A Separate Peace

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Summary: If you like Huck Finn, you'll love the character of Phinny
Review: This is a very well-written novel. I found myself feeling all the joy and fun and guilt that the main character, Gene, felt.
This was one novel I couldn't put down. I'd like to read more by J. Knowles.

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Summary: A Seperate Peace Really Pulls Through
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Seperate Peace
Review: 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.

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Summary: "Separate" but not Equal
Review: After completing this novel, I found this novel a captivating classic. The plot was fairly engaging and the characters were well developed but the story ended rather abruptly which was my only complaint. Finny and Gene as classic characters with distinct personalities. Gene is an intellectual and Finny is an awesome athlete; they are best of friends at a private prep school. The setting of Devon School makes the book comparible to my student life. I think everyone can appreciate the plot, which has a surprising twist. The story is interesting from the beginning. I suggest this book to anyone who likes ralistic fiction or war novels from different prospectives. This book is definitely not the same old stuff.

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Summary: Pretty boring.....
Review: Ok, I had to read this for English class so maybe that's why I don't like it. The book is one of the most boring I have ever read. I would have less trouble going through a university chemistry text book than this poorly written junk. First of all, nothing interesting happens. Gene, as the narrator, is very annoying. Both Gene and Phineas are not very real seeming characters. I just sort of scanned through the novel after the first three chapters. This is not a good book for pleasure or study. D-

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Summary: lessons we can learn
Review: a sperate peace is an amazingly written book. i advise it for anyone who wantsn to read about the importance of friendship, and how to live life as if each day was your last, because sometrimes, it may be.

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Summary: Worst Book I Was Supposed To Read
Review: I was supposed to read this book as a Soph in High School, I could not pick up this book and read it, and I tried! It was so boring that it was a struggle to get through one page! Turns out the lesson you learn from this book is that all people are capable of bad things? This is another example of one of those "classics" that you already know the moral to. Don't waste your time with this porly written and boring book.

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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.

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Summary: Not Quite the Masterpiece Advertised
Review: The publishers tried too hard to promote the book, raising expectations too high with the critical comments they provide with the book. It is a good book, with interesting characters and a plot that one can accept, but one wonders if the author's intent has strayed from an original intention to depict teenagers' reaction (or lack of it) to the war engulfing the world beyond the school. It seems to me that the writer surrendered that theme to the ethical dilemma faced by the central character and narrator, Gene Forester. That becomes the principal story, and it is well treated. The "separate peace" idea hangs in there like unwelcome company which keeps showing up, uninvited. Evidently, the writer could not abandon his original concept, even after the personal drama developed. Descriptive passages, of which there are a few too many, sometimes depict nature beautifully, and insights into personal conflict, a teenager trying to understand himself, are very well done. I bought this book as a gift for my grandson, before I learned that he had already read in it high school. He thought it was a good book, and I would agree, with the above reservations.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This book is one of my all time favourites. People complain about the lack of action, the slow moving plot. This may be true, but when you focus on this aspect of the novel, you miss the best aspects - the detailed characterisation, the themes and the wonderful setting. A classic novel.