Rating: 
Summary: The loss of innocense - the dawn of war
Review: John Knowles captures the loss of innocense in his "A Separate Peace." Set on the eve of a larger conflict overseas in World War II, the book is a stream of consciousness writing, as the narrator reflects after the war the incidents at Devon that were a sort of rites of passage for him into adulthood.But 'A Separate Peace' also reveals the deep twists of an unusual friendship between a scholar and an athlete. Their bond and the betrayal that follows. It is a moving drama on a human scale, the climax and conclusion being most unexpected, but reminicent of the tragedy of war, not the resoluution of Peace. For looking at the youth that will fight the war, rather than the war itself, the author details the peace found between friends that will have to recreated on the battlefield. An agonizing book, it will live in your heart long after you have read the last page.
Rating: 
Summary: amazing
Review: John Knowles's A Separate Peace isn't called a classic for nothing. Admittedly, it can get slow at times, but the concepts behind this book are incredibly deep. I never understood how an ordinary guy, Gene, could be driven by such jealousy of his best friend, Finny, until I realized that Gene's jealousy had nothing to do with Finny's athletic ability or popularity or anything; he was jealous of Finny's goodness, and ashamed of how Finny extended nothing but pure, innocent friendship to him and he couldn't accept it. Had I realized this the first time, I would've understood the book a lot better. Because this is told from Gene's point of view, the reader will always be wondering about "the other side of the story", all the parts Gene left out, perhaps because he couldn't understand it himself. I even cried at the end of this book. Anyways, this book is incredible if you will give it the time to develop. It kind of grew on me; I wasn't very interested in the book until halfway through, and each time I read it over it I liked it more and more. All in all, a classic that I would definitely recommend.
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Summary: One of the most moving books I have ever read.Bravo..
Review: John Knowles's eloquent and observative style make this novel a complete gem. This touching and beautiful story is set mostly in Devon, an old New England school during World War II. Every character is so well portraited, you'll understand them perfectly if your acute mind makes the effort. Someone who reviewed A Separate Peace here said the friendship between Gene and Phineas 's not realistic. I have to disagree; when you're living with the constant fear Gene's living with, you begin to alienate the world around you. Gene's tormenting insecurities lead him to hurt his best friend even though he loves him more than in any usual friendship, and I wish I could say where exactly in the book this is proved, but I'd spoil it for those who haven't read it. Like in other John Knowles novels, the main character, this time Gene, is extremely complex. Something else you have to understand when reading this book is that Phineas is an extraordinary human being. He is a! ! leader; he has a pure heart and always follows his own path. I could sit here all night discussing the book, but instead I'll just tell you that I'm a very picky reader, but I extremely recommend this novel to anyone in search of a masterpiece. This might as well be my favorite book...
Rating:
Summary: A Moving Peace
Review: Taking a friend home the other night, I commented that I had nearly finished reading A Separate Peace, and she told me that her class had already finished the book, but that she hadn't had enough time. Now, having finished it myself, I am going to encourage her to read the final chapters. This is a book I wouldn't want to have missed.
The tone of the novel is somewhat somber, but not overly depressing. Knowles' use of foreshadowing is so deftly intermingled with the storyline that I read right over much of it without picking up the clues that the author had scattered neatly throughout the chapters.
While I was surprised to find that sixteen- and seventeen-year-old boys would play games that my thirteen-year-old brother passed over a long time ago, other aspects of the characters were very believable -- Gene's insecurity of his friendship with Finny, Finny's take-charge attitude, Brinker's self-confidence. Perhaps part of the reason for their immaturity was that they didn't want to believe the fact that they would be called to war before the next year began.
Near the beginning of the novel, Gene causes Finny to fall from the tree and break his leg, which alters the course of both of their lives. The question that Knowles leaves for us to decide, just as it was up to us to decide the fate of the lover in "The Lady and the Tiger," is whether Gene accidentally made Finny lose his balance and fall, or if it what intentional. Throughout the rest of the novel, I thought over the two choices, and at last I deicded.
Some aspects of "A Separate Peace" are predictable, but in my opinion, they only add more drama to the story. There are many thought-provoking passages, and I was especially struck by the ending paragraph. While the pace may seem a bit slow in sections, and the characters a bit immature, I thought that this was a wonderfully well-written and moving novel.
Rating: 
Summary: A Horrible Peace :(
Review: The book was not an attention grabber and in my opinion, had a boring story line. It was rather bland except for an occasional perk up with the characters. There was a lack of "volume" in the book that caused the dullness of the rest of the story.
Rating:
Summary: a separate peace
Review: This book is a good book. in the beggining it starts slow but then it picks up the pace, it starts getting personal with the characters, and all the action happens after the introduction of the characters, when Finny and Gene become real good friends.
i like this book, and i think you will enjoy it too. and also watch the movie, but they act kind of gay but they are not, so dont take it the wrong way.
1love
Rating:
Summary: Good and yet Bad
Review: This book was assigned as an AP English reading. I found the story interesting but since its AP....well they must make it boring in some twisted way of theirs'. We did some metaphorical analysis. Now doesn't that sound like fun? There is a lot of boring and quite convuluted metaphorical material in this little book. Overall it was a good read until the analysis part.
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