A Separate Peace

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Summary: A story about friendship and jealousy.
Review: This novel is about two teenage boys, Gene Forrester and Finny, in a preparatory school during World War II. Gene and Finny are best friends. Gene is an outstanding student, and Finny is a good athlete. Gene and Finny went through good and bad times together. However, once out of jealousy of Finny's athletic ability, Gene intentionally causes Finny to break his leg, which later ended Finny's athletic career. Gene's action showed that there is a good and evil side of him. But no matter what happened, Gene and Finny are still the best friends even at the very end of the story. I like this book because it shows how complex friendship can be. It also shows that there is a good and evil side to everyone. After reading this book, one can clearly see what true friends are all about.

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Summary: This Book Was TORTURE!
Review: I had to read this book as a seventh grader and I hated it. Our teacher then had us write a huge essay on it. I couldn't understand it and there was no plot or anything. Maybe you older people might enjoy it, though. I sure didn't!

Rating:
Summary: very satisfied
Review: i just recently read a separate peace in my freshman english class. it is one of my favorite books if not the best. i related this book very much to the catcher in the rye, another book high on my list of faves. i seriously recommend this book for peoples of all ages.

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Summary: This was a great book!
Review: This novel is an excellent piece of literature and evoked various emotions. Knowles did an outstanding job using versimilitude. It made me feel as if I was close friends with the characters. When Gene punched Quakenbush, I felt like it was my fist and my own revenge. I also shared the guilt with Gene about having jounced the branch and causing his broken leg. The two main themes of this novel were friendship and the struggle between good and evil. Even though there were struggles in Gene and Finny's relationship, Gene always kept a part of himself for Finny like when he felt he gave a part of himself to Finny. This teaches that friendship is complex, but it can always be maintained. Good and evil were present in everyone and they coexist. This is the way life really is. This was an interesting book and I suggest it to English classes all over the world. Kelly and Allison

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Summary: A very symbolic and entertaining novel, two thumbs up!
Review: John Knowles' novel clearly portrays the mind of a teenage boy. He included characters demonstrating both intellect and personallity. Gene was the introspective scholar and his best friend, Finny, the charming, outgoing athlete. Their relationship was clearly described as well as their emotions toward each other and the tough times they were faced with. The book gave good insight into a students life during wartime. John Knowles uses symbolism to its greatest capacity. The idea of good and evil co-existing was shown through the two rivers that bordered Devon, one clean and one dirty. This symbolised the good and evil inside Gene which caused his inner struggles. It is a classic novel of friendship and the conflicts it entails. Kevin and Bobby

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Summary: This is a great novel with a lesson for everyone.
Review: I thought this was a great book, not only because it had a creative plot but the characters were interesting as well. The ending was very sad because he died, but you never really got closure from Gene - he never showed much emotion. In the book, Knowles made it so that you really cared about Gene and Finny and how their relationship grew inside of each of them. I think I would have like to see inside of Finny, to understand what he was thinking. I think that Finny was the most complex and interesting character because he appeared so perfect, but in actuality, contained many flaws. Personally, it was not the best book I have ever read, but it was a good portrayal of many human traits such as friendship, jealousy, and aggression. Laila and Liz

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Summary: Knowles captures the essence of adolescence
Review: John Knowles created a brilliant novel in which the characters verisimilitude overwhelmed us. A Separate Peace is a novel about the friendship and jealousy between two boys at a New England Prep School. This novel takes place at the fictional Devon School during WWII. There were many themes within this book. One being that good and evil can coexist. The main theme, however, is that both jealousy can be part of a good frienship. It was easy to fall in love with the perfect, innocent, and simplistic character of Finny. Knowles portrayed Gene Forrester's inner struggle so realistically that we couldn't help but take pity on him. Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed this book.

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Summary: Separate Peace: Don't pass up the chance to read this novel!
Review: After being designated this book for our sophomore Honors English class, we read and discussed this great novel in depth. Our opinion is this is a well written and an enticing book. Many themes are threaded throughout the novel and it portrays a emotional insight on life. One reason which strongly influenced our liking of this book is the character Finny. Finny's care free attitude towards life and his ability to like everyone for who they are, are a few examples of someone we would cherish as our own friend. Whether an adolescent or a grown adult, we recommend this book for anyone who wants to relate or relive a teenage friendship. Bill and Erin

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Summary: This will be a novel to always remember.
Review: This novel was very enjoyable to read. John Knowles, the author, brings out the essence of a friendship and the reality of the war. The characters really captured a sense of verisimilitude. Some of our favorite scenes were when Finny and Gene went to the beach, this showed the readers the strong bond between these two characters. Another favorite scene was when Gene went to Finny's house in Boston and told him the true about what he had done. This brought out many of Finny's qualities as a friend and a strong person. John Knowles did an excellent job describing his characters and the inner wars the fought. One thing we would change about the book would be the way Finny died. He could of drawn it out more and gave more details. Finny could of died a more honorable way than just giving up on his life. The way the author used symbolism throughout the novel helped create more depth to the plot and the characters. The title, "A Separate Peace," was very well chosen. It influence the way the reader interpreted their way of life. All in all we definately recommend this novel to all high school students, it will be one you always remember.

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Summary: A Separate Peace - a book impossible to close!!!!
Review: After finishing two utopian books, A Separate Peace was a nice break. John Knowles portrayl of adolescence was accurate and realistic. He shows how different two people can be, and yet be really good friends. Even through good times and bad, Gene and Finny stayed together. We feel that the use of verisimilitude made Gene and Finny seem close to us, like old friends. When Finny died, we felt slightly lachrymose because he made the book so interesting. But we still felt bad for Gene's guilty conscience. Also, we could relate to Genes feelings towards the weather and the weather itself. We really enjoyed reading this book, and we reconmend it to anyone who likes classic novels.