A Separate Peace

Rating:
Summary: Reccomend it. Easy to relate to the main character
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: A good writer, a pretty good book
Review: 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.

Rating:
Summary: Underlying Secrets of Human Nature
Review: John Knowles' "A Separate Peace" was an attention-grabbing read because of the interesting development in the main character, Gene, whose insecurity with his personality and his actions, produces an appealing plot. In particular, Gene battles with his inner demons in his conversation with his friend Leper, and he struggles with his insecurity and his envy towards his roommate. In chapter ten Leper Lepellier, one of Gene's friends who has gone somewhat insane, comments on an incident that Gene prefers not to discuss and Gene kicks his chair over. Leper comments, "...always were a savage underneath." (pg. 137) Gene is startled at this, but he has a feeling that Leper is somewhat correct. Leper's mother feels differently; in the same chapter she thinks to herself, "'He's a good boy underneath, a terrible temper, no self-control, but he's sorry, and he is a good boy underneath.' Leper was closer to the truth." (pg. 138) Gene not only has a temper problem but Gene also has an identity problem with his roommate, Phineas (Finny). He finds Finny to be his best friend, but Gene envies Finny for his personality, his athletic ability, his popularity, and basically everything about him. Gene feels like he should be like Finny, this soon changes into somewhat of an obsession. Gene just wants to be Finny. In chapter five, while Finny is away Gene takes some of Finny's clothes and puts them on. He then stands in front of his mirror and admires himself. "But when I looked in the mirror it was no remote aristocrat I had become, no character out of daydreams. I was Phineas, Phineas to the life. I even had his humorous expression on my face, his sharp, optimistic awareness. I had no idea why this gave me such intense relief, but it seemed, standing there in Finny's triumphant shirt, that I would never stumble through the confusions of my own character again." (pg. 54) This passage conveys Gene's identity problem to an extreme. He pretends to be Finny by wearing his clothes, and he feels relief. He feels that Finny is with him, even though he isn't. He feels as if Finny is a part of him. After reading this book, I felt that I knew more Gene's struggle to keep the evil that was churning inside him from getting loose. Gene really shows people the darker side of human nature and what happens when it is released.

Rating:
Summary: A Short Long Book
Review: A Separate Peace by John Knowles is a book of 200 pages that could be condensed to twenty. A Separate Peace is filled with descriptions and elaborate details that could be taken out of the book without taking any substance from the actual story. Although the detailed descriptions made me think that this place actually existed, I would have rather read a story with a better plot than one with excessive description. Because this book did not have a clear plot, the author basically repeated the same theme throughout the whole book: friendship, friendship, and friendship. Because this book only had one main thesis, the author had to put lots of description in order to fill up the book.

The first few chapters are always the most important part of a book because first two chapters were always the part that reader learns most about the characters, and most readers judge the book based on these chapters. Knowles was not successful in giving readers a good impression because instead of introduce characters, Knowles went on and described all the things that could hardly attract readers' attention. Since the beginning of the story, Knowles had spent too much time on just describing things that are not important in the story, such as the description of the school on the first page: "I went back to Devon school not long ago, and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there fifteen years ago...as though a coat of vanish had been put over very thing for better preservation..." This was one of a long quote at the beginning that shows Knowles spent six pages introducing nothing except the school. At the end, Knowles still keeps his style as an object describer instead of going into the main plot. "The quadrangle surrounding the Far Common was never considered absolutely essential to the Devon School. The essence was elsewhere, in the older, uglier... their columns were straggling, their suntan uniforms had gotten rumpled in the train, and they were singing Roll Out the Barrel." This is another quote at the last chapter, which he spent 1 and half pages describing the Common in Devon, which were pointless because most readers would like to read good plot than good description.

The main theme of A Separate Peace is based on the friendship between two best friends who lived in boarding school. The book is filled with nothing except friendship and the world inside the minds of most kids who are living apart from society. The friendship between Gene and Finny began with a healthy competition, but led to Gene's envy of Finny's physical abilities. Because Gene could not accept his best friend been better than him, he crippled Finny when they were playing on a tree. In between, the author also put lots of small stories to make the book more exciting, but these stories did not do much because none of them were interesting enough to make me remember. In conclusion, I think Knowles would have done a better job if he made the book shorter, and planned a better plot. I recommend this book to readers with lots of time who wants to learn what friendship is like between competitive teens.

Rating:
Summary: A LETTER TO MR. KNOWLES IF HE'S STILL ALIVE
Review: 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 a war, it also raised certain issues, such as making the best of 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. I want to compliment you on the story itself. I particularly enjoyed the dramatic scenes, especially the scene where Phineas breaks his leg in an attempt to jump from the tree. Each scene led to the other and drew me into the book even more as I kept reading. One of the reasons this was so, was that I felt as if I had been reading 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 "biltzball" game played by Gene, Phineas, and the rest of the kids at Devon. Our game consisted of a tennis ball, which was thrown at the nearest person to whoever had possession of the ball. When one was hit, he or she would become the thrower and the enemy to all the other children, as we ran and tried to avoid getting hit. One summer evening, my friend and I gathered all of the children in our neighborhood and convinced them to join us in our game. Being the competitive person that he was, Ed went to the limits to protect himself from getting hit with the tennis ball. On that particular day, I happened to have possession of the ball and ran after the other children in order to have a better chance of hitting them. Trying to hide from me, Ed climbed a tall tree toward which I was running to. As I reached the tree, I noticed that he was on the highest limb, which was about twelve feet high. With all my might I tossed the tennis ball toward him. In order to get out of the way, Ed 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 he might never be able to use it again. Without warning, I was given news that him and his family had moved to a different state. I was traumatized in disbelief and blamed myself for the incident for weeks. Fortunately, I got over this tragedy. As you can see, my story is very similar to yours, in that the experiences Gene and Phineas had. 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, Hakop Nalbandyan

Rating:
Summary: A Great Seperate Peace
Review: John Knowles' A Separate Peace was a thought-provoking novel about two boys at boarding school during World War II. It was a superior book because the author explained the people, places, and events in simple, but precise detail. Behind the precise detail Knowles' shows symbolism of the characters and places. Knowles' symbolism of the tree and Finny helped the reader to understand why Gene jounced the limb.

Knowles' description of the tree helps the reader to understand why Gene jounced the limb because it was explained in simple, but precise detail. Gene thinks, "The tree was tremendous, an irate, steely black steeple beside the river." This is stating that the tree was big and dark. The symbolism in this description is that the tree was creepy and intriguing towards Finny and it caused Finny to jump off the branches.

Finny jumps off the branches because he is not afraid and he is a little goofy. Knowles states, "He opened his green eyes wider and gave us his maniac look, and only the smirk on his wide mouth with its droll, slightly protruding upper lip reassured us that he wasn't completely goofy... Naturally Finny was going to be the first to try [to jump off the tree], and just naturally he was going to inveigle others, us, into trying it with him." Knowles is describing Finny has somewhat silly and capable of doing anything. The symbolism in that quote is that Knowles is describing Finny as daring and not afraid of what people think of him and that makes him free. Finny's freedom creates Gene's security. Gene is jealous of Finny because he is not afraid of doing daring things. Gene wiggles the branch while Finny is on it because he wanted to see Finny fail and see himself succeed. Gene says, "... my knees bent and I jounced the limb. Finny...hit the back with a sickening thud... It was the first clumsy physical action I had ever seen him make... I moved out on the limb and jumped into the river." Gene wanted to see Finny fail so that he could jump when Finny could not.

A Separate Peace was a great book because there was much emphasis on the moral of the story. The moral is, there is more to something then actually appears. If people could only look behind the simple details you will find a much greater meaning to the person, place or thing.

Rating:
Summary: Bien!
Review: A Separate Peace by John Knowles is not the most entertaining book ever, but it is a fairly decent read. Knowle's main strength throughout the book is his ability to develop the characters, keeping their personalities clear while revealing their inward struggles. In two particular scenes, Knowles masterfully develops the characters involved. First, when Gene pushes Finny off the limb, and second when Gene visits Leper at his house. Character development by Knowles is seen when Gene pushes Finny off the tree. This development shows a second side different from Gene's normally quiet, almost obedient side. Gene says, "Holding firmly to the trunk, I took a step toward him, and then my knees bent and I jounced the limb"(52). This expansion in character provides a great spur to the story because Gene's struggle returns throughout the story. The author does a hands down job of describing Gene's twisted, evil side without discrediting Gene's good side. The actual jouncing of the limb in the story was dulled so that Knowles could create inward struggle. John Knowles uses understatement throughout the novel to illustrate a character's flaws without having them necessarily take over. This character development launches the story. Knowles also illustrates good character development in the scene when Gene goes to Leper's house after Leper has escaped from the army. Knowle's skill is best seen when Leper says, "You're thinking I'm not normal, aren't you? I can see what you're thinking-I see a lot I never saw before-'his voice fell to a querulous whisper'-you're thinking I'm psycho"(135). Knowles does a superb job here explaining how Leper has changed by indicating internal struggle. He indicates struggle is Leper by keeping Leper's character clear when he calms down (he communicates almost normally with Gene at those points), while bringing out Leper's crazy, mixed up side early and late in the scene. After this quote, Gene realizes that Leper has cracked. He gets almost petrified at what Leper says about him and also about what has happened to Leper. This development in Leper is a surprise to everyone, and it turns the book from its climax to a downward spiral leading to the grand finale. A Separate Peace is a good book, and though it is not the best ever, it is worth reading. John Knowles brings out the best and the worst in all of the characters, and also involves a great plot. The struggles that the characters have with finding their identities make this book a good read.

Rating:
Summary: COULDN'T PUT IT DOWN!
Review: This was the first book that I have ever read in one sitting. Inspiring... you will laugh, cry and walk away different... Bravo John Knowles!

Rating:
Summary: God help us if kids come away from this book idolizing Phine
Review: Here's the dirty little secret about A Separate Peace (no, it has nothing to do with the sublimated sexuality angle), the secret is this: we all knew people just like Phineas when we were growing up, and we all wanted to shake them off of the tree branch too. The Finnys of the world are characterized by an easy physical grace which provides them with a spooky kind of preternatural self-assurance that sets them apart and makes them seem superior, particularly during the awkward teen years, when most of us are/were completely devoid of such confidence in ourselves. This gift tends to be mistaken, as Gene mistakes it, for a moral quality. In fact, it is anything but.

The fearlessness that Phineas displays is precisely that; he feels no fear and, therefore, demonstrates no courage by his actions. It is the boys who feel fear, but conquer it and jump anyway who demonstrate true courage. However, they are also demonstrating stupidity and a disturbing sheeplike quality in following Finny's example. And this is the other thing about the Finnys of the world, they lead others into situations which are bound to end in disaster. Because their grace has always given them a special form of protection, they assume that nothing bad can happen to them and they simply don't understand or care what might happen to others less gifted. This utter carelessness even redounds to their favor. Suppose that earlier in the story, when Gene lost his balance, that Finny had not been able to grab him and prevent his fall, would anyone have blamed Finny? No. Would Finny have genuinely blamed himself? Oh sure, he would have accepted blame and folks would have been proud of how nobly he behaved, but would he have truly accepted the fact that he had caused the fall and the injury or would he, and others, have actually believed that the fault lay in Gene, that he was simply unequal to the task and had even shown himself to be inferior to Finny?

Knowles tiptoes right up to this point when Gene realizes:

It was only after dinner, when I was on my way alone to the library, that the full danger I had brushed on the limb shook me again. If Finny hadn't come up right behind me...if he hadn't been there... I could have fallen on the bank and broken my back! if I had fallen awkwardly enough I could have been killed. Finny had practically saved my life.

Yes, he had practically saved my life. He had also practically lost it for me. I wouldn't have turned around, and so lost my balance, if he hadn't been there. I didn't need to feel any tremendous rush of gratitude toward Phineas.

But of course Gene is at heart a follower, one of the enablers so overawed by Phineas that he can not see through to the logical implications of this intuition.

Nor does he understand the manner in which Phineas warps situations to his own benefit. The Super Suicide Society of the Summer Session naturally rewards Finny's own lack of fear. The game he invents, blitzball, is likewise uniquely crafted to suit his own skills:

Blitzball was the surprise of the summer. Everybody played it; I believe a form of it is still popular at Devon. But nobody can be playing it as it was played by Phineas. He had unconsciously invented a game which brought his own athletic gifts to their highest pitch. ...

Right from the start, it was clear that no one had ever been better adapted to a sport than Finny was to blitzball. I saw that right away. Why not? he had made it up, hadn't he? It needn't be surprising that he was sensationally good at it, and that the rest of us were more or less bumblers in our different ways.

So when he controls situations and plays to his own strengths, he excels. But what of situations he can't control? Is he an indifferent student?--then academics must not matter. And this is what finally prods Gene to his precipitous action; when he realizes that Finny discounts the thing that Gene excels at and is therefore not jealous of his academic achievement in the way that Gene envies Finny's physical prowess, it is too much for him to stand and he shakes Finny off of the branch.

When Phineas returns to school, the boys enter a realm of unreality where his specialness remains unthreatened. They pretend that the injury is temporary and he will be back in action soon. Finny even refuses to acknowledge the reality of WWII; obviously if he can't participate in this ultimate physical test, it's very existence must be denied. It is at this exact point in the story that Knowles uses the phrase "separate peace", during the Winter Carnival which Finny organizes. And in fact this is a separate moment, the last moment when Finny is a significant person in the lives of these boys. As the carnival is winding down, Gene receives the telegram from Leper and suddenly the War is undeniable. Since Phineas can not go to War, he is destined to become a minor figure instead of the center of attention that has been previously. At this point he becomes a real figure of pity because we perceive, though he and Gene do not, that he has nothing to fall back on. Here we see the fundamental shallowness of his prior status, based as it was solely on natural physical attributes and not upon anything for which he was personally responsible. Sure he was able to excel when he chose the games and set the rules. What is left of the Golden Boy when he faces a game & rules that are beyond his control? Remarkably little. Because everything has come easy to him, Phineas has never developed character. He is a hollow man.

One of the great movie scenes of all time occurs in Ordinary People (read Orrin's review), when Timothy Hutton finally has his epiphany and realizes that he survived the boating accident because he was simply a stronger person than his Phineas-like brother. I vividly recall how cathartic this moment was, but I had never fully realized that one of the subliminal reasons is that in some sense we are glad that Buck drowns, that when push comes to shove it's enormously satisfying to see the hard working kid win and the kid who's always had it easy fold in the face of adversity.

I don't think that, in A Separate Peace, Gene is much better than Phineas. The kids who follow along and judge themselves against the Phineas/Buck standard are little better than the Golden Boys themselves. I much prefer the loners who simply reject those standards to begin with and thereby fail to fit in, but preserve their own set of core values, which is why I react to the Phineas character with such visceral loathing. I would never have done, nor do I condone, what Gene did, but I feel a sense of cosmic justice at work, that this is just Phineas reaping what he has sown.

Finally, a question occurs. Do parents who send their kids away to private school ever read any of the fiction those schools have produced? Winston Churchill's memoir My Early Life, Robert Musil's Young Torless, The Power of One, this book--the literature of the private school is one long litany of brutality, sodomy, homoeroticism, homosexuality, etc., etc., etc., ad nauseum. The more you read, the more convinced you become that most young men simply do not have sufficiently armored personalities at their tender ages to withstand the hothouse atmosphere that these places engender. I saw somewhere that after the book came out Knowles' Mom said to him that she was sorry she didn't realize how unhappy he was at Philips Exeter (upon which the story is based) and that he said he wasn't unhappy. Boy, it sure seems like a cry for help to me.

This could be an invaluable book for teaching kids, to help them understand the universality of their own insecurities and to perceive their peers more clearly. One doubts that is how it is taught, which instead makes it a somewhat dangerous book. God help us if kids come away from this book idolizing Phineas.

GRADE: C+

Rating:
Summary: Worth Reading - And Not Just For School
Review: I was not familiar with this book until I was assigned it as part of my freshman (high school) English class. The elements usually praised in literature aren't necessarily what make this book worthwhile. The beginning is slow and the end rather abrupt. But between the beginning and ending is a complete story that really makes you think. Cliches such as character development and life-altering experiences apply to A Separate Peace but do not adequately describe it. A few ordinary teenage friends. World War II. Hidden jealousy and spitefulness. A Separate Peace is a great book to read and discuss for English class, but it is even better to consider for yourself.