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Summary: A Powerful Coming of Age Story
Review: This story resonates more powerfully now than when I read it years ago in high school. While the dialogue is sharp and the story line believable, the innocence the characters fell from seems a lot purer than that today's teenagers face (especially in light of the spate of school shootings in the last few years). However, the war evidently was a horrible thing to live through at any age, and the perspective offered through the eyes of Gene and his classmates is an interesting one: Phinneas put up a façade of denial about the war, Gene seemed fatalistic about it, and Leper seems to have viewed it almost as a vacation getaway (i.e., a ski excursion). Obviously a great deal of the book's focus is on the relationship between Phinneas and Gene, which is sharply depicted as love-hate. Analytical and conspiracy-prone Gene eyes Phinneas with suspicion as they begin their senior year, and then is bent on contrition when he realizes the consequences of engaging his imagined enemy. Phinneas tried to suppress the idea of Gene causing him to break his leg, and then falls apart at the seams when confronted with the truth. The other characters complement Gene and Finny nicely (and accurately, for anyone ever to attend a boarding school), from the stereotypical schoolboy snotty villain Brinker, to the stuffy professors, to the born victim Leper. All of the right elements are present, and make for a compelling read.
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Summary: This book scared me.
Review: 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.
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Summary: The separate peace suxs
Review: I did not like the book, the Separate Peace.The book did not really catch my attention. The way the book was written and how the story unfolded.I did not like how the author kinda portred that some of the charactars were homosexual. In alot of stories I have read I have liked the charactars. But in this particular story the charactars di not apel to me at all. So any one that I lokking to read this book I do not recomend It.
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Summary: a seprate peace
Review: 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.
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Summary: a seprate peace review
Review: 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
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Summary: Straight From the Reader's Mouth
Review: I read the book, "A Separate Peace", by John Knowles. When I first began this book, the first few pages were a bit slow. I wasn't very intrigued by the book and a couple of times I found myself drifting off. Although, the book did have some ups to it along with the downs. There were a couple of times that I couldn't put the book down. For example, the accident Finny had after falling off the tree by the Nagamset River. I also enjoyed the part in which Finny tries to break the record for the 100-yard freestyle. But along with the ups, there were the occational downs to the book, as I stated before. The parts of the book that were boring to me, I would have to say would be when the kids would have conversations with each other that lasted a couple of pages. I also did not like the ending of the book. No, I'm not going to give away the ending! To find out what happens you have to read it for yourself. But, even with the boring parts of the book, I have to say that I wasn't completely disappointed with the it. At first I thought of giving up on the book, but I felt maybe it would get better, and that it did. There were many action parts of the book that really kept me hanging. If I were to make your mind up on whether to read this book or not, I would say yes if you like slow running books. But if not, I don't suggest you read this book. If you do decide to read "A Separate Peace" I hope you enjoy it and that I didn't let you down by telling you to try it out.
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Summary: Mikes Review
Review: I read A Separate Peace in my english class this year. At the beginning of the book I was interested in it. As the book went on I started to become less and less interested. The book was dragged out in some parts and it didn't have to be as long as it was. Most parts are true about how friends act toward each other, but other parts are just to hard to believe that a friend would do something like that to their best friend. Friends compete with each other. Expecially boys at sports and other stuff like that. In the book, when Gene got Finny to fall from the tree is just something a friend wouldn't do. No matter how mad you are at your friend you wouldn't push your friend out of a tree so that you can be better than him. Friends aren't like that. Maybe Finny wasn't Gene's best friend, but I still find it hard to believe that someone would do that to a good friend. Another thing that I didn't find true about the story was that Finny broke his leg again. I have broken my arm and the doctors always tell you that it will heal stronger where you broke your bone. So when Finny fell down the stairs and broke his leg agian I just couldn't find it believable. The story was also to long. They could have taken out some parts that weren't important to the result of the story. That is why I gave this I rated this story at 2 stars.
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Summary: Exploring Consequences --A Pertinent Subject for Teens Today
Review: 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?
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Summary: Tied for Favorite book - very human.
Review: This incredibly well-written book was recommended to me and I read it on my own. I found it hard to get past the first chapter but after that the story was amazingly done from first person point of view of a boy attending an all-boys school during WWII and preparing for the war. I find this one of the few books that is very human, with realistic emotions and situations - with surprises and guilt and more that almost everyone experiences in their life. I highly recommend this, this is tied for my top favorite book.
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Summary: DISTURBING
Review: Overall I found the book, that I had to read for a freshman honors English course very disturbing. Although I liked some of the characters and how Knowles developed their personalities, I found the plot of the book, disturbing and not the kind of thing that 9th graders should be reading about. The book frankly scared me, and although I know it occured in a different time period than the one I am currently living in, it really got me to thinking about my friends, and if any of them would ever be sick enough to try to hurt me. Not something I ever wanted to think about. I HATED THIS BOOK!!!!!
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