A Separate Peace

Rating:
Summary: Pretty good book, if you have the patience to read it
Review: A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a novel about two boys in a boarding school during World War II. The book is wonderfully written, but I must say it doesn't seem interesting to me. The characterization and the narrative technique are good, but the plot is poor. The beginning of the book is tedious, the climax is not exciting at all and the end is the only surprise in the novel. I didn't enjoy reading this book but I have to admit it is a nice "peace" of work.

Rating:
Summary: A totally captivating piece of writing
Review: I can't say enough about this book! Yes I had my doubts, as does every junior in highschool when thier english teacher gives them a novel to read. This book however, was something that I have never encountered. For some reason I felt connected with it, and with the characters. Maybe the common denominator was our age. Maybe it was the intricate and confusing relationship between friends that many young people experience. All I am sure of is that "A Separate Peace" is a book that I will never forget. The foreshadowing used in the first chapter is amazing. After I finished the book I went back to the beginning chapters and saw how Knowles wove these symbols and references into chapter one to express the events to come. I first truly noticed this when I read this excerpt, obviously refering to the stairs in the Academic Building where Finny fell the second time... "The marble must be unusually hard. That seemed very likely, only too likey, although with all my thought about these stairs this exceptional hardness had not occured to me. It was surprising that I had overlooked that fact, that crucial fact." (3). While my class was on chapter 4 I took the book home and couldn't help but finish it that night. Books that can hold my attention in such a way are few and far between. I know I will read it again and again. I have read many novels in the short 17 years I've been around and I will read many more...but I know this book will remain one of my favorites for the rest of my life. I highly recommend this book to anyone of any age. It's a book that has so much to tell, and I'm grateful to say that I was able to hear it...loud and clear.

Rating:
Summary: Still reaching teens... with universal themes
Review: As standard fare for most high school sophomores, this tale of personal growth and the loss of innocence is still taught in high schools around the world because it reaches the reader. Initially the girls in my international classroom wondered what value yet another angst-ridden tale of a bunch of white boys could possible mean for them, and I understood their skepticism. Phineas and Gene represent kids that exist in our lives - the easygoing athlete, the slightly uptight student. That Gene, our narrator, should have the strength and will to return to the place where his own innocence was, essentially lost forever, is to demonstrate that coming to terms with these events in our lives in the right and healthy thing to do. Set in a New England boarding school for boys during WW II, this is a book about exploring the competing sides of one's personality, learning how to admit (own) guilt, the complexities of friendship, the solution of life's inner battles being the acceptance (and even love) of others, and even the broader contrast between positive and negative elements in society (the war is a very appropriate setting here). Conflict is always present in our lives whether we are white boys at a private school in New England or a teenaged Thai girl in an international school in Dhaka. This is a good book for teens to read in their own search for the acceptance of that ubiquitous 'conflict' and how to manage it.

Rating:
Summary: High school life
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A Separate Peace
Review: John Knowles is a creative and clever author. A Separate Peace is a great book with many mysteries. I liked it a lot because it was very realistic. It portrayed what true friendship in reality is like. Gene was right about that jealousy comes from hatred and stupidity in the human heart. I think this book is great for the situation that we are in right now with Afghanistan. It is two countries in a conflict with each other because of ignorance in the human heart, like Gene and Finny having conflict with each other. I thought that the book was written out fairly well, it had many stories going on all at once but put into one novel. To start off the story there was a boy named Gene and another one named Finny. They were best friends. Gene was very academic and also a good athlete. Finny was a great athlete and did poorly in his academics. Gene ended up becoming jealous of Finny because he thought Finny was trying to sabotage his grades. Grades were everything to Gene. Finny really wasn't trying to sabotage Gene's grades. Finny thought that his good grades just came to Gene, but Gene did not know that. Later on in the story, Gene jounced the limb of the tree and Finny fell. Gene went in after him losing his innocense. The tree symbolized the tree of good and evil. Gene and Finny attended Devon School. Devon stood for Eden and was a microcosm of the the war in the outside world. Finny broke his leg and couldn't play sports anymore. Gene, instead, did them for Finny. Towards the end of the story Finny found out the Gene jounced the limb and fell down a flight of stairs. When he had surgery to get his leg in place some marrow got in his blood stream and went to his heart killing him. Gene realized that jealousy comes from ignorance in the human heart. That was the theme of the book. I thought it had a great moral and, like I said before, it was very realistic. I enjoyed the book and am glad we read it!

Rating:
Summary: a separate peace review
Review: I thought A Separate Peace was a pretty good book. It is about boy named Gene, that goes to a boarding school in New England. At the school, he has a friend named Phineas, but they call him Finny. All through the story, Gene thinks that Finny is trying to sabotage his grades, but Finny never really is. THe story is set during World War It, so the senior calss at Devon, The schol that they go to, has to jup out of a tree into the Devon River, as part of their training for the war. One day while they were beside the river, Finny thinks that it would be fun to jump in the river out of the tree. So he, Gene, and a couple of other people do it also. Going back the "FInny is trying to sabaotage Gene's grade so he will do bad and won't be as good as Finny" idea; one day while they are up in the tree, Gene jounces the limb on a blind impulse and makes FInny fall, and land on the bank, and break his leg. Because of the break, Finny will not longer be able to play sports. In the weeks following, Finny has to stay home. When FInny gets back, some of the boys get the idea that Gene actually meant to push FInny out of the tree. One night the boys come and get FInny and Gene out of their room, and go have a trial in the auditorium. They find out that Gene actually made Finny fall out of the tree. (They thought before that Finny just lost his balance.) When Finny finds out what really happened, he runs down the stairs, falls, and breaks his leg again. When doctor Stanpole is trying to set the break some bone marrow escapes and goes into finny's heart, Killing him. That is basically the end of the story, except for what Gene says about the funeral. I think the author did a pretty good job on the book. It was pretty interesting to me, but some of the characters were kind of weird. The main theme in the book was the journey form innocense to experience.

Rating:
Summary: A Separate Peace
Review: A Separate Peace
A Separate Peace was about a boy named Gene who thouht
his best friend, finny, was jealous of him. Gene came up
with an epiphany that lead him to believe that Finny was
tring to sabotage his grades and ruin his chances of
becoming valedictorian. Gene kept on having more and more
epiphany's that lead him to hate Finny. Little did Gene
know, Finny didn't think Gene had to study because he
thought good grades came to Gene, like sport came to him.
So Gene had all those false epiphany's, which created his
jealousy and hatred toward Finny. One day Finny decided to
double jump out of the tree with Gene to purify their
friendship. When they were both on the branch, Gene's inner
savagery belt up and made him unconciaciously jounce the
limb. Finny was physically crippled because of his broken
leg and Gene was mentally cripple because he was aware of
his inner savagery in his heart. Gene had a hard time
during the winter sesson because he was trying to control
his inner savagery and Brinker, Quackenbush, and others
played jokes on him about purposely jouncing the limb. When
Finny returned to the school he was shocked to find out that
everyone was talking about enlisting for the war. Finny
didn't believe in the war because he didn't have that inner
savagery like everyone else at Devon. Finny finally
realized that the war was true when he heard that it drove
Leper crazy. Later Brinker and Quackenbush suspected the
inner savagery in Gene and put him on trial. During the
trial Finny realized that Gene really did jounce the limb,
so he rushed out of the office and fell down the stairs,
which caused him to rebreak his leg. At the end Gene and
Finny confessed to each other and became friends again.
During Finny's surgery bone marrow got to his heart and
killed him.

The theme of A Separate Peace was the inner hatred,
vengeance, and savagery in the human heart. Gene had inner
savagery and he had to mature to learn how to control it.
Gene was barely good enough for the world. Finny, on the
other hand, did not have the inner savagery and he did not
mature. He was to good for the world. That caused him to
die because he did not mature and face reality.

A Separate Peace took place during world war two in a
private school called Devon, which symbolized the garden of
Eden after the fall of man, located in northern Maine.
Devon was surround by two rivers. One was called the Devon

river, which was clean, pure, and fresh water, it symbolized
innocence. The other was called the Naguamsette river,
which was dirty, muddy, ugly, and salt water, it symbolized
experience( the fall into good and evil ). The sea
symbolized the war or the outside world.

A Separate Peace was really good. The author showed
extreme brilliance in the novel of good vs. evil and fantasy
and reality. The only part of the novel that I disagree
with is when Finny died. He should have lived and found his
maturity, because he would of made a real impact on the
world.

Rating:
Summary: A Separate Peace
Review: A Separate Peace was about a boy named Gene who thought his best friend, finny, was jealous of him. Gene came up with an epiphany that lead him to believe that Finny was trying to sabotage his grades and ruin his chances of becoming valedictorian. Gene kept on having more and more epiphany's that lead him to hate Finny. Little did Gene know, Finny didn't think Gene had to study because he thought good grades came to Gene, like sport came to him? So Gene had all those false epiphany's, which created his jealousy and hatred toward Finny. One day Finny decided to double jump out of the tree with Gene to purify their friendship. When they were both on the branch, Gene's inner savagery belt up and made him unconsciously jounce the limb. Finny was physically crippled because of his broken leg and Gene was mentally cripple because he was aware of his inner savagery in his heart. Gene had a hard time during the winter session because he was trying to control his inner savagery and Brinker, Quackenbush, and others played jokes on him about purposely jouncing the limb. When Finny returned to the school he was shocked to find out that everyone was talking about enlisting for the war. Finny didn't believe in the war because he didn't have that inner savagery like everyone else at Devon. Finny finally realized that the war was true when he heard that it drove Leper crazy. Later Brinker and Quackenbush suspected the inner savagery in Gene and put him on trial. During the trial Finny realized that Gene really did jounce the limb, so he rushed out of the office and fell down the stairs, which caused him to re-break his leg. At the end Gene and Finny confessed to each other and became friends again. During Finny's surgery bone marrow got to his heart and killed him.

The theme of A Separate Peace was the inner hatred, vengeance, and savagery in the human heart. Gene had inner savagery and he had to mature to learn how to control it. Gene was barely good enough for the world. Finny, on the other hand, did not have the inner savagery and he did not mature. He was to good for the world. That caused him to die because he did not mature and face reality.

A Separate Peace took place during World War II in a private school called Devon, which symbolized the Garden of Eden after the fall of man, located in New Hampshire. Devon was surround by two rivers. One was called the Devon River that was clean, pure, and had fresh water. It symbolized innocence. The other was called the Naguamsette River, which was dirty, muddy, ugly, and salt water; it symbolized experience (the fall into good and evil). The sea symbolized the war or the outside world.

A Separate Peace was really good. The author showed extreme brilliance in the novel of good vs. evil and fantasy and reality. The only part of the novel that I disagree with is when Finny died. He should have lived and found his maturity, because he would of made a real impact on the world.

Rating:
Summary: A Separate Peace
Review: A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a story about two best friends at the Devon Boarding School. The two boys Finny and Gene are also roommates. Finny is a very talented athlete, and Gene is a very good student. During the book Gene builds up jealousy inside and realizes he is really a savage underneath. On the other hand Finny is a very innocent and kind boy. It is summer at Devon, a very innocent world, away from the war and all the bad things in life. Gene begins to have epiphanies that Finny is trying to ruin his grades so that he can be a good athlete and Gene won't be good at anything. This builds up jealousy inside of Gene. That summer Finny starts the summer suicide society, where people jump off a tree limb into the pure water of the Devon River. One day they are making the jump together and are both standing on the tree limb when Gene jounces the limb, and Finny has a tragic fall onto the bank of the river where he breaks his leg. This ruins Finny's athletic career. Then Finny begins to train Gene for the Olympics that he won't be able to attend. The teachers are telling all of the boys they will soon have enlist in the army and go fight in the war. All of the boys are beginning to turn into men and lose their innocence. Finny is so innocent that he will not be able to survive the fall from innocence. Then Gene realizes that there is a potential for evil in the human heart and that's where his own evil and wars come from. When he goes off to war he really has nothing to fight for because he has realized his own evil and, he realizes where it comes from.
The book has good round characters that almost seem real. Finny is a round character. He is so innocent he is almost too good to be true. He also is very kind to everyone. Gene is also a round character. He has many characteristics and is much like a real person, for instance he has the potential for evil just like we all do but, he has a good side too. The theme of the book is the potential for evil in the human heart and soul.
There is a war motif throughout the story. The Devon River represents innocence and they are innocent when they jump into the Devon, the pure clean river. In the end Gene jumps into the Naguamsett River, the dirty river, this is like his fall from innocence. In the beginning Devon School is like the Garden of Eden before the fall from innocence, then when war hits the school it's not an innocent world anymore.
I liked the book however; I felt all the meanings could have been talked about a little more. I like the theme of the book. It really made you think about human nature and the potential for evil in the human heart and soul.

Rating:
Summary: A Seperate Peace
Review: In the book, A Separate Peace, Gene (the main character) recalls the time when he was 15 years old and attended Devon School. He returns to his old campus and he immediately goes to the tree where he had knocked his best friend Finny off and made him fall. At the time Gene was a student, Devon was a happy place for the younger boys and his classmates. Gene and his friends were about to go to war and needed to be treated with a sense of love. Gene was a very scholastic student where as his best friend Finny was involved in athletics. In some ways, both boys were jealous of each other's abilities. During the summer months, Finny decided to form a society called the "Summer Suicide Society." The only way the boys were admitted to this society was by jumping from the tree in to the river nearby. Finny decided after a while that they would have to jump every night. The trouble all started when Finny asked Gene to do a double jump with him. Finny climbed into the tree with Gene not far behind when Gene decided to "jounce" the limb, which made Finny fall and break his leg. Finny was sent home for the rest of the summer session and the beginning of the fall quarter so that he could regain his strength. During Finny's absence, Gene became a little bit more fearless and started hanging out with other boys. These activities included going to the "Butt Room" and drinking liquor. Finny would not have approved of these activities. Finny was very upset when he returned to find out what Gene had been doing during his absence and that Gene was about to enlist in the army. Gene then realizes he can't enlist because Finny needs him now more than ever. Finny is making Gene believe the war isn't real because Finny can't enlist. Another friend of the boys, Brinker Hadley, who had been watching the boys for several weeks, began to wonder about Gene and Finny. He was trying to figure out their situation. Gene knew he couldn't tell Brinker the truth about the fall so Gene decided to let this evil build up inside. Then one day, Brinker decides to have a trial because he really wants to know what happened at the tree. He calls Gene and Finny to court and they begin. The jury realizes after the court is almost over, that the only person who was watching Gene "jounce" the limb was Lepper. Unfortunately for Gene, Brinker thinks Lepper is at his home, but Finny speaks up and says he saw Lepper hiding in the bushes at Devon. Members of the jury go find Lepper and bring him to the trial. Finny gets so mad at the trial with the questions to Lepper and himself, that he runs off and falls down a flight of stairs; breaking his leg for a second time. The doctor tries to put Finny's leg back into place, but during the surgery some marrow escaped into his heart and killed him. Gene is so upset, but then realizes now that Finny is gone he can enlist in the army, so he does. He lives through the war and realizes in his heart, his war has already been won. (The war inside)
Finny is a flat character because he only has one characteristic. Gene is round because he has more than one characteristic. They are also plausible because you would see a person like Gene or Finny walking down the street.
The setting in this novel is very well created because the setting goes along with motif, which is war.
The theme very well developed and it is not a simple one because it goes into much detail to find it out. The theme is the reoccurring evil in the human heart.
The plot in this novel is very well developed because it shows things in order and it does not jump from one thing to another.