommate Finny. He always thinks that Finny is going against him when Finny makes up new games that everyone likes. Gene contemplates, "The thought was, You and Phineas are even already. You are even in enmity. You are both coldly driving ahead for yourselves alone. You did hate him for breaking that school swimming record, but so what? He hated you for getting an A in every course but one term. You would have had and A in that one except for him"(45). Gene feels that for every thing Finny has, Gene has to think of something to make himself equal to Finny. He does not understand that Finny is just trying to have fun and be creative because that his personality. This strong jealousy can take over a person. Gene's hate was so strong that he subconsciously hurt Finny in an outburst of anger due to his jealousy. Gene recalls, "Holding firmly to the truck, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb."(52) Gene shook the limb so that that Finny would fall out of the tree. Gene's tucked away anger and jealousy finally exploded in an act of physical harm to Finny. This book illustrates the effects of insecurity and jealousy which many readers have felt and experienced. A Separate Peace describes human nature in that it shows what happens when a person gives in to their jealousy and lets it guide and control their mind, thoughts, and actions.

This book was assigned to me te beginning of my sophmore year. Perhaps because I'm a girl, maybe because I'm never experienced the war, or possibly because I've never been to boarding school, this book wasn't precisely life-changing. However, even with all the aforementioned incongruities, I still felt a sincere emotional impact when reading about Phinny and Gene. It was painful to see such a beautiful and carefree friendship fall into ruin. . .And it was a strong lesson in the human psyche. I would never dream of doing what Gene did (I'm trying not to give too much away here), and it was fascinating to live, for the duration of the book, as someone who would. I wouldn't purchase it for my own library, but neither would I call it irrelevant. The world so vast, and what I will experience in my lifetime will be so small. . .Why not live as someone else for a few days? It's something I would never do, a life I would never lead, which makes it a fascinating experience. Well worth the read, even if you walk away shaking your head. It will cause you to question what you believe in accordance with your friendships, and perhaps teach you something about yourself.

I enjoyed this book toward the middle and end but in the beginning, I found it a little dry. John Knowles is a great author because it's so amazing how he can take leaves and compare it to the main character for pages! My favorite character was Finny because I like the way he took charge, but in some cases he seemed power-hungry, although that was how he rose to the top. I didn't like Gene because I found him stuck-up and full of himself. Finny always thought of Gene as his closest friend but inside Gene felt the total opposite. He wasn't caring and I didn't like the overall development of Gene's character. The book is about two friends in college whose relationship started breaking up slowly because of an accident. My review is that I like the book. I like the writing style of John Knowles and how he uses metaphors, imagery,etc.. I recommend it for twelve-year-olds and up because this is a book that you need to concentrate and grasp the concepts of to understand it. It's also a challenging book that makes one think.I enjoyed reading it.

I gave this book a significant total of four stars because of the overall meaning of the book. The overall meaning of the book consists of a series of metaphors and similes for the average (or almost average) life of a pre-adult. The basic essence is carried out through a series of characters who are experiencing the different aspects of the war through adolescent minds. Throughout the course of the story, Gene becomes an adult through his realization of the direct relation of the scenery around him to his life. Finny, however, has an overall appreciation for himself and his talents. The rest of the characters, seem to symbolize the world of chaos surrounding them that they cannot or choose not to experience while at the Devon School. World War II plays a significant role in this book as well. Noone really ever understood it until they realized what it could achieve in the very souls and minds of those who faught in it! In conclusion, I enjoyed this book because it made me think... ponder over the deeper meaning behind the story.

When the story began I assumed it would just be a story about boys growing up during World War Two, when in reality the story is anything but. Although the book does take place during the war, and the war does influence things a bit the book itself takes place at a school, seemingly in it's own world, away from the war. As the book progresses through the mind of Gene (the main character) I began to feel a sense of confusion, I felt the emotions as if I was Gene, and I was having conflicting emotions based off of what I believed might have happened. As Gene experiences "friendship troubles" with Finny, it made me re-evalute any friendship issues I had of my own, and whether this issues held any relevance or any truth to them at all. What I enjoyed about this novel, was how it felt like it was taking place in a world inside a world. It is a very realistic characterization of Gene, and the school he attended creating this feeling that I was part of the world, and yet not at the same time. Something I disliked about the book was that at occasion, it blurred between the past and the present, making it somewhat difficult to tell when current Gene had gone into a flashback, as flashbacks were quite lengthy. I feel as though the major message that is being conveyed through the novel is one of friendship, and what the various levels of friendship are. There can be worship like friendship, friendship based off of hatred, or true, honest friendship like Finny felt towards Gene. I believe the book is showing the slight contamination of all friendship types, and yet they can be pure and wholesome at the same time. I feel as though I have a personal connection with the book, because I have gone through all the various friendship types that are extensively explored throughout the novel and have also felt at times as though my life is separate from that off the world. All in all, I feel like a Separate Piece is a good tale, that doesn't focus too much on war but instead on the aspects of friendship.

A Separate Peace is set in New England in a prep school for boys. World War II is going on in Europe and is always in the background for these young men who will soon be old enough to fight. The story centers around the friendship between two of the boys, Phineas and Gene, who are in their last year at Devon School for Boys Gene is a quiet introvert, and Phineas is the popular athlete who can do everything better than anyone else and is the model for the boys. The story also centers around the group of boys who are their friends, and their coming of age, grappling with growing up and becoming men, and facing the prospect of war. Some of them are: Leper, the gentle nature lover, who is the first one to enlist, Brinker, the �hub of the campus�, and Quakenbush, a nosy troublemaker, yet he is respected by the other boys, and he is considered their friend.
The writer, John Knowles explores the various reactions of the boys to their coming graduation and possible enlistment in the military. There is a �junior suicide society�, invented by Phineas, which meets every night, and the �suicide� is jumping off a tree into the river by the school. They also play lots of blitz ball(yet another game invented by Phineas)---football patterned after the blitzkrieg from the war in Europe. The boys try to find their way amid the competition and putting each other down. The main thing in the book is a drama between Phineas and Gene. One night at the suicide society Phineas is hurt in a bad accident and suspicion falls on Gene. It is not clear what happened so all the boys wonder if Gene really meant to hurt his friend. Gene even begans to not know if he hurt him on purpose or not because it is so threatening to everyone�s sense of safety to think that they would hurt each other. Finally one of their friends Leper, the first to enlist, returns. The war has driven him crazy and yet he is the only one who can see and tell the truth about what happened. The story takes a startling turn and all the boys have to grow up, more than they ever expected.

This book is a great character-driven novel. It may start off a little slow, but as the book progresses you feel as if you know the boys personally and you seem to feel the sadness of the boys at the end. This may be a sad book, but I enjoyed it a lot, and I feel that at some point in time for everyone this book is a must read.

I enjoyed this book toward the middle and end but in the beginning, I found it a little dry. John Knowles is a great author because it's so amazing how he can take leaves and compare it to the main character for pages! My favorite character was Finny because I like the way he took charge, but in some cases he seemed power-hungry, although that was how he rose to the top. I didn't like Gene because I found him stuck-up and full of himself. Finny always thought of Gene as his closest friend but inside Gene felt the total opposite. He wasn't caring and I didn't like the overall development of Gene's character. The book is about two friends in college whose relationship started breaking up slowly because of an accident. My review is that I like the book. I like the writing style of John Knowles and how he uses metaphors, imagery,etc.. I recommend it for twelve-year-olds and up because this is a book that you need to concentrate and grasp the concepts of to understand it. It's also a challenging book that makes one think.I enjoyed reading it.

I think this is a great novel written by John Knowles. I like the way he describes the characters so that you can really get into the minds. I guess it is true that opposites attract because Gene and Phineas are opposite and yet they are best friends. It is kinda devastating when you find out that Phineas falls out of the tree and then that his athletic future is over. A guy that is so good athletically and then just goofing off and it is all over and then even more devastating is when he dies when trying to reset the bone. I think this book does a good job of showing how the war was reacted to in the US. How kids were recruited to fight straight out of school. Also how kids were forced into going into the service by teachers, parents and friends. I would recommend this novel to anyone who thinks they are invincible. In addition, to anyone to someone who thinks that life last forever because this novel shows you that anything can happen and life makes you grow up faster than you want it to. I enjoyed this book a lot.

John Knowles shows his brilliance in this novel. I would come to conclude that A Separate Peace gives an excellent description on the mixture of young innocence and war. Knowles sets the picture in World War II and the author colorfully describes what life was like back in the 1950's. The author brings the reader into the world of a child becoming an adult. The novel provides a historical backdrop of World War II, where fifteen million soldiers were drafted into the military and the harshness of the young men facing conformity and danger of the US armed services. Knowles provides an insight to the enlistment, and what the recruit had to look forward to in basic training with the diversity that separates the group and the team effort needed to survive. The end of the War wasn't the end for these young men's tragedy. The boys suffered from shell shock, major injuries, and the deaths of their close friends. After reading this novel I had a greater knowledge to what kind of harsh life the people my age lived in the 50's. I recommend Knowles A Separate Peace, if you are interested in real-time drama.

Although I was an independent school teacher for years, I always avoided this book. I must have had a sixth sense that I would dislike it. Recently, looking for something to banish insomnia, I pulled it off the shelf and discovered that my sixth sense was right. This so-called coming of age novel is showing its age.

There are some things to admire, of course. The centrality of the relationships among the students at Devon, going about their studies with a keen awareness of the war awaiting them, is psychologically astute. Headmasters, teachers, and parents are peripheral figures, even helpless ones. Most of the time, they don't have a clue as to what's going on. Leper's mother can't save him from a psychological breakdown; the doctor can't save Finny. Brinker's father, railing against his son's choice of the Coast Guard for his military service (in contrast to the father's "glory days" in World War I) is a pompous fool. For the boys at Devon, their peers constitute the real world.

However, it's hard to imagine this book appealing to students any more, even though it continues to appear on many a reading list. It isn't just the boys' prep school setting, the tony buildings and "playing fields of Devon," that seems dated. Simply put, it's hard to imagine what Gene admires in the cold and arrogant Finny. And Finny is so opaque, in his old money Boston reserve, that it's impossible to know much about him. In this novel, good old Devon is as sclerotic as the moneyed class of people it serves. The only thing that invades Devon in the novel itself is the war, in the form of recruiters and a parachute shop, but we know that---thank goodness--female and minority students will be invading real schools like this in the years to come.

Requiescat in pace, Devon---and ditto "A Separate Peace" and all the high school reading lists on which it molders.

M. Feldman

I read " A Separate Peace" as a required reading book over the summer. I wasn't particularly thrilled about summer reading and this didn't sound like it would be the most exciting book ever, but I was pleasantly surprised to find it pretty interesting, with a much deeper meaning then casually met the eye at a glance. This story took place in New England at Devon ( a private high school for boys) during World War II, and involved mainly two boys, Gene and Phineas, who were best friends. It tells of how Gene, who represents the experienced grown up, is overcome by jealousy and anger towards his friend. The jealousy that he holds within himself eats away and eventually leads him to push his friend from a tree and permanently injure him in a way that will eventually lead to his death. As Phineas is representative of the innocence we have as a child, this is very symbolic; Gene, the symbol of experience, "destroying" Phineas, the symbol of innocence.( growing up, losing our innocence) The tree is also symbolic , it is like the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (The Garden of Eden). In the story it is Phineas's idea to climb the tree that has thus far been used for military training as a fun new thrill. When he decides to climb it and jump and convinces Gene to do the same, it is symbolic of taking the forbidden fruit that will lead to death and pain in the end. This is especially true for Gene who, when he "destroys" Phineas he is really destroying the innocent half of himself. He had forebodings at first when Phineas wanted him to climb the tree, but he ended up brushing them aside and in a sense, with that decision , it was the beginning of the end. I think this was a good book. It was sad in some ways but it was a meaningful and interesting story.

A Separate Peace is about a strong relationship between two friends that seem to forgive and get along with each other during the good and bad times. This book takes place in a New England boarding school during World War II. In a Separate Peace, Knowles created a character by the name of Finny, which is the best of best friend there can possibly be. Finny and Gene are best friends, and they face many hardships and tough decisions throughout the course of the book. Finny is the more outgoing and athletic character and Gene is more of a nerd. At times, Gene envies Finny and one day wishes that for once Finny got caught pulling those senseless stunts of his. Gene also shows a tremendous amount of jealousy throughout the book. The fact that Finny forgave Gene for purposely pushing him out of the tree because of jealousy should tell you a whole lot about this kids character. Knowles did a good job on keeping me hooked onto this book.

I was assigned to read this in preparation for my English 10 Honors class over the summer. I somewhat enjoyed reading the book but I fell asleep twice while reading it, which was probably because I was reading it on a road trip down the East coast in a cramped up car. In my opinion, it was the sort of book made to get you, the reader, thinking about things you don't normally think about. One thing I didn't like when I read it, was how fake the narration of Gene and Finny felt. It seemed as if most of the characters' feelings were forced, these two especially, but that could have been because I was so young when I read it. My impression of the plot was that it was well thought out. The storyline was placed in a way to emphasize the emotions of Gene and Finny and cause the reader to think deeper about what was being said or taking place. The writing style was okay, yet indeed, it focused more on what the main character thought more than what was really happening. I think the most memorable character in the story would be Gene Forrester. This is obvious in my opinion since we travel through his year at school, feeling what he felt and seeing what he saw. A character that would have to be my favorite would be Brinker Hadley because of his belief in justice and order and his great lengths to discover the truth he feels is hidden from him.

I would recommend this book to others, but I warn you that it's not a light read. That's not necessarily a bad thing either, mind you!

"America is not, never has been, and never will be, a land of plenty." -Gene

The book cover is very attractive, by the way. :)

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 written by John Knowles in the late 1950's based on his own boyhood as a student at Exeter Academy. A modern American classic for many reasons for one being that when one first reads this novel as a teenager then rereads it years later, if not degates later, as an adult there are so many subtle layers of the story that can be recognized for the first time with maturity.

A theme that I did not pick up on when I read it as a boy at prep school, but do now as an adult, that what is staring you in the face is a love story with war looming in the background growing closer as the seasons change. Love, platonic or not, is not clarified, but there cerstainly are sexual tentions in the style of writing.

Gene, a conflicted sixteen year old, with emotions he has for Finny does what one does when there is such turmoil, he attemps to excorise what he fears, loves and does not fully understand...Phineas.

A fall from a tree that maybe caused by an act by your "Best Pal" and a heart stopping by a piece of marrow in what was considered a simple operation of setting a broken leg. Maybe Phineas dies from a broken heart when he learns the truth; that his roommate and trusted best friend does an act that cripples him and then leads to his death.

"Nothing endures, not a tree, not love, not even a death by violence". Read this short novel in a day and you will think about the story for a week. Did Gene intenionally or not intentionally maim Phineas?

Gene returns fiveteen years later to see two places which changed his life for ever. An old student on a sentimental journey to remember... and to find that seperate peace that inner peace with one self.

It is up to the reader to decide what motivates Gene to return to his school, in my view, at thirty six, it is love lost.

A modern classic and maybe John Knowles wrote in the 1950's a subtle tale "Of a love that dare not say its' name". When this subject matter was not openly discussed.

Set in the 1940's, A Separate Peace takes the reader into the world of Devon, a boarding school on the East Coast, and into a world where the reality of war is imminent. The book itself has nothing to do with that war, and yet everything to do with it. From the first page on, Knowles presents a realistic story (perhaps even a sad one) with hints and moments of hindsight, as a thirty-some year-old Gene, who attended the school in his youth, tells the story. And while the narrative never quite takes us to the war itself, the entire theme that Knowles presents is intertwined with the very being of World War II.
Furthermore, while that conflict rages on around the world, back at Devon, a teenage Gene and his "best friend" Phineas are struggling with their own battle: Human nature. Phineas, himself, learns personally that the truth hurts, but how far does it go?
A Separate Peace is chalk-full of life-long lessons and a truth that runs deeper than we might want it to. John Knowles is a terrific author and this book is proof.

After reading this book, I can easily tell you that I would not recommend you to read this book. The strongest arguement is a lack of event. The book is 196 pages and 13 chapters long. there is enough actually happening in the book to fill a single-chapter, 20 page book. Gene narrarates by elaborating on the scenery. John Knowles writes a page simply on a tree and its branches. this would have a hidden meaning. To discover this meaning, you are forced to look up half the page in an advanced dictionary. After this, the meaning of the page is the same as what he had been saying since the start. You will probably get hooked on the story around chapter 11, but that is only if you can bear reading the first ten. You will find some humor in the book, but once again, you need to look carefully for it and it only comes in substantial amounts in chapter 12. If you have patience and a massive vocabulary, though, this is a masterpiece. The novel, even though it takes a great deal of time to read, has a solid plot and well-thought-of characters. With patience, however, this novel is worthwhile

Every once in a while, one reads a book that simply changes the way they look at life. I have heard people describe A Seperate Peace in many different ways. Many say that it is about the struggle between two friends who are completely different from eachother during WWII, but that barely scratches the surface. The book deals with those feelings that are difficult to express in words, those indecipherable feelings that are hard to identify. When it speaks of Finny, that athletic freind, saying that he feels that Gene is an extension of hiself, I felt stunned. That is a feeling I would never have been able to put my finger on. These two are extensions of eachother, they are the same person even though they are exact opposites. Sometimes friends are more than just two people, they are one. I don't want to spoil some of the other dazzling philosophies in the book, you should pick it up and read it yourself. You might find that your world has been a little more enlightened.

I'm in my 40's and I've only now read this book. My wife and I were in a book store and, surprised that I had not read it, she pulled it from the shelf and bought it for me. I'm glad I read it now because I think a lot of it would have been lost on me had I read it as an assigned book in high school.

This book is about humans and their nature. The nature that can transform small bits of angst and doubt into tragedy on a grand scale. The two main characters are prep school roommates and best friends. However, Gene still fills gaps in their relationship with suspicion and insecurity, leading to an irreversible horror that he spends the remainder of the book coming to grips with. I think every human grapples with this same weakness. For most of us, luckily, we learn these lessons in small ways from our own lives and we safely learn them from novels like this where the effects are grave and permanent.

I'll bet there is someone in your life that you do not understand. And rather than confronting that gap in an open and honest way, you are instead nurturing a suspicion of ill will on their part. Don't be like Gene. Don't shake that person from the tree. Talk to them. Be honest and open. You might not get to an ideal place but you will avoid the dark breakdown of the sorts found in this novel.

You are a human and, therefore, this novel, this unflinching study of human nature, should be part of your curriculum.

I believe A Separate Peace is a good book because it depicts actions that are true in real life. We all have a friend or someone we are really close to like Finny, who is a little better at things than we are and we get somewhat jealous. I don't believe in taking Gene's violent actions but it's something we've all wanted to do sometime. The book takes place during WWII but the main battle is in Gene's heart. Gene has to live with the guilt of ruining his best friend's, Finny, athletic carreer. The conflict going through Gene's mind is tell or don't tell Finny what he did to him. Gene was eager to enlist into the war but he decided not to. I believe that is one of the main themes of the book. When there is a conflict in your heart with a loved one, all other conflicts are blind to you at the time. You can't take off for another battle when you haven't finished the one you're already in. It is good book for you and your close friends to read and discuss.

Vivid surreal imagery and detailed character descriptions are the two main strong points of John Knowles' epic novel. His depressing tone and unreal metaphors directly reflect the emotional problems he has experienced in his lifetime. These tragic experiences helped him create one of the most captivating and engrossing contemporary novels of our day. The Book was very well written with many plot twists and unexpected occurances. I enjoyed the style that Knowles used to portray his characters and really paint a vivid image of what being a student at Devon School was really like. I could relate to the things Gene and Finny were going through which just made this book even more interesting. It is easy to see why this book won many awards and evolved into a timeless classic. An overall great read, and I would recommend this to anyone, even if you are not a fan of the Coming of age / Youth Fiction genre.

While some recommend this book for younger audiences, I would not. Not because of any actions or words that take place in the book, but because younger readers may not be able to fully comprehend the desperate situation and feelings of hostility and regret between these teenage boys. Younger readers cannot understand the symbolism between the plot occuring during WWII and the events that occured between the boys.

Overall, this book was phenomenal. It used common, unflowery language which made it easy to read. The characters were extremely believable and built up as well as the plot. Their circumstances left an open end to the novel, leaving us as the readers to wonder "what if...". The horrible plot twist in the end left me really moved and surprisingly, melancholy. So powerful was Knowles' writing that you really felt like someone you knew had been hurt.

This book is a quick, but powerful read.

1/18/00 A Separate Peace was an incredibly well-written novel by John Knowles. I read it in school, and it was the only book that I liked. It was very detailed with lots of events. This 200-page-long novel is mainly focused on changes in a relationship between two close friends at a boarding school. I had gone through many similar situations before, so I enjoyed reading it. However, those of you who like lots of action and violence may not enjoy this book. The reason I like this book is that I liked Finny so much. He always stayed balanced and never disappointed himself. That is a characteristic that I desire to have. Also since this book is about friendship, it really made me think about my friends; it left me with the question: ¡°Is my friend a true friend? Or is he just pretending to be a true friend?¡± If you have lots of friends, I¡¯d highly recommend that you read A Separate Peace.

I first read this book in my freshman year of high school, and I have reread it about 35 times since then. It is a wonderful novel from one person's perspective on WWII and how his life with his best friend Finny was affected. I think It was wonderfully written and you really feel like you are there, living your life with Gene at his school in New Hampshire. I think it is great how the author expresses all of Gene's feelings about what is going on and what happens. I would recommend this book to everyone, it was a great book, and by far my favorite. But, the first time you read it make sure no one tells you what happens because as you grow attatched to characters it is disappointing to find out before you read it that they live or an outcome you want doesn't happen, or whatever. It sort of ruins it if you know the ending, but it still is a good book if you know the ending because it is interesting to find out how these events come to pass.

I was forced into reading this book in Language Arts, and I can honestly say it's the worst book I've ever read for school, I almost didnt read it at all.. I was prepared to get my Zero with pride, but I thought maybe it would get a little better, I was wrong. The characters were fake, the plot was awful. Worst of all, the forgiving scene was impossible. when you hear that you know whats going to happen from then on, you dont need to read it any longer.
Unfortunately I, like Gene *mutters* WANT that A. I need that A, so I read it through and now I am reviewing it with as much honesty as I can. the only character I almost liked was Leper, and that was because I felt sorry for him.
If you have to read it, my condolenses, if you want to read a slow dull book, go right ahead and pick it up as soon as possible.

The story of Gene an' Finny is filled with so much irreversible psychological harm that its impossible to not feel uncomfortable as the story unfolds. One boy is a lively free spirit while the other is being driven down a path to adulthood without stopping to appreciate the joy of the last years of real peace. World War II is looming an' the story is all the more troubling because of the disenchantment so present in these boys, while knowing that "the war to end all wars" was really anything but; that the cycle of violence as akin to superiority, to racism, to sectarianism, was only going to escalate an' grow more deadly; an' that the lines between who was right an' wrong, good or bad, in these wars would begin blurring rapidly. If it was ever there in the first place.

What happens between the two boys in this story could constantly be reinterpreted, whether it was premeditated an' malicious, or an unintentional act that simply weighed too heavily on the conscience to accept as an accident. An' the eternal question I constantly posed to myself being whether where the story ends up places the fault on a young boy regardless of the aforementioned uncertainty of the act's intent.

I could read this again and be enveloped by this feeling as though it were fresh. Maybe because in the time since I've read it I've never resolved the moral question here. And probably never will. Cheers to the late Mr. Knowles for tackling something pure an' human in a universal way. One of the seminal reading experiences of my life.

I wouldn't have heard of this book had it not been for my parents. And I probably wouldn't have read it had an illness not put me in bed for so long. But this book was a great way to spend my time. I was amazed at the complex issues in the story and how well it was written.

The best thing about this book was the feel of it. It takes place in a time period I've always dreamed about. Things were simpler, but a big event was unfolding and no one knew what the future held. The thoughts and feeling that run through Gene throughout the book are what it's all about and the author does a good job presenting the feelings to the reader.

I have enjoyed the novel A Separate Peace because it has been very influential in teaching me how to live my life. The characters in the novel taught me how to live a day at a time. For example, the character Brinker was a popular and well-rounded student until he started to worry about the war that was going on outside of their school. Once he let the war get to him, he started to live the life of men involved in the war, instead of living his own. I have learned from Brinker that in life things happen, but that you should not get so caught up in other people's lives so that it affects your own. Brinker lost the abiltity to live in the real world and gained it back in the end of the book. Another character, Phineas, has the ability to live life to the fullest even after shattering his leg. Breaking his leg, due to a fault of his good friend, and losing the ability to play sports, would be hard for a person to cope with. Phineas, using his strong will, was able to overcome his disability which stole from him his atheletic ability, the one thing that Phineas was good at in life. His ability to be strong and deal with hardships has taught me not to let little things bother me, and to remind me that I am privileged to have what I have. Dealing with the hardships of life is the most important thing I took from this novel

A Separate Peace is a brillant book that seems so simple in its context, but yet is so deep in its meaning. The reader gets the oppurtunity to take a close look at the relationships and feelings of teenage boys as they change due to experiences and time. Throughout the novel, Gene, the main character, discovers a lot about himself and in the end he figures out his true feelings concerning his best friend Finny, which ultimatly helps Gene to discover himself and leads to his achievement of a separate peace. I have no doubt in my mind that this book will fully interest any reader; those who like simplicity in their reading and those who like to look for the deep meanings in a book. This book shows that in order for one to be happy, they must first accept themselves, long before anyone else can appreciate them and accept them. This book is not only entertaining but is also full of life lessons that one may take away from it.

As close to perfect wordcraft as a novel can be, A Separate Peace presents Gene Forrester's memories of his final year in a New Hampshire prep school. The boys' future service in World War II seems distant in the opening carefree chapters, then looms larger as the story explores darker regions of human nature. Gene clearly remembers his own observations and discovery of his mixed emotions toward his best friend Phineas as he recounts story after story during a visit to the old prep school a decade or so after graduation.

Some of the conflict in the friendship of Gene and Phineas stems from differences between the serious, rule-abiding student and the naturally gifted, confident goof-off. They also complement each other, enjoying those differences. But the tug-of-war between mutual admiration and mistrust is strong, and the betrayal of trust is painful. In the metaphor of WWII and their real prep-school happenings, Gene, Phineas, and their close friends all discover evil in the world and deal with it in their own ways, but Gene discovers the evil in his own heart.

A Separate Peace truly deserves to be a modern classic. I had a different heading for my review, Introspective Retrospective, until I read another the store review that pointed out what a shame it is that adults pass by this masterpiece because it involves high schoolers. I totally agree. Forty-some years ago, I didn't appreciate its metaphors, observations of human nature, or fine craftsmanship the way I do now. The other reviewer is so right; this is a masterpiece.

January 18, 2000
The book A Separate Peace was an interesting story about life at boarding school. Though in general it was a readable book, it lacked a plot and a point or obvious morals that seem to make up most books like this. The best part of this book is that it shows the life and times of a boy in school away from his parents. I actually enjoyed the beginning because Knowles described what went on at such a school in the summer; I have experienced a similar situation myself. I would not recommend this book to you if you are someone who cannot relate to it or if you prefer stories with big, complex plots and lots of action. Certain parts of the story were annoying and unexplained. For example, the main part of the story happened in an unexplained second in which Gene jounced a limb and made Finny fall. The reader didn't even know what was happening at this point of the story. To conclude, I believe this book to be a good, solid, well-written novel. Though I would have explained the book a little more, Knowles does a good job overall in making A Separate Peace a memorable classic.

OK, I know this book was supposed to be about a boy and his inner struggle with himself about his friend Finny but I found it so boring. Reading this book was like watching a soap opera. There were separate stories going on in one story. Everything was jumbled together into one really boring book. I've read many books and only one other that I've read bored me as much as this one did, that book being The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway. That book has about as much plot and action as A Separate Peace. A man goes back to his favorite school, man has a flash back about a particularly bad summer, man leaves school. But all in all I guess the book does get a rating of "2" due to all the imagery and the way the book was written. And I guess, because the book does deserve some credit, that it was an OK book to read if you have an extra 2 hours on your hands.

A Separate Peace is a tragic "modern classic" concerning the complicated nature of adolescence. Gene is an emotional, intellectual boarding student at Devon Prepatory Academy. His roommate, Phineas, is more athletic and outgoing. When Phineas falls out of a tree, with Gene beside him, the seemingly straight forward accident begins to take on the possibility of an intentional act of violence on Gene's part. The author, John Knowles, plans this masterpiece of a novel to perfection. Knowles, as J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, tends to write about tragedies or struggles of teenagers. His use of language and symbols, such as the relation between the Devon River and Naguamsett River, is magnificent. A Separate Pieve is a spectacular novel of extreme adolescent conflict that must be read by all. It brings the reader to a new depth of thinking as Knowles moves the reader toward the turmoil and tragedy in the denouement.

Probably one of the best "assigned reading" books I wound up reading in school. A gem of a book I never would have discovered on my own as my normal reading habits back then were King and Koontz. A big thank you to my teachers for exposing me to this wonderful tale of friendship and betrayal.

A Separate Peace describes the effect war has on the human heart and mind; it reminds the reader that the presence of ignorance in humans can cause wars to start. The novel is about a group of high school boys attending Devon School during World War II. These boys, not yet 18, still have the summer months to appreciate the peace surrounding Devon, although the high walls of Devon cannot keep the war out forever.
The novel demonstrates, through many diverse characters, that war does not effect only soldiers and the government, but has the power to change the lives of ordinary citizens. On first reading A Separate Peace, the book seemed slow-moving and uninteresting. When I reread the novel, however, the combined pieces of characters, setting, and plot fit together much smoother. Overall, the book is well-written and worth the time to understand it.

A Separate Peace caught my attention right from the first chapter. John Knowles uses simple and clean language that makes reading this novel easy. It is a short novel with an interestingly simple plot that could have been developed into any ending.

The two main characters, Gene and Finny, are opposite in what they do but are attracted by the same excitement. Gene is very involved in his schoolwork and academically gifted. Finny is very involved in sports and physical activity. The story revolves around the lives of Gene and Finny and their path through school, life, and the war.

The differences these boys appear to have creates a competitiveness that's very prevalent in most parts of the novel, creating tensions that pull the reader in. Adding the war into the story makes it different from other tension filled novels in the sense that there is an additional fear. The fear of war becomes a reality for the boys when their friend Leper Lepellier gets drafted and sent to war. Knowles helps create a gloomy mood at select times by using dark and sharp words. But when there are happy moments he is very good at creating an ambiance that's warm and heart felt. Heart felt words are mostly used when Finny and Gene are together, like at the beach or when they make up a new game. It is a story that explores the launch into manhood and the difficulties boys deal with during war times. The novel is very realistic and offers a sense into their experiences.

I would recommend this book because you don't have to look deep into the story to find the meaning behind it all. The length is perfect for anyone. The ending was strange in that it didn't feel like it should have been over - there seemed to be an emptiness that never got filled.

John Knowles' 'A Separate Peace' is often taught in sophmore high school english classes as a comparison piece to Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye.' Why any reasonably well read english teacher should choose to do this is beyond me. 'A Separate Peace' has to be by far the most annoying story I've ever read.
Knowles tried to portray the horrible character of Gene as some kind of hero. He took his protagonist, had him do commit terrible acts, think depraved thoughts, and generally be an all around nasty guy. Then Knowles took that creation and attempted to make his readers like him, even pity him.
Dear lord...does not anyone else think this wrong?
Ever since I was first forced to read this work, I've wanted to gag on the words. The most interesting characters of the story were given the least amount of page time. The few aspects of the story that actually grabbed me were left to loose ties. By any and all means, this book of all books should NEVER be compared to Salinger's work.
Ranting aside, Knowles did show a masterful command of the language. His descriptions were all clear and engaging. He actually had two round characters, which pleased me greatly as I was barely even expecting one from him. Knowles also did an excellent job of paralleling WWII and these boys' lives. Yea Knowles!
On the whole though, I would not recommend this book. I don't see how it's considered a modern classic.

This book is not one of the best ones that I have read, but it is good. For one, I liked Finny's spontaneous personality, and how he held true to that personality, even after his tragedy. What I don't understand about the book is why Gene did some of the things that he did to his friend. For a good part of the book, he goes on thinking that Finny is jealous of him, then when he realizes that he never was jealous, he purposely makes Finny fall.
The end of the book also ends rather abruptly. It seemed as if Knowles just got tired of writing. It's not very beleaveable, nor did it wrap up the story for me. It just ran down a cliff.
Other than those few bad sides, the story overall was quite good. It was very inventive, and throughout the book, I had a sense that there really was a war going on. I'd recommend this to anyone who like historical fiction and is willing to think a little about why the characters do what they do.

I read John Knowles's A Separate Peace as an assignment for my tenth grade English class. Overall I thought the book was very good. Knowles describes each setting and background to the smallest detail. However, he doesn't go into great detail when describing the main events of the story. He doesn't put a concrete image in your mind about what happened between Gene and Finny on then limb of the tree. While most people would say that Gene purposefully jounced the limb to knock Finny off, I don't believe that he jounced the limb at all. I think that Finny just lost his balance and fell. This is why I like the book so well; different people can interpret the information that John Knowles gives us in different ways. You should read the book and see what you think about the scene on the tree between Gene and his best friend Finny. Knowles truly leaves it to your imagination.

To tell you the true, I didn?t like A Separate Peace that much at
the beginning, I couldn?t understand the point of it. It wasn?t until I have to make a research paper about it that I stared to like it, and understand it. The thing I like the most of it now is the way Knowles? explores the darker side of Gene?s and Finny?s friendship. From the beginning towards its very end you can see the transformation of Gene?s feelings, from insecurity to anger, to remorse and acceptance. You can never know what really happened to those teenagers because all the tension gathered inside of them because of a WWII just about to be unleashed at any time. The book really relates to us as teenagers as we are passing through this step of our lives. A separate peace is a great book, understandable, and beautifuly written. I recommend if you really want to know what teenager problems are.

John Knowles' 'A Separate Peace' is often taught in sophmore high school english classes as a comparison piece to Salinger's 'Catcher in the Rye.' Why any reasonably well read english teacher should choose to do this is beyond me. 'A Separate Peace' has to be by far the most annoying story I've ever read.
Knowles tried to portray the horrible character of Gene as some kind of hero. He took his protagonist, had him do commit terrible acts, think depraved thoughts, and generally be an all around nasty guy. Then Knowles took that creation and attempted to make his readers like him, even pity him.
Dear lord...does not anyone else think this wrong?
Ever since I was first forced to read this work, I've wanted to gag on the words. The most interesting characters of the story were given the least amount of page time. The few aspects of the story that actually grabbed me were left to loose ties. By any and all means, this book of all books should NEVER be compared to Salinger's work.
Ranting aside, Knowles did show a masterful command of the language. His descriptions were all clear and engaging. He actually had two round characters, which pleased me greatly as I was barely even expecting one from him. Knowles also did an excellent job of paralleling WWII and these boys' lives. Yea Knowles!
On the whole though, I would not recommend this book. I don't see how it's considered a modern classic.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is based during World War II in New england. If you can't interperate literature, this book may not be for you. If you are good at reading between the lines there is abetter chance of you enjoying this book. It is about two teenagers, Gene and Finny, who are good friends. However, an extreme jealousy between the two holds back their friendship. Literal level readers may be bored by the lack of action, there is not an overwhelming amount of activity in the 196 page novel. You will find a plethora of themes and connections to life and human nature in this novel. Because of its war setting, there is an omnipresent war theme. Nature plays a large part as well as Biblical meaning and loss of innocence. A Separate Peace is full of universal refererances. The literature is supposed to teach all of the human race more about both ourselves and others. Characterization is done particularly well in the book. War has a double meaning as Gene takes on the role of human nature and the basic feelings and instincts of all people. Phineas is the "perfect" world that everyone would like to live in. there appears to be a character to cover the entire diverse world. Imagery may be another reason to read A Separate Peace. You will like the personification, war imagery, and the theme of nature that is brought out in the book. Overall, John Knowles has put together a nice example of very relevant literature in A Separate Peace. The only drawbacks would be in the sometimes difficult messages and occasionally low suspense parts in the novel. It also has a slightly slow beginning. In general, I would recommend reading this novel to readers of all age groups.

A separate peace, written by John Knowles, is set in a boarding school in New Hampshire during World War II. This book is a remarkable novel mainly about a unique friendship between the two main characters, Gene and Phineas. Gene is a shy, reserved intellectual, while Phineas is an outgoing, lively athlete. However the disparity between their personalities has a mysterious force that pulls them together. The friendship portrayed by Knowles is amazingly real- they waiver between hate and friends as mini-conflicts arise between them.
The campus of this school was situated out of the reaches of the war; most of the students are not bothered by what¡¦s happening in the outside world. However, as the students neared graduation and the truth slowly unveiled itself, it shattered the tranquility within the campus, and the students were suddenly faced with the shocking reality. A seemingly small incident had progressed into a huge conflict that ultimately was entirely comprised of evil.
This book is well designed and controlled. At critical times in the story, Knowles is careful not to reveal too much, which leaves the reader in suspense with the urge to read on. In my opinion, there isn¡¦t a definite plot (not saying it¡¦s a flaw of the book). In fact, the novel is written somewhat like a diary. Even so, Knowles¡¦ perspective towards the war is timeless, and his masterpiece would appeal to most people who read this touching story.

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.)

"A Separate Piece of Crap"--- Because it's hard for me to condense my hatred for this "book" into a short paragraph, please bear with me. WARNING: Anyone who has an unconditional love for this book may not want to read this... My English class was forced to read this my Sophomore year in high school. Notice I say "forced" because there is absolutely no chance on earth anyone in their right mind would want to voluntarily read this book. The plot is pretty much this... a kid falls from stuff... repeatedly. That's about it. Now so as to make sure no one is under the false impression that I have no sense for literary masterpieces, I will say that some of my favorite novels include "Lord of the Flies", "Brave New World", and "To Kill a Mockingbird" among others. I really did try to like this book, but it seems as though I am the only person on the planet who cannot find one redeeming sentence in the entire storyline. Even my English teacher's love for "A Separate Piece" failed to keep me from speaking my mind. As a matter of fact, I was kicked out of class for not being able to keep from laughing when I read the ending. The entire story is just ridiculous, and it irritates me that high schools across the country are forced to read this pointless drivel. When will America learn that just because a novel is labeled a "classic" by some people does not mean that it is a requirement in high school english curriculums. Meanwhile, great American novels such as "The Adventures of Huck Finn" are banned???? Something is very very wrong with this picture. I hope I'm not alone in thinking so... P.S. Why was I not able to give this book zero stars?

"A Separate Peace" by John Knowles was a very well written novel telling the story of a young man's journey at a boarding school during World War II. I enjoyed this book very much, but the author, John Knowles, could have cut out some of the useless parts earlier in the book. This book truly captures the values and demises of friendships, especially during a time like wartime. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoyed "Catcher in the Rye" and/or has a very deep-seeded relationship with a best friend. I disagree with one reviewer that called this a "book for boys." I believe it's easy to relate this to anyone's life, especially those with strong feelings toward a best friend. Overall, this book is very good, but not the best I've ever read. I think books like "Catcher in the Rye" are much better than this book.

A classic I would recommend to another person is A Separate Peace by John Knowles. The story is about two friends who go to the same boarding school. It tells about their problems between each other, their family, and with themselves. I think this book is good because it deals with problems that could really happen to you. For example, one person didn't believe in him. He finally decided to go because he believed in himself and realized that he had to believe in himself. I also think it was interesting to find out what would happen to the characters, as they went their separate ways. If you like books that have a lot to do with real problems that could happen to you, I recommend you read A Separate Peace by John Knowles.

The characters are hard to remember, at least to me, and for me that's an awkward thing, although the most important character Phinneas is memorable. Knowles uses important and quite frank symbols, that make for the story to be a simple read. AlthoughI had to take it upon myself to read this book, having a conservative prick of a teacher, whom believes that the book is to difficult for eleventh graders. I think it was worth the read.

I had to read this book for my sophomore honors english class, and although I enjoyed reading this book and really got into the lives of the charecters and what it was like for them in living in a bording school during WWII, but i still dont get how phineus...........well im not going to ruin the book for all of you who havent read it yet, but you'll see what i mean. This book is defenitly worth reading.

It's too bad that this book, like youth, is wasted on the young. I read it when I was fourteen, and all I could remember before rereading it forty years later was the initial "accident." I think it's as good or better than much of Hemingway and Fitzgerald. What makes this tragedy so evocative, so resonant, is that Gene is not a bad person, but he did a bad thing: and that's the essence of adolescence. You experiment, you make mistakes. But sometimes things go horribly wrong. And yet you have to go on. A tough book, not a sentimental one. That's why kids can't quite get it. It cuts too close to home.
BTW, the clarity and precision of his style is a thing of beauty.

For the few adults or teenagers who have never read this masterpiece, please pick it up and be swept up by the language and the story. The less you know about this extraordinary work, the better. For the rest of you, it may be time to pick it up again and once again be entranced by the writing and swept up by the narrative.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a classic about two friends, Finny and Gene, who live at a boarding school during World War II. An instant classic, John Knowles takes the reader into a place that few have been to, inside the mind of an insecure adolescent, and lets the reader experience emotions that s/he might not in their day to day lives. A Separate Peace also explores how the common insecurities of a person might send him or her into a pit of evil that s/he might never recover from. Using well-developed characters and a plot that most anybody can relate to in some way, John Knowles makes A Separate Peace a novel that everybody should read. Normally, I won't go near a book if there isn't some sort of war or mass violence throughout the book. So when told to read A Separate Peace as an assignment, I was naturally reluctant to do so. I did enjoy reading this novel, once I got into it, despite the fact that it started off fairly slowly and there were points where putting it down was like relieving myself of a heavy weight on my shoulders. I soon realized that all of the boring and seemingly useless descriptions actually played a major role as the plot progressed and could not be ignored. Living at boarding school, I can personally relate to some of the emotions Gene feels through the book. After a while, I could not put the book down at all, and finished reading far ahead of when I was assigned to be finished reading. I do intend to go back and read this again when I have the time. A perfect novel for rainy days, summer nights or just when one has the free time, A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a classic for generations to come.

I read this book in high school and I just finished listening to the book on tape that I got on loan from the library. I can't get over how quickly book on tape (133 minutes) went. I did found narrator, Matthew Modine's diction illusive to grasp at first. I think I would have preferred a more New England pronunciation but I'm sure his choice of vocal characterization was intended to be southern seeing how Gene was from the south.
You can glean the gist of the book from the other 500 reviews on here. I'd like to encourage students in school to at the very least get the book on tape from your local library in addition to the cliff notes I know you already have. At least that way you can honestly said you've read/heard the book.
A small bit about the plot I think the book would have been more powerful if it would have ended at the death or after the funeral. I won't say whose death I'm referring to.
Maybe this book can inspire all of us to write about what we know. There will always be someone out there that hates you or your writing for no apparent reason and there will also be those who fall in love with it.

I finished up A Separate Peace last night, and I've come to the conclusion that I did not enjoy that novel. In the beginning, I was enjoying A Separate Peace, but by the end, John Knowles tried to make the book too moving and tried to make it too much of a political book. The book lost its charm when the war became its primary focus, and unfortunately, it lost too much of its charm. Or maybe my generation cannot identify with the looming fear of being drafted and war such as in WWII, or even more recently, Vietnam. My generation does not have that defining moment that gives the precedence for a political novel. All we have is the war on terror, which really isn't anything special in terms of war. One part of the novel that I really have problems with is the scene where Gene and Brinker are talking to Brinker's. The scene just seems pasted in just to get a point across about the differences in thought between adults and teens. The scene is more like an afterthought that Knowles just had to put in--like a Hollywood movie. The book tries to hard.

a seperate peace deals with two friends going to school during world war two.one is very athletic while the other one is not.the one that isnt,gets jealous in a way,and accidentally breaks his leg.they soon become enemies and deal with the troubles growing up.its a book about friendship and psychological problems.

A separate peace is a novel about two boys coming of age during world war two. The story is set at boarding school in New England. Phineas or Finny to his friends was the extrovert, the most popular guy, the one person that everyone wishes they could be. And then there was Gene- quiet, reserved, intelligent; he is Finny's conscience- his inner voice. During a period of time in which the entire world was consumed by the turmoil of the war, Finny and Gene had their own peace a separate peace. A peace away from the harsh realities that were. Finny was always able to create a sense of safety and a calm that filled the air.
The book really is like no other- rather than focusing on the hard times of the war the book focuses more on the fun times when there was still actually lives outside of the war. The book helps the reader feel safe and entranced into the past.
I give the book two thumbs up!

I first read this book when I was a sophomore in high school. Like most, I didn't enjoy being forced to read. Regardless, this book stays with you, and I have read it several times since. It's content is biting, it's intoxicating. But most importantly, the novel is true. There's no pretense in the writing or language. There's no attempt to convince you that it is "important." It is 200 pages chronicleing a relationship between two friends. That is important enough. Once read, the characters, especially Gene and Finny, grow, and you start to see them in your life, maybe even in you. But the novel remains even after you put it back on the shelf, and that is a testament to the quality of the tale. I highly recommend A Separate Peace.

A Separate Peace, by John Knowles, is set during the summer and winter months of 1942. This novel is about the envy and jealousy Gene, the protagonist, feels for his supposed best friend Finny. Gene resents Finny's athletic ability along with his carefree and innocent outlook on life. It explores the evil ideas of envy and jealousy and the consequences that accompany them. Initially I did not like this novel. It starts off slow. If you can make it through the first several chapters, however, you will be greatly rewarded when you complete it. The theme of resentment and the bitter outcome that usually accompanies it, is universal throughout the book. What seems to be innocent childhood admiration and envy ends with a much deeper meaning, a meaning that is strong enough to change one's outlook on life. I would recommend this book to both males and females. I believe anyone who reads this novel will be greatly impacted by the important message this novel places on one's heart.

When I first read "A Seperate Peace", I absolutely hated it. I hated everything about it. Then a few months later I picked it up again (because it was for school) and as I began to reread the novel and see the different metaphors carved into the tragic plot, I really began to truly appreciate it. If you don't like this book on the first read, go back through it later and look for deeper meanings, look into the personalities of the characters and how they conflict, look for the metaphors. This is such a wonderfully crafted novel that I can't recommend it more. While it is wonderful, it is also very depressing at times, so don't read it expecting a really happy story. Expect a perfect tragic American literary classic.

After all these years, still a very spare, incredibly well-constructed little tragedy, with some of the most beautifully written sentences in modern American literature. Perhaps just a TAD too formulaic, but the book's literary beauty and emotion impact make that a matter of small consequence.

If this book was assigned to you as a high school student, you may have a tough time liking it. Your high school teacher either doesn't like it but teaches it anyway, or else loves it so much that he/she can't understand why you don't.

"Who is this clown?" you're thinking. "Why should I care about this self-centered East Coast preppy who, by the way, actually HAS a choice of whether to go to war or not? Is it my problem that he can't express his feelings in a healthy way? Maybe he should go back in time and blame his Puritan ancestors. Or better yet, maybe he should wait until after the war, get together with his boozy network of good old boys, and impose his values on every single human being on the planet so we all have to suffer as well."

A valid point, but I swear to you, there's more to this book.

For one thing, it's funny. Don't let Gene's morose tone rub off on you. Finny is completely hilarious.

Even among people who really liked the book, there's a tendency to overlook how much Finny and Gene have in common:

-Sometimes I wish my friend were a little more like me...

-He can do some things I never could...

-There are certain situations where I'll do or say ANYTHING to keep from seeming vulnerable...

I think a lot of us can identify with thoughts like that, even if we are not of this book's time or place.

In literature, loyalty and love are around the most important themes there are. Knowles treats them both with real care in this book. The relationship between Finny and Gene is really something. You won't find many characters who care about each other this much. No kidding. I know Gene acts like a jerk, but...

Knowles also manages to weave all that in with an exploration of the subject of war that's actually very original, despite the relatively familiar framework of the basic plot. He questions whether innocence can survive certain situations, and the fact that, sometimes, we can't even tolerate innocence. There's an impulse to bring people down to our level.

By the way, I gave a four star rating because I wanted people to read this without thinking I was myself hopelessly in love with this book, but I obviously am. I would give it six stars if I could.

"Assistant crew manager?!"

I am a high school teacher and I have to say I agree with the kids. This book is horrible. It is simply boring. I do not know why high school teachers torture their students with this book. It is simply boring. There are many fine books students should read in High School: Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbirg, MacBeth, Iron and Silk, and Lord of the Flies to name a few. This book should be taken OFF the list. Kids, if you have been assigned this book there is no way around it...its boring just grin and bare it. Teachers, find a better book for the kids to read.

What i liked about a seperate is that i learned a lot of morals. And it was actually very interesting?. What i didnt like about the book was that it was kind of confusing at some points. But overall it was a really good book.

I felt, when reading this book, like I felt when reading Ayn Rand: that the author had some broader abstract point to make, and the characters and the plot were just sort of necessary contrivances or window dressing. The difference for me was that it was very clear what point Ayn Rand was making, so the whole thing worked, whereas here the whole thing left me cold: I didn't really find the characters believable (Finny is kind of like Billy Budd, more symbolic than human), and I didn't think the plot really led anywhere. I liked the fact that there's some ambiguity about motivations, and things aren't nice and cut-and-dry, but just didn't have any gripping desire to turn the pages. The conclusion was quite anti-climactic. I didn't read this in high school, so maybe there's all sorts of deep inner meaning that the teacher would have pointed out, but that escaped me on a quick read as an adult. I did think the book was well-written, and nicely concise, but it just didn't capture my attention or imagination.

A Separate Peace
By: John Knowles
This book fascinated me a lot. A Separate Peace portrays the struggle of adolescence and what young adults went through. This novel also depicts the lives of young adults who could not wait to go to World War II. Throughout the novel there is an extreme display of patriotism. Boys are having discussions about war and wanting to fight to defend for what they believe in.
This story is mainly focused on these two characters, Finny and Gene. Finny is described as an out going person who creates rules to his own games. He is the type who will joke around and be really slick and get away with it but at the end trouble is calling him. Gene is the opposite of Finny. He is described as the quiet mellow person who keeps to himself and always gets good grades. Gene, later on gets jealous of Finny and this jealousy causes Finny to die from a dare to jump off a tree.
I recommend this book because it shows how closest of friends envy each other and ruin friendships in an indirect matter.
John Knowles wrote this book in a very well manner and the different perspectives of the relationship of Finny and Gene described in the book do occur in real life. I am sure it relates to many people and they will enjoy reading it just how I did.

To the many high school students writing (misspelled and immature) reviews of this book, I can understand where your opinions are coming from, even though you could have expressed yourself a great deal better. I, too, am in high school, and I too am forced to slog through really, really boring books (such as The Grapes of Wrath, which was both boring and long) This book is not the fastest read in the world, or the most suspenseful. If you need to be constantly entertained, this is not the book for you.
However, I found a great deal of meaning in this book. The symbolism is brilliant, and the characters, while not given a great deal of exposition, are both wonderfully drawn and realistic. I feel like many people have simplistic understandings of these characters, (Finny as the "jock," and Gene as the "bad guy") But the truth is that John Knowles's characters are more complex than that, and everyone has met people like these in their real lives.
It is also interesting to note that Devon Academy, the setting of the novel, was based on John Knowles's real-life school Exeter. My father went to this school and it was interesting to compare their memories.
I would recommend this book to anyone who does not need a very taut and fast-paced style of writing or plot, but likes a deep read that stays with you for a long time.

"A Separate Peace" by John Knowles takes place during the second World War at Devon School, a boys' preparatory academy in New England. Here on the homefront, the war doesn't seem very real. Sure, there are rations, and the seniors are being scheduled for physical training regimens to prepare them for enlistment after graduation - but in the lazy, carefree Summer session, the idea of war seems very distant to the other students. Especially to Phineas.

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A Separate Peace was a very contridicting novel. There are both negative and positive aspects that are equal in presence. One thing I liked about the book was the lesson it teaches teenagers today. In the beginning, the main characters were both imature and childish, much like teenagers today. They make fun of peopls, proclaim themselves cool, and play a game of follow the leader. As the maturity level of one main character grew, so did the interest of the book. These are all positive stand points of this novel. There are always negatives and positives in everything we try to pick apart. In this novel there are lots of metaphors. Once an adult, or educater, explained the metaphors to me, I understood them. Before they were explained, the novel seemed confusing and less interesting. If you did not understand the metaphors you did not understand the book, because there were too many. Some characters and situations were difficult to understand, also. That is because there was no need for them. World War II also had an effect on the story. It brought out the real personality in the boys. I learned what a war can do to us when we do not want to join. The war also showed the boys' patience and maturity. They had waited a lonng time to fight in the war. When they realized how much it affected their country, they not only wanted to join for the fun of it they wanted to join to save lives and help thier country out. All and all the book was not that bad, but it was not that good. I would give it three stars.

I really liked this book. It's so weird that a book written as early in time as this one can be so relating and interesting to a teenager growing up in 2005. Even though it was written a long time ago it doesn't have the usual slang from that time. It is a very easy book to read and understand. Even though Gene is the one who jounces the limb to make Finny fall off, I feel bad for him throughout the story. It was a spur of the moment thing that he really regrets the further the story goes on. Finny just doesn't want to believe that his friend would ever do something like that and who could blame him this I one of the parts i can relate to. If one of my friends did something to ruin my life and I thought it was an accident I wouldn't want to believe them either. As if it's not hard enough for Gene to realize what an awful thing he has done his has to convince his friend he did it. I would recommend this book to anyone my age or not.

"A Separate Peace" is a book that makes you think, laugh, feel, and become everything and nothing the characters show. Gene and Phineas are classy friends, each with their own secret ambitions. Although we only learn about Gene and his jealousy of Finny, it would be an understatement to forget that Finny himself might have some reservations about Gene. But all the while, you feel envious of a friendship such as theirs, and then you regret that such a friendship could go so abruptly to the wrong side. All in all, this is a book that no high schooler should graduate without reading. It's important to see and understand the inner conflict that eats away at Gene's conscience even though he tries time and time again to make himself believe he is alright and not in the wrong. Many people would be able to connect to the man vs. himself feelings, whether or not they have such extreme consequences like Gene or not.

Next to "Catcher in the Rye", this is a must-read for everyone. We will all find something in this book...

I've read this book twice in less than a year, but both times I was forced to and both times it was equally unenjoyed. I found everything about the story, especially Gene, extremely hard to relate to. Oh yes it's about envy and the loss of innocence and the loss of sanity and friendship and hidden feelings and yada yada yada, but at the end of the day none of this makes it a story worth telling. Not only is Gene unrelatable, he is also unlikeable. Finny may understand why Gene pushed him out of the tree, but I sure as sh*t don't. In fact, it angered me that Gene got to live on in what to me seemed like a zombie state and Finny, who had much more potential for a great life, did not. I thought Gene was stupid to assume that Finny needed him as much as much as he needed Finny. Gene tries to justify his actions by blaming it on the times or whatever else.. I say Gene is full of it.

I'm not surprised to read all of the negative reviews by children, since this is a classic that only now as an adult I can appreciate. This is a story about the innocence of children during a time of war, who are still lucky enough to be able to escape reality. Phineas is a unique character who perfectly exists in this pure environment until it is shattered by an act of violence.

A beautifully described setting in New Hampshire that portrays a friendship between two prep school boys, one of whom, cannot accept the the selfless sincerity and forgiveness of the other. And when the doubter realizes his mistake - well, I don't want to spoil the ending.

This novel focuses on the friendship and rivalry of two prep- school students, one an athletic extrovert and the second, the narrator of the work, a more inward- looking scholarly type. The book first published in 1959 is one of those which has had a very wide readership among young people. This is a dark tale and one which does not have any real 'spirit of redemption'. It is certainly without the charm and humor of that most celebrated of all novels of prep- school adolescence 'Catcher - in- the- Rye'. I dutifully read through it without really understanding the source of the great appeal it has had.

A great book about friendship, competition, shame and guilt. It's a struggle for a young man as he must figure out what is more important in life. Unfortunately, it's end is very ubrupt compared to the rest of the book.

I can understand how this book became so renowned, with its extensive use of figurative language and a thought-provoking plot, yet somehow it seems hollow. To me, it seems as though Phineas is entirely connected to Gene, with no real character or convictions of his own. He acts simply as a pawn in the hands of fate, causing Gene to explore his own nature and discover himself. With so insignificant of a life given to him by Knowles, it seems as though Phineas is entirely two-dimensional. In my opinion, such an underdeveloped character having such an influential role in the plot is a slight to the value of a human life, with Phineas seemingly existing only for Gene. It seems unfair and unnatural that Knowles should create a character that is entirely insignificant in his own right, serving only to die. In addition, the setting is so entirely dated as to be almost unfathomable to young adults of the 21st century. With a thoughtful and empathy-evoking plot and underdeveloped, unfathomable characters, it is my belief that Knowles created a novel not memorable in itself but in what it could have been.

I read this book this past school year in my Honors English class. My teacher was a fan of this book, but the 25 people in my class thought it was terrible. when we discussed the book after we finished it we agreed that the book had a boring plot and no climax. all the time we were reading we were waiting for something to happen but then Hey! the book ends!without anything happening. Also in the beginning of the book the characters are not described well at all! i had to keep going back trying to find that person again and see who they were. also some characters would just disappear. i quote another reviewer: you think"stupid kid cant appreciate a classic." Well your wrong. Smart kid can recognize a classic and appreciate it when they read one. well 25 smart kids didnt appreciate A Separate Peace along with many other students out there. To any student reading this book and has grades depending on it: GET THE CIFFS NOTES! one person in my class got them and he saved us all!(thanks matt! you helped us find the relationship between the water and war!!!)

My 9th-grade students have just finished reading this novel, and I can't begin to describe the wonderful and thought provoking discussions that we were able to have about the relevant issues and questions it raises and explores. Although the characters are resurrected from Knowles' own life, and the book is situated in a distinct historical moment, the experiences of the teenagers in this novel are seemingly timeless. My own students were able to relate directly to the array of feelings and situations that the characters encounter, and, I believe, as a result have come to a better understanding of themselves. Who can ask for more from literature?

GRR! I had to read this book for my 10th grade ACC.Eng.Class. It is one of the worst novels I have ever read. I know how that sounds, and everyones thinking, "stupid kid can't appreciate a classic" That is not the case. I read several books and am very open-minded and can look at a novel in depth. However, well to put it bluntly...this book was retarded. The book was confusing and the plot really wasn't that great. I don't understand why people like it so much. Honestly, in my opinion, I think that schools could stretch their reading curriculum. Just because it was a "great novel of it's time" doesn't mean that other stuff isn't written as well. I think we could read something maybe more modern, but with the same sort of general idea. I'm sorry, if anyone can't see my point of view, but I think there are better books out there. SMILE! and have a nice day :-)

I am not one to analyze books, but I still did enjoy this one. It was an emotional journey with Gene. Although Gene was jealous of Phineous, he seemed to love him. Perhaps even more than a best friend. The often descriptions of Gene studying Phineous's body and actions makes me wonder if Gene did not have homosexual feelings towards Phineous. At any rate, I did find the book exciting and readable, it wasn't a bore like so many of the books we have to read in school.

A Separate Peace is a great book which maintains the reader's interest. The book contains struggles and relationships that anyone can relate to. The protagonist, Gene, goes through many conflicts with himself about his friend "Finny", or Phineas. Gene envies Finny's athletic ability throughout the book. The book does a fine job of showing that friends can stick together no matter what happens with war and school. I highly recommend this book to anyone young or old.

A Separate Peace is a wonderful novel based on high school boys during World War II. This book is especially good for young readers since it focuses on boys of the age of 16. The characters in the book expierence iner-conflicts with themselves and conflicts with other characters that they don't know how to control. This is a story about the emotions and how teenage boys act at a prep school and during a war. This is a good book for people who are interested in the pshycological point of view from a teenage boy.

This book was assigned to me this earlier on in this year as a freshman. I just wanted to say that when reading this I was thinking, I hope that all the books we read in high school arn't going to be this bad. The language in this novel was so boring. There was no action. I couldn't stand reading this book. I never really finidhed reading the book but we discussed it in class. Let me just tell you from the start, buy the cliff notes. I was lucky enough to get them and pass my final essay about the novel with a 95! Wooo Hoo! But let me tell you that this book is booring, unentertaining, and pointless! What kind of person would do some of the things that Gene did! It has no relistic meaning to it. My english teacher some how thought that this book was good. So to end it briefly, Stay far far far away from this book!

I really enjoyed the novel, A Seperate Peace, by John Knowles. The book starts off with any ordinary event, but leads into a deep and meaningful story. For myself, the story definitely became easier to comprehend as I realized that the description of scenery was actually Gene's adult side reflecting on what happened in his past. This also made the story become more and more interesting as I read on. The characters are not necessarily easy to relate to, but are very real and believable. The setting of the Devon School is well chosen. I believe that this novel is very well written and I give it five stars.

A Separate Peace is an exceptional novel. All of the characters and events that took place in the book were very realistic. The book made you feel as though you were one of the characters in it. The summer of 1943 at Devon was filled with envy, friendship, hatred, loyalty, anger, athleticism, and violence. As I read the book, I felt each one of these things. The events and characters seem so realistic that I believe that they are based on experiences John Knowles had when he attended Exeter. Knowles did a good job developing all of the characters in the story. John Knowles did an all around superior job writing A Separate Peace.

I also had to read this novel for my SOAR english class and I was so not into reading it. But, as the cliche goes, "never judge a book by its cover".I have never in my life been so entrapped reading a novel as when I read this one. Knowles outperformed himself with his psychological analysis of two best friends not only coping with a world war, but also eachother. The characters feel like people we all know, or have been before. This is a definite "must read" for anyone who has a best friend and has felt Gene Forrester's jealousy for someone that they love so much, and could learn from Gene's mistakes. I did.

Even with high school far behind in our past, A Separate Peace can evoke the frustration and pain of the process of becoming an adult. Against the backdrop of the waning days of War World II and the end of their schoolboy days, Gene and Finney approach life so differently that it is hard to imagine them as best friends. It is this incongruity that tests Gene. Jealous of the ease with which Finney handles life, he acts out and tests the strength of that friendship, as well as his own inner strength. As with the war, the true business of reaching a satisfying peace comes after the battles have ended.

This is an underappreciated classic that, while labelled as a children's book, resonates with you at any age. Set in the world of a boarding school, two friends contemplate the outbreak of war even as their bonds of friendship grow. Like great "young adult literature," the characters in this book ring absolutely true. And when tragedy strikes at the end of the novel, you will be stunned when adolescent bravery plunges into sadness.
A must-read for anyone ten and up. I fear that this novel has been left behind in the age of Harry Potter. Don't let that happen!

I forgot how much I liked this book. I first read it as a teenager and was reluctant then because I felt it was just forced upon me by my teachers. But it is one of those books that, despite its setting, is timeless as the relationships between the characters are relatable no matter who you are.

A good read. Now I think I'll go back and read Catcher in the rye again

I read this book for a high school honors English class last year. I remember another girl mentioning how she did the same but they all hated the book. Well, I guess it's a book that some love and some hate. But I think it was beautifully written and is one of my favorites. I love the way the author described feelings and even scenery. He made it seem like a movie that you didn't want to end. I could never write such a wonderful book and I'm glad I had the delight of reading it. I would reccomend it to anyone(even those who aren't taking it for English):) I even made my Mom and friends read it.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles is an excellent novel in my opinion because it talks about friendship and overcoming obstacles. I can relate to the main character, Gene, because both of us are sixteen years old and some events that happen to him I can relate to it similarly. What I like most about this book is that it is about friendship and I think that any sixteen year old teen can relate to some of the text. If you like to read a novel that contains friendship and obstacles then A Separate Peace by John Knowles is the book for you to read.

Funny thing. I recently read Remembering the Good Times by Peck and I simply can't resist drawing a similarity between the two books. In fact, because the tone/style is so similar, I was somewhat able to predict the ending of Separate Peace halfway through the book. Nevertheless, it's a wonderful book. It's a story about the friendship between two boys. One is a bit on the envious side and hurts the other, who later on either ignores or forgive his confession. (Some psychological analysis may be inserted here, but I won't go into that.) In any case, I'm personally attracted to the character Phineas, whom the book describes/shows as a very charming fellow. The style in general makes me want to read the rest of John Knowles's books. :)

I read this book in high school (I am now in my mid-40's). Since then I have read thousands of books, fiction, non-fiction, good to great (the bad ones I usually don't finish). The character development is masterful, the study of human nature is profound.

To this day "A Separate Peace" is my favorite book. My daughter is 14 and is reading it, though it is hard to get her to read voluntarily. I couldn't put it down then and she can't put it down now.

Having read trough the one star reviews and noticing that most if not all of the authors are high school kids who would probably not understand this book even when being eighty.
The author has an incredible capability of illustrating the darkest traits of human nature under an apparently uncomplicated story which leaves the reader ample opportunity to visualize the smallest details. Impecable.

A Seperate Peace is my absolute favorite novel--I must have read this over 3 times during the summer. Vivid pictures, the stories, brilliant word uses, and dynamic characters all helped to shape one of the books that I now treasure the most. Gene and Finny, along with characters like Leper and Brinker, let us see a whole different perspective of the Devon School. Even during the war, Devon had a peace which could not be broken. Phineas was that peace. He tied everything together. His friendship with Gene is amazing. I definitely recommend this book.

A Separate Peace is a great story set at a boarding school during WWII. Knowles writes beautifully this story about friendship, tragedy, innocence, and war. Read it slowly so you can savor Knowles's words. You can get something from every page of this novel.

I was forced to read this book in my school. Though I hate being forced to read books, I found this one the best out of all the ones we were forced to read. Yes, I consider this book better than To Kill a Mockingbird and Cry, The Beloved Country. It is very heartwarming and touched me so far, that it makes me as a 15 year old male want to cry. If you could just picture yourself in the place of Gene, it really makes you think about the hardships of what they must have gone through. The one music peace that reminds me of this book is 3 Doors Down's "Loser". It almost sounds like the book! THIS IS A MUST READ!

A Separate Peace displays a tale of two best friends sharing the times of their lives while at boarding school. John Knowles displays the hardships that high school boys face away from home during World War II. The lessons learned, their independence, and the security they discover can never be forgotten in a time of war and fear. Many people can relate to Knowles' central theme of friendship. I thoroughly enjoyed A Separate Peace, by John Knowles. The fact that I also attend boarding school helped me relate to the novel. Although the plot is not filled with lengthy adventures and exciting climaxes, if one can read between the lines and view the book for its real meaning, he or she is sure to enjoy it. One must be able to see through that thin barrier that blocks the emotions from leaping off the page, and look into Gene and Finny's hearts. It's difficult to be dependent on oneself at such a young age. Finny and Gene form a unique bond and help each other survive tough times. While Gene doubts Finny on occasion, deep down he relies on Finny's constant support and humor to get through troublesome times. When Finny's love for sports and competitiveness ends in an accident, Gene is left to live with the reality of that eventful night. The book's controversy deals with Gene's battle with the truth and Finny's acceptance of it. A Separate Peace proves that trust and friendship can take years to develop and an instant to destroy.

A Separate Peace, I felt, was an acceptable novel. The plot at times was drawn out and tedious but overall I felt the novel had momentum. I liked the character development between Phineus and Gene and I liked the way they interacted. Gene's feelings at times were dull and overemotional. But I guess with the confusing nature of the war, WWI, and his inner conflict with himself he really had no choice. I felt very angry with Gene after he pushed... I don't want to ruin it. I felt the book was a little long in spots but it was an overall okay read.

This was just not my type of book. I had picked it up and read the back and it caught me. I heard it was going to be a movie on Showtime and I enjoy reading the book before seeing the movie so I bought it! I read the first one hundred pages then quickly skimmed the last hundred...it was just not my type. Nothing kept me interested it just didn't have any punch. The characters were unrealistic.

This was Fowles' first novel and, for those who admire his fuller, later works, there is no mistaking the embryonic stages of his considerable gifts in this tale of friendship and resentment at a New England boarding school. The narrator, Gene, returns to the school some 15 years after the principal events of the book. A walk along the river and the foreboding sight of a tree overarching it is young Fowles' rather self-forced trigger to relive his summer of 42 and a fated friendship with a charismatic room-mate, Finny. Looming about that year and the one that follows is the mysterious awaiting future of World war II. There at Devon, the students are only partially sheltered from this prospect but, largely through Finney's creative and mischievous inventions find a very temporary and fragile "separate peace".
The interaction between the narrator and Finney, the interlaced jealousies of two youths whose gifts each other resents, plays out, however, as less of a peace than a subtle, sometimes Hobbsean war of one against the other... with brutal consequences.
So why just two stars? To me, despite the short, almost novella length of the book, Fowles fails to stay on course throughout, straying to rather easy cliches about pretentious, upper class adolescence. Some of the petty incidents have the taste of filler though I suspect young Fowles saw them as integral elements of a grander design which, unfortunately, never fully emerges.
The denouement is most unsatisfying: the older Gene is forever left stranded on that riverbank within those opening pages and we, therefore, have to surmise what it has all meant to him. I mean, if you're going to use a flashback device, use its full power. I have this hunch that the author was fresh from a reading of Brideshead Revisited when he wrote this, full of ideas, but just hadn't the skill(back then) to pull it all off.
Nostalgia can be potent stuff but not if one fails to utilize its power in terms both of learning and forgetting. Fowles did not miss similar opportunities in such later works as the French Lieutenant's Woman.

I had to read this for english and let me tell you, i didn't like it. The kid Gene becomes so paranoid, and I didn't understand half the things that went through his head. The charcters were strange, especially Gene. ZFinny was your typical great at sports guy, but he got on my nerves too. It's an okay book, but i don't recomend reading it unless you have to.

Phineas was like this some kind of Greek God; he was athletic, beautiful and very noble. It scares me to think that jealousy can destroy all this. This book made me face a realistic side of human nature that I don't like to gaze upon.

After Reading A Separate Peace by John Knowles, I felt that the book was a very good read. However, I thought that Gene and Finny had the weridest realtionship ever. It seemed that Gene liked Finny, but deep down inside his soul he wanted to hurt him real bad. Leper was one of the oddest individuals in the story, to his letter to Gene, to him hallucinating. The book did give comic relief when they had the snowball fight, and wrestled in the snow with the barrels of cider. Overall the book was pretty interesting, it was average, but it was interesting. Read the book, if you want.

A story told a hundred times which gets worse everytime. The theme of this book, a struggle between friendship, is in about half of the books out there. John Knowles leaves us without any impact at all. Instead of inspiring us it makes you want to do nothing. Gene, the main character of the book is engulfed by his friend Phineas. The entire book is Gene describing how much he adores his friend. The plot has no "moving" events, even at the climax of the book. The only good part of the book is the character of Phineas. He is well-developed and brings the spirit of a teenager into the book.

Personally, i enjoyed the book. I wouldn't but it but i would get it at a public library. I think it shows how some people are mistaken as someone there not. Gene thinks finny is out to get him , but actually, he's not. The book gives a lot of examples of life lessons. It shows that growing up isn't as easy as most people thought and looking back you may regret some of the decisions you made when you were young. The conflict between Finny and Gene will keep you intrested but guestioning about your relationships with others.

I always think about how Lisa Simpson book this book down to her long-lost grandmother when I think of this book! A great Simpsons episode, but unfair to Knowles. I was struck by how well this book captured some of the feelings that are so intense in adolescence-friendship, jealousy, the loss of innocence. Knowles' evokes all of the nolstalgia and pain many of us still feel when we look back on those years. The guilt and horror of the narrator regarding the jealousy and love he felt for his golden friend are very tangible. I think it's worth reading and very emotionally engrossing. So don't listen to Lisa or Mother Simpson, read this book!

A Separate Peace is one of the most exuberant books I have ever read. I read it for my freshman english honors class and I loved it. Once I started, it was quite hard to put it down. The book is about a group of high school boys who struggle between war and peace. The choices they make cause bitter rivals or affectionate relationships. Most of the conflict occurs between the two main characters. Throughout the book they change from either being friends or enemies. They reach their harmony when they find their "separate peace".

I also had to read A Separate Peace for my english class. Is it just me, or does anyone else notice a trend here? Anyway, I thought I was reading the most boring book ever published, but it turned out all right in the end. I admit that it wasn't the greatest book I ever read, but it was still well written and all that other "good stuff." Hopefully, people who are forced to read this novel don't take it the way I did, I wouldn't blame you if you still did, but still make an attempt to realize that it isn't at all as bad as it may seem.

"A Separate Peace" is considered to be an American classic, and I cannot deny the fact that it is extremely well written, but the simple truth remains that I just didn't enjoy it. In fact, it reminded me very much of Evelyn Waugh's "Brideshead Revisited", another book which I feel more or less the same about.

Both "Brideshead Revisited" and "A Separate Peace" are told from the point of view of a character revisiting a location (Brideshead, in the case of "Brideshead Revisited" and the Devon School, in the case of "A Separate Peace") years after his first visit there and reflecting on his time there; in both cases the main character (Charles in "Brideshead" and Gene in "Peace") had an intense friendship with a unique character (Sebastian/Phinneas) who was "not meant for the real world"; and both books detail the decline of the unique friend, while the more serious protagonist moves on with his life.

Both books begin with several chapters detailing the best parts of the friendship between these characters, and I enjoyed both of these sections immensely. While reading the first 70 pages of "A Separate Peace", I thought this was going to become one of my favourite books of all time. I really wish that Waugh and Knowles had continued these "fun" sections for the entire duration of their books. Unfortunately, in both cases, events transpire to change things (Sebastian's expulsion from Oxford, and Phinneas's accident), and after that, the books are just dreary and depressing. I can understand that both authors had messages to put forward through these depressing scenes, but they are just not the sort of things that I enjoy reading. I won't spoil the ending of either book, but I will say that I found the ending of "A Separate Peace" to be very contrived and after reading it, I just wanted to throw my copy of the book at the wall.

Overall, I give "A Separate Peace" 4 stars for the quality of the writing (minus one star for the convenient ending), but 2 stars for my personal entertainment value. This gives an average rating of 3 stars.

This book was not very good. I do not understand why Gene would try and turn a great friendship into some kind of war. Finny never knew that Gene even felt that way. Finny did not feel that way towards Gene at all. Even when Gene confessed to hurting Finny on purpose because of jealousy, Finny refused to believe. I do not like this book because it does not symbolize what a real friendship should be like. I understand that everyone was going through hard times because of the war, but friends should stay close during hard times. They should not turn against each other. This was a bad thing that Gene could do to his best friend.

This book I read in one sitting. Although I was not hooked on it by the first few pages *the main character Gene was reminicing on the past 15 years* What happened after that hooked me to it. I recommend this book mostly for people who are in high school, like I am. I enjoyed it more so that I could relate to it for the main characters were either one or two years older than me. The powers or forgiveness and the bonds of friendship are exemplified here to help the characters declare their own 'Separate Peace'.

Here is an excerpt from the book. While reading, please keep in mind that this is coming from the view of the main character, Gene Forrester, a 16-year-old boy...
"I threw my hip against his, catching him by surprise, and he was instantly down, definitely pleased. This was why he liked me so much. When I jumped on top of him, my knees on his chest, he couldn't ask for anything better."

The seperate peace is a tale about the friendship of two young friends, who go to a boarding school during world war two.The book has some very compelling ideas but the style of writing wasnt exactly grabing.The book gave you a lot of insight on the different aspects of the human mind and about friendships; it also shows the wicked feelings you have when your in a relationship like jealously.Wich is shown very well in this story. Knoles simple straight foward style of wrighting broke... Overal I feel this book is a good read but not a great read.

This is required reading for so many high-schoolers for good reason - it is one of a very few well written, complex novels dealing with important, weighty, and moral issues for teenagers. Books like this are called classics because they never lose their relevance.

I had to read this book for my grade 12 english class so I may be a little biased.(I hate being forced to read books)I found the plot involving mischievious Finny and Gene,the follower to be quite touching.I did not enjoy the hundreds of descriptions which seemed to overshadow the plot of this story.I believe that if the author had of cut down his wordiness it would have made for a better book.Nevertheless,I did enjoy the book.It has a surprising ending that leaves you feeling sad for the remaining characters.

I read "A Separate Peace" in high school. This book carries many life lessons we could all relate to. The writings of knowles create an imagery unsurpassed by any author writing a precise story of it's kind. The novel is so short and such an easy read. Yet, when I read it again and again, I still find that there is more to experience. Males and females especially should experience this novel integrating the truest of friendships with the backdrop of war. Finny is the guy we hate to love yet always do, and Gene is the nice guy with feelings unimagineable.

I think A separate peace is a very good novel. What John Knowles did on these book was portrait the life of two young boys on school with very very different kinds of characters and traits and how because of that the envy and the bad feelings grow from one to the other, making him fall from a tree and causing him not to practice sports anymore(which were what he liked the most). The point of the story , I think, is to show us the real significate of friendship and how is can be ruined when envy and jealousness comes between.

This is the one book I've read that made me want to vomit. The relationships are superficial to the extreme, the dialogue laughable, and the emotional content so overwritten that it can make one sick. This is insanely overrated, written in a condescending fashion for poor, impressionable Junior High students. Knowles dresses up his preschool sentiments with flowery language so that he may appear an "artist," but he is infinitely shallow. And I have never found any reason to believe that gene would have pushed Phinney out of the tree. The idea is a ludicrous fabrication of the public conscience. The senseless conclusion gives "deus ex machina" a bad name, but it's negative, and negative stories are always better received artistically. (Ulp! This is a negative review!)
In Stephen King's On Writing, he says that there will be a point in anyone's life where they will read something and conclude that they can do better, a source of artistic inspiration. I reccommend this to to anyone looking for such a book; you CAN write better. I know I'm trying.
Many of you have heard this trashed on "The Simpsons." They were right. "The Simpsons" is much more intelligent than this.
Beware the movie. It makes the book look good. Almost. (Although I could swear to God that Matt Damon is in it!)

I loved the book A Seperate Peace, it was such a fascianting book and study of human nature. Gene was one of the most interesting characters in literature. The subtl launguage that both characters used to express their real emotions was hard to catch but very deep. Phineas was a very intricate character...coming off as flawless and perfect. sporty atheletic and charming. underneath he was just as jealous and insecure as gene was. I enojyed this book and the journey into the mind. I recomend it to anyone.

This book is excatly what the title suggests. Gene, a lonely intellectual, and Phineas, an athlete, are best friends. They had fun with each other, they did lots of stuff together... Phineas liked him, but Gene: maybe. Gene got jealous of him, somehow indirectly. He is indirectly responsible for destroying Phineas' hopes by one tiny incident. Phineas never thought it was on purpose. That tiny incident led to as big as evil itself. A seperate peace...

I liked it. It's a good book. Memorable and "caring."

The story of a struggle between friends is almost a cliché. It seems that authors use this topic if they just need to put another book out on the shelf. The main character, Gene, wallows in his own self-pity so much that it made me wish that I could punch him in the face. The only good part of the book was the character Phineas. He was full of imagination and tried to make the best of the war, World War II. He even made Gene forget about the war and train for the 44' Olympics. There are books out there that have much better story lines and have a better impact on the reader than this one.

This was a good, thought-provoking novel. Some of the emotions and mental processes of the characters were hard for me to identify with, but I think that adds to the experience in a way. This isn't the greatest book I've ever read, but it definitely presents some fascinating thought-processes, which I admired.

This is a GREAT book about the hard journey towards self-discovery. The book moves at a great pace, one or two parts are somewhat slow, but other than that it is an excellent pace. I was forced to read this book in my Freshman English class, and instead of picking up the cliff notes, I decided to actually read it, and I am glad I did! The book got me motivated to read more, and I am now checking out different books by this author, and others. Definelty give it a chance, you WON'T regret it!!

A beautifully described setting in New Hampshire that portrays a friendship between two prep school boys, one of whom, cannot accept the the selfless sincerity and forgiveness of the other. And when the doubter realizes his mistake - well, I don't want to spoil the ending.

I'm not surprised to read all of the negative reviews by children, since this is a classic that only now as an adult I can appreciate. This is a story about the innocence of children during a time of war, who are still lucky enough to be able to escape reality. Phineas is a unique character who perfectly exists in this pure environment until it is shattered by an act of violence.

This is my all-time favorite book. I read this book in high school and didn't remember a thing about it, probably because I was really bored. I didn't even remember the end, which is dramatic. Then I read it again in college and I fell in love with it. I've read it numerous times since then and I'm always amazed at how well-done it is. If there was no shipping cost at the store.com, I'd buy 100 of these books because they're so cheap, and just give them out to college kids.

As an adult, rereading this classic was an eye-opening pleasure. I don't understand why it's a standard requirement in US high schools. The narrator is an adult looking back at his prep school days; it is written from an adult point of view and, I believe, should be viewed as adult literature. The lovely writing comprises poetical descriptions and subtle characterizations that are beyond the grasp of kids. No wonder so many are bored by this book!

Too many grownups bypass this masterpiece--and that's what it is--because they consider it an adolescent's book. Don't ignore A Separate Peace simply because it's become required reading in high schools and middle schools and because book superstores display it in the juvenile literature section. If you love excellent writing; if you appreciate it so much that when you read a particularly well-written passage you read it again, to savor it; if you enjoy descriptive prose that puts you right there in the place and the moment, you must read A Separate Peace.

I think this is a great novel written by John Knowles. I like the way he describes the characters so that you can really get into the minds. I guess it is true that opposites attract because Gene and Phineas are opposite and yet they are best friends. It is kinda devastating when you find out that Phineas falls out of the tree and then that his athletic future is over. A guy that is so good athletically and then just goofing off and it is all over and then even more devastating is when he dies when trying to reset the bone. I think this book does a good job of showing how the war was reacted to in the US. How kids were recruited to fight straight out of school. Also how kids were forced into going into the service by teachers, parents and friends. I would recommend this novel to anyone who thinks they are invincible. In addition, to anyone to someone who thinks that life last forever because this novel shows you that anything can happen and life makes you grow up faster than you want it to. I enjoyed this book a lot.

I read this book in high school (I am now in my mid-40's). Since then I have read thousands of books, fiction, non-fiction, good to great (the bad ones I usually don't finish). The character development is masterful, the study of human nature is profound.

To this day "A Separate Peace" is my favorite book. My daughter is 14 and is reading it, though it is hard to get her to read voluntarily. I couldn't put it down then and she can't put it down now.

OK, I know this book was supposed to be about a boy and his inner struggle with himself about his friend Finny but I found it so boring. Reading this book was like watching a soap opera. There were separate stories going on in one story. Everything was jumbled together into one really boring book. I've read many books and only one other that I've read bored me as much as this one did, that book being The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemmingway. That book has about as much plot and action as A Separate Peace. A man goes back to his favorite school, man has a flash back about a particularly bad summer, man leaves school. But all in all I guess the book does get a rating of "2" due to all the imagery and the way the book was written. And I guess, because the book does deserve some credit, that it was an OK book to read if you have an extra 2 hours on your hands.

This has to be one of the most depresing books I have ever read. Basically nothing good happens the entire time and the main character has some serious head problems.. While this book might provide an interesting look into the thought patterns of an adolescent male, I do not see why it is hailed as a classic by our literary society.
The best thing I found about the book was that it was short. If I had been forced into spending much more time on this piece, I do not think I would have finished it. If high school teachers want to influence kids to enjoy reading, there are much better books than this one (Ender's Game, The Belgariad, to name a couple). I think a major reason that lots of young people are convinced that they hate reading is because they were forced into reading "intellectual" books like this one in school. A bad practice I say.

Every once in a while, one reads a book that simply changes the way they look at life. I have heard people describe A Seperate Peace in many different ways. Many say that it is about the struggle between two friends who are completely different from eachother during WWII, but that barely scratches the surface. The book deals with those feelings that are difficult to express in words, those indecipherable feelings that are hard to identify. When it speaks of Finny, that athletic freind, saying that he feels that Gene is an extension of hiself, I felt stunned. That is a feeling I would never have been able to put my finger on. These two are extensions of eachother, they are the same person even though they are exact opposites. Sometimes friends are more than just two people, they are one. I don't want to spoil some of the other dazzling philosophies in the book, you should pick it up and read it yourself. You might find that your world has been a little more enlightened.

For the few adults or teenagers who have never read this masterpiece, please pick it up and be swept up by the language and the story. The less you know about this extraordinary work, the better. For the rest of you, it may be time to pick it up again and once again be entranced by the writing and swept up by the narrative.

I had to read this book for my junior year's English class. I thought it was a very interesting story and unique in the way of the in dept friendship of Gene and Finny. It takes place at an all boys' school in which they stay all year. However the 90 % of the book is a flashback remembering back to the time when him and Finny attended the school. The main plot of the story is that Finny is athletic and Gene is smart. However, Gene gets jealous and purposely injures Finny when they are performing dangerous stunts. But know body but himself (Gene) is aware of that fact, and throughout the story it shows his struggle with himself and his friendship. Overall I think this book is a great read and recommend it to anyone looking for a medium length book. I gave this book four stars because I feel their are some things that I would have liked to have been settled however it is wonderful book.

Probably one of the best "assigned reading" books I wound up reading in school. A gem of a book I never would have discovered on my own as my normal reading habits back then were King and Koontz. A big thank you to my teachers for exposing me to this wonderful tale of friendship and betrayal.

I read this book this past school year in my Honors English class. My teacher was a fan of this book, but the 25 people in my class thought it was terrible. when we discussed the book after we finished it we agreed that the book had a boring plot and no climax. all the time we were reading we were waiting for something to happen but then Hey! the book ends!without anything happening. Also in the beginning of the book the characters are not described well at all! i had to keep going back trying to find that person again and see who they were. also some characters would just disappear. i quote another reviewer: you think"stupid kid cant appreciate a classic." Well your wrong. Smart kid can recognize a classic and appreciate it when they read one. well 25 smart kids didnt appreciate A Separate Peace along with many other students out there. To any student reading this book and has grades depending on it: GET THE CIFFS NOTES! one person in my class got them and he saved us all!(thanks matt! you helped us find the relationship between the water and war!!!)

I find it disturbing that some people thought "A Separate Peace" was a "waste of time" but I guess everyone really does have different taste when it comes to reading books. I'm a sophomore and my class had to read this book during the beginning of the year. It is a good book and I know half of you would agree and the other half would disagree. I just find it insulting that some of you people didn't have the decency to recommend this book to other people who might find it interesting. You should be encouraging people to read and not turn them off by the mere mention of an uninteresting book. I think Phineas and Gene had a strange friendship but in a way it relates to how we treat our "friendships" with our peers and other people. People always take things for granted and we seem to end up learning our mistakes after the fall of others or after things are too late. Pity this world and the humans who live on it. I enjoyed this book immensely and give the book a try. I was just as skeptical as first when I started reading it but I changed my mind later on in the book.

A Separate Piece is a unique book. The only comparisons I can draw are to films like Dead Poets Society or Scent of a Woman - that whole genre set at rich boarding schools. The obvious comparison is to Catcher in the Rye, but the tone of that novel is entirely different. The thing that sets this novel off is the moral ambiguity of the narrator, Gene. At first, we sympathize with him but then he commits an unforgivable act. If we sympathize with him the rest of the book, we sympathize with his sense of guilt over doing something he cannot forgive himself for. Gene's fall from innocence is mirrored by America's fall during WWII. This is a heartbreaking novel, capturing the joys and horrors of youth that stay with you your entire life.

A Separate Peace is a brillant book that seems so simple in its context, but yet is so deep in its meaning. The reader gets the oppurtunity to take a close look at the relationships and feelings of teenage boys as they change due to experiences and time. Throughout the novel, Gene, the main character, discovers a lot about himself and in the end he figures out his true feelings concerning his best friend Finny, which ultimatly helps Gene to discover himself and leads to his achievement of a separate peace. I have no doubt in my mind that this book will fully interest any reader; those who like simplicity in their reading and those who like to look for the deep meanings in a book. This book shows that in order for one to be happy, they must first accept themselves, long before anyone else can appreciate them and accept them. This book is not only entertaining but is also full of life lessons that one may take away from it.

I enjoyed this book toward the middle and end but in the beginning, I found it a little dry. John Knowles is a great author because it's so amazing how he can take leaves and compare it to the main character for pages! My favorite character was Finny because I like the way he took charge, but in some cases he seemed power-hungry, although that was how he rose to the top. I didn't like Gene because I found him stuck-up and full of himself. Finny always thought of Gene as his closest friend but inside Gene felt the total opposite. He wasn't caring and I didn't like the overall development of Gene's character. The book is about two friends in college whose relationship started breaking up slowly because of an accident. My review is that I like the book. I like the writing style of John Knowles and how he uses metaphors, imagery,etc.. I recommend it for twelve-year-olds and up because this is a book that you need to concentrate and grasp the concepts of to understand it. It's also a challenging book that makes one think.I enjoyed reading it.

To tell you the true, I didn?t like A Separate Peace that much at
the beginning, I couldn?t understand the point of it. It wasn?t until I have to make a research paper about it that I stared to like it, and understand it. The thing I like the most of it now is the way Knowles? explores the darker side of Gene?s and Finny?s friendship. From the beginning towards its very end you can see the transformation of Gene?s feelings, from insecurity to anger, to remorse and acceptance. You can never know what really happened to those teenagers because all the tension gathered inside of them because of a WWII just about to be unleashed at any time. The book really relates to us as teenagers as we are passing through this step of our lives. A separate peace is a great book, understandable, and beautifuly written. I recommend if you really want to know what teenager problems are.

This was a very nice read... I had to read it for summer reading. Though short, I kept me wrapped in the storyline of a boy and his `perfect summer' at a boarding school in New England (flashback: Dead Poet's Society...).
It started off as though it were going to be, basically a `summer reading book', that is to say that it was just some narrative and just ended up with some lesson in life. That is true of the book, but also it is a good book because it describes the human condition. It describes human weaknesses and then brings them out to in a book. This is very compelling and the most interesting part of the book.
This is a very depressing book, and I had trouble getting through it because it is hard to accept some of what is going on. I mean, plot turns, surprises, and intrigue all happen in this book (most of them being depressing, though)... and yet it's not a mystery!
A great read, but only if you can stomach the ever-so-present depressing scenes and happenings of the book.
A. A.

The way in which this tale is written - the choice of words, the way the sentences are constructed and strung together - enabled me to savor this novel as I read each passage. It's also a forcefully told story in the first person.

This book was ok. It was written well, but it was very slow and made me lose interest at times. It is about 2 young boys and a terrible event that happens between them while growing up in a boarding school during the second world war. it portrays the two former best friends trying to make ammends and live during this terrible war time with this terrible event that happened between them.

A SEPERATE PEACE well i personally dont like this book, it switches around on the things the writer is feeling and what he is writing about. it does have a littlebit of action but not much it at parts keeps you interested but not as much as most would like. i feel this book is a book for older people or people whole like boring books. it is a shame that phineas doesdie at the end oops i gave it away. its not a book that you would want to read if your into action and all that good stuff. i sugjest you read this book it is good but I personally do not like this book,but also thats my opinion . teachers i think it is a good book if you are talkin about the war because it talks about things you do in wars and things you did do . it has a wide variety of vocabulary . it is a good book for a class but as one i do not like the book. peace Melissa B.

I gave this book a significant total of four stars because of the overall meaning of the book. The overall meaning of the book consists of a series of metaphors and similes for the average (or almost average) life of a pre-adult. The basic essence is carried out through a series of characters who are experiencing the different aspects of the war through adolescent minds. Throughout the course of the story, Gene becomes an adult through his realization of the direct relation of the scenery around him to his life. Finny, however, has an overall appreciation for himself and his talents. The rest of the characters, seem to symbolize the world of chaos surrounding them that they cannot or choose not to experience while at the Devon School. World War II plays a significant role in this book as well. Noone really ever understood it until they realized what it could achieve in the very souls and minds of those who faught in it! In conclusion, I enjoyed this book because it made me think... ponder over the deeper meaning behind the story.

This book's message can mean so little to some who do not understand it's underlying deep meaning, yet can be so much to those who do understand. It involves a war between jealousy, friendship, and a natural unrefined hatred. Gene's character developes into somewhat stronger, while the effects of WWII war show very evidently on others. A wonderful book for those who want to search for a deeper meaning of human emotions. I think John Knowles is a genius.

When I first read this book, it started out boring but whe it got to the end it got better. The novel was moving and sad. It was exciting too. It helped me a little bit in my personal life. Phineas is risky and Gene is an average guy. One gets the bad side of things. The setting was good for the novel. The winter setting is good for the down part of the book. This book is good overall. I think you should try reading it.

Like many other readers and the store reviewers, this book was assigned reading for me in high school. I read it again recently when the kids got it...and found it has not improved with age. One wonders why generation after generation of teachers continues to tout this book as a "classic" when it's really far from enjoyable.

The premise is interesting - youths coming of age during the World War era that's changing not only their future but their entire way of life. Unfortunately the characters, from prestigious, wealthy families who are more than just a little bit snotty - just can't hold the average reader's sympathy. Teens couldn't relate to them 30 years ago and can't now. The main character, furthermore, can't be referred to as a hero, since he deliberately wounds his best friend, and is indirectly responsible for his death. "Did he do it on purpose?" won't hold interest for hundreds of pages, and the fact remains that, whatever the reason, he DID do it either through deliberate cruelty or carelessness. Neither reason is excusable.

If we want kids to love reading, give them something that's interesting, and characters to like. "A Separate Peace" provides neither.

This book didn't interest me very well. The book put me to sleep too many times to count. Although most books do. Irony in this book was semi-interesting. The Characters were hardly developed, in my opinion. The jock and the brains as friends may funny, but it would never happen. The Death of Finny was far expected from the beginning of the book. If he doesn't have his sports to keep him busy he doesn't have anything to do that he is very good at. Sports were his prodigal purpose in life. The grim mood of the book at the beginning was a pure giveaway of the book's entire mood and foreshadowed most of the book.

I had to read this book for school however it is the only book i am glad that they made me read. I love this book and would recommend it to anyone.
Most teenagers don't like it because they either don't gove it half a chance to begin with or they are simply not intelligent enough to grasp the books full meaning. However the book is a wonderfull peice of literature and i liked it so much i bought two other books by John Knowles.

I understand it's supposedly a "classic" but I do not consider it to be one. A novel worthy enough to be studied in school and tested on, should be deeper than A Seperate Peace. Yeah, so it has a lot of symbolism. BIG DEAL. This book was horrible. I couldn't relate to the main character, because he was just nasty and unlikable. It has been commpared to the Catcher in the Rye, but it's nowhere near as poignant as that novel. (my fav btw). I love to read but this book was stupid and I got NOTHING out of it.

A great book about friendship, competition, shame and guilt. It's a struggle for a young man as he must figure out what is more important in life. Unfortunately, it's end is very ubrupt compared to the rest of the book.

A pretty depressing novel but a good one and friendship is displayed nicely by Knowles. If you like stories with good friendships and compelling drama, I suggest you read A Separate Peace. It's nicely moving and a timeless classic!

Gene and Finny are best friends who go to a boarding school in New Hampshire. Gene has a lot of jealousy of Finny because he does most thing better than him and is also more popular. The whole story is based upon this tree they have on campus. It is a very sad book.

It did not grab my attention at all. It is a very slow book and not too many exciting parts in the story. I would not recommend this book for people who like exciting books that keep you on the edge of your seat. Also where the story took place was very boring. I would have to give it 3 stars because I have read worse books.

I had to read this book once. When I first saw the book, I wondered why we had to read this. But now I feel as though I have missed out on a great work of literature.

The story begins in 1957 when Gene returns to Devon School. There, he reflects on the year he met Phineas.

Phineas had created a society whose sole purpose was to jump from a tree, the tree that was being used to train the upperclassmen for war. But Gene thinks Phineas wants to destroy his chances of being valedictorian.

One day on the tree, Gene shakes the limb and Phineas falls. Phineas tells Gene that he has to play sports. But Gene does not have the courage to tell Phineas the truth.

Leper goes off to the war and returns. He claims to have seen things while on the frontlines.

Gene stands on trial for the accident. While the trial occurs, Leper comes and says that he saw what happened. Phineas tries to leave, but a terrible incident occurs.

I was absolutely captivated and spellbound by this book. I know I might read it again to recapture the memory of this great American novel.

I read this book the summer between seventh and eighth grade, Just the name of this book invokes a kind of nostalgic sadness for the insanity that was my adolescence. I have had friendships that closely mirrored this situation and still haunt me. This book should be the present given to every boy and girl on their thirteenth birthday.

A Seprate Peace is extremely dull book. It has a nice plot, but it is ruined by the extreme details (we're talking about pages describing one thing) and a lot of metaphors. (And plus, my teacher ruined it even more by finding more obscure metaphors, such as Phineas is Gene and vice versa.) If they had been used more lightly, then the book would have been more of a pleasure to read. If you love details and metaphors, this book is for you. If not, stay away.

When I first read this book back in High School, I can remember how some in my class said they'd rather read something else while I actually enjoyed the work. This book is Knowles's masterpiece. Yes there are times when you'd rather put the book down and watch TV but those moments are few and far between. The characters are well developed, the plot is strenuously executed but in the end you feel better for reading it because you came through this journey into adulthood and friendship with the narrator.

Knowles crafts his story as a flashback to 1942 when War was declared and the boys of Devon School were making the tough choices that would define their lives. And in 1942 this meant either going to College or going into the military and fighting in WWII. This coming of age story is ideal for High School students which is the reason why it is widely required in most School Districts and Parochial School systems because it speaks of the end of innocence and realism of adulthood.

If you are an adult and wish to read or re-read this classic I recommend coming to it not as a schmaltzy read but as a serious work or fiction you'll find yourself connecting with the characters and the situations.

I do not completely recommend this novel but do think it is a good read.

As I read this book for the second time, the first being in high school, I found again the love I had for the book. The author creates characters that you can associate with. I find a part of myself in all of them, yet you will find yourself in Gene's position. You will hate yourself, understand yourself better, and potentially dislike Gene. But in the end, you cannot put the book down, and when you finish it, you will hold a loyalty for it in your heart.

I think that this book was very borning. I think that this book dint inrest me because it took place bake in the older days and i think that it would be more intresting if it tolk place in the modern times . i also dint like it because there was knw girls in the story and i think that it would be more intresting if there was some girls in it . i think the most inresting part in this story was when Gene went to go visit leperd at his home after he had ben relested for the was . I think this part what good because this is where lepey says to Gene that he thinks he is crasy and Gene hits him and then Leppy just laphs and said that that proveds that he is. I think this boolk just was to long mybe because it dint intrest me laura dyer

At first, I did not think much of this book. However, as it went on, I saw the depth of the plot, and the uncertanties within it. There seems to be so much jealously towards the other that you have to wonder if they are actually friends. When someone dies toward the end of the book, there is one big question that is not answered. I don't want to spoil it for you, so go ahead and read it!

I had to read this book in my 11th grade English class. I thought that the book was a little on the boring side. Other then that it was an ok. You had the all around sports guy, the little sacred guy and the bully. The book goes back to the Devon school, which is a private school. Gene tells about all the things that happen and there is some great symbolism. the symbolism they use is in my thoughts the best part of the whole book.

I had to read this book for my english class in order to make a research paper on it for my final grade. Although at first I did not like the idea, as I started to read the book I found it very interesting. It is the story of two boys who manage to save their friendship trough war and tragedy. I do recomend the book I believe it holds a hidden life lesson on friendship.

GRR! I had to read this book for my 10th grade ACC.Eng.Class. It is one of the worst novels I have ever read. I know how that sounds, and everyones thinking, "stupid kid can't appreciate a classic" That is not the case. I read several books and am very open-minded and can look at a novel in depth. However, well to put it bluntly...this book was retarded. The book was confusing and the plot really wasn't that great. I don't understand why people like it so much. Honestly, in my opinion, I think that schools could stretch their reading curriculum. Just because it was a "great novel of it's time" doesn't mean that other stuff isn't written as well. I think we could read something maybe more modern, but with the same sort of general idea. I'm sorry, if anyone can't see my point of view, but I think there are better books out there. SMILE! and have a nice day :-)

A Separate Peace is a tragic "modern classic" concerning the complicated nature of adolescence. Gene is an emotional, intellectual boarding student at Devon Prepatory Academy. His roommate, Phineas, is more athletic and outgoing. When Phineas falls out of a tree, with Gene beside him, the seemingly straight forward accident begins to take on the possibility of an intentional act of violence on Gene's part. The author, John Knowles, plans this masterpiece of a novel to perfection. Knowles, as J.D. Salinger, author of Catcher in the Rye, tends to write about tragedies or struggles of teenagers. His use of language and symbols, such as the relation between the Devon River and Naguamsett River, is magnificent. A Separate Pieve is a spectacular novel of extreme adolescent conflict that must be read by all. It brings the reader to a new depth of thinking as Knowles moves the reader toward the turmoil and tragedy in the denouement.

A Separate Peace is a novel by John Knowles about one man's fight to strengthen his character throughout his high school days. This story takes place at the Devon school, a prep school in New Hampshire during World War Two. This well - written book shows many great struggles in a relationship between two people. This is a good book in my point of view especially since I attend prep school and can relate to some of the same struggles as the main characters Phineas and Gene. Gene explains to his friend in the hospital after Finny has fallen from a tree and has broken his leg, " I jounced the limb. I caused it." "I deliberately jounced the limb so you would fall off." From this moment, this book becomes a battle of truth and conscience. A Separate Peace is a book worth reading for all ages. Any person could relate to Gene and Finny's common struggle between two friends.

That will always remain the question. This week John Knowles passed away and took the answer to his grave. Set in an all-boys prep school in New Hampshire during WWII; this classic American novel centers around two young boys coming of age. It is the summer sessions before their senior year when a terrible accident leaves one of the boys crippled for life. The question is was the act perpetrated with malice. Exactly what really happened?
A SEPARATE PEACE has been a must read for many high school students for years. After hearing that the author left it to our imaginations I thought how appropriate to allow us to see it from our own point of view. A quick easy read, I read it in a day. It brought me back to my younger days. A wonderful book. Kelsana 12/02/01

The book that I read was, A Separate Peace by, John Knowles. I gave this book five stars because this book is very discriptive and makes you want to keep on reading. If you are between the ages of 14 and 18, you would like this book very much because you could probably relate to it. After you read the first chapter of the book, you don't wan't to put it down. If you love to read books that keep you hanging, then I would recommend this book.

This book was assigned to me this earlier on in this year as a freshman. I just wanted to say that when reading this I was thinking, I hope that all the books we read in high school arn't going to be this bad. The language in this novel was so boring. There was no action. I couldn't stand reading this book. I never really finidhed reading the book but we discussed it in class. Let me just tell you from the start, buy the cliff notes. I was lucky enough to get them and pass my final essay about the novel with a 95! Wooo Hoo! But let me tell you that this book is booring, unentertaining, and pointless! What kind of person would do some of the things that Gene did! It has no relistic meaning to it. My english teacher some how thought that this book was good. So to end it briefly, Stay far far far away from this book!

This classic of prep school angst and identity reads well again many years post-adolescence. Certainly, the familiar tale of two boys vying for self-realization against the early 1940s mists of war, set in Knowles' lovely New England neurotica prose, is timeless and appeals not only to the nerdy intellectuals of the under-twenties, but to much older world weary, but still looking for hope crowd. There's so much going on here, well beyond Finny's quirky clinging to his own fantasies of war. The relationship between Finny and Gene definitely merits an even closer reading and the litcrit crew really have not begun to delve the deeper meaning of Knowles' masterpiece. This may be the great American novel of the 20th century; it's surely a candidate.

This book was not very good. I do not understand why Gene would try and turn a great friendship into some kind of war. Finny never knew that Gene even felt that way. Finny did not feel that way towards Gene at all. Even when Gene confessed to hurting Finny on purpose because of jealousy, Finny refused to believe. I do not like this book because it does not symbolize what a real friendship should be like. I understand that everyone was going through hard times because of the war, but friends should stay close during hard times. They should not turn against each other. This was a bad thing that Gene could do to his best friend.

At first, I did not think much of this book. However, as it went on, I saw the depth of the plot, and the uncertanties within it. There seems to be so much jealously towards the other that you have to wonder if they are actually friends. When someone dies toward the end of the book, there is one big question that is not answered. I don't want to spoil it for you, so go ahead and read it!

This book didn't interest me very well. The book put me to sleep too many times to count. Although most books do. Irony in this book was semi-interesting. The Characters were hardly developed, in my opinion. The jock and the brains as friends may funny, but it would never happen. The Death of Finny was far expected from the beginning of the book. If he doesn't have his sports to keep him busy he doesn't have anything to do that he is very good at. Sports were his prodigal purpose in life. The grim mood of the book at the beginning was a pure giveaway of the book's entire mood and foreshadowed most of the book.