A Separate Peace

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It's a hit!

It is an apt story about growing up and realizing that life holds more promise than high school. This is entirely better than reading the overused ... (show more)

It is an apt story about growing up and realizing that life holds more promise than high school. This is entirely better than reading the overused rag, 'Catcher in the Rye' or finding out for yourself. It talks about the story of two friends, Gene and Phineas who study at a prep school in New England during the Second World War. It is in essence a memoir, or part of recollections of Gene during his time at Devon School with Finny. It talks about the inextricability that brotherhood creates and the intense pangs of guilt, bitterness and depression that death brings. Excellent and profound. (show less)

 

 

by Juan Emmanuel Fernández

No, it's a flop!

Clunky book, waffling awkwardly between an adult, almost British sense of self and the viewpoint of a hormonal & dramatic teen, Forrester; accompli... (show more)

Clunky book, waffling awkwardly between an adult, almost British sense of self and the viewpoint of a hormonal & dramatic teen, Forrester; accomplishing neither very well. Other books surfacing at this time did this much better: LORD OF THE FLIES, and to some degree, OF MICE & MEN. (Others refer to CATCHER IN THE RYE, which to me is a very different book to this one and not comparable). The more modern DEAD POETS SOCIETY seems to have a clearer idea of where a story like this would be going. The only strength in this book is the backdrop - the constant shine of Finny. He's not the foreground of the story, but certainly the canvas of it. The mood swings from Finny's golden summer contrast with Forrester's odd internal ramblings. The entire conversation of "does Finny hate me, do I hate Finny" defines Forrester's unhealthy instability. Yet... He doesn't go off the edge nor ever truly be this wild angry creature that's portrayed. Neither does he succeed at being the cold party responsible for the physical destruction of another but gliding on his normal treads which would have given us a TURN OF THE SCREW villian to suspect. He just shakes the branch a little... Where Finny possesses a selfless innocence & trusting love for Forrester - Forrester can't decide what he wants. His neuroses overwhelms any sense of calm or enjoyment of just being liked and liking someone.He's just grey. And I kept hoping that Finny would figure this out quickly and get away from Forrester's soul-sucking force. (show less)

 

 

by Eric Fenner

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  Growing up in Europe, I was never introduced to this novel. Many American classics have made it into the Swedish curriculum - The Cather in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, etc - but somehow, this has not. And what a shame, because "A Separate Peace" is really more of a Separate Masterpiece.

  So much has been written about this book, that a review seems completely redundant. I will focus instead on what it meant to me. Every now and then, I run across a novel so beautif... (show more)

  Growing up in Europe, I was never introduced to this novel. Many American classics have made it into the Swedish curriculum - The Cather in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, Grapes of Wrath, etc - but somehow, this has not. And what a shame, because "A Separate Peace" is really more of a Separate Masterpiece.

  So much has been written about this book, that a review seems completely redundant. I will focus instead on what it meant to me. Every now and then, I run across a novel so beautifully written that I experience the desire to reread entire pages just to take in the words once more. This is one of those novels. A short novel, only about 200 pages, this story makes up for in poignancy what it lacks in cover-to-cover girth. Every sentence is carefully crafted, every paragraph has a purpose. The same goes for the dialogue, each conversation reveals something important about the characters, contributing to their dizzying depth.

  This is a novel of layers. One of the most fascinating aspects for me was that my point of view fluctuated throughout the entire novel. I sympathized with Gene, but I also despised Gene. I admired Finny, but I also resented him.

  In the end, I read this novel as a kind of existentialist manifesto. For me, this novel is about choice: the ovewhelming realization that we are the creators of our own destinies, the courage it takes to be responsible for our own lives, and the dangers of blindly following the herd.

  (SPOILER ALERT!) Although Gene has a will that is separate from Finny's, he acts as Finny's mindless puppet, as though saying no is not an option. We learn that Finny's charisma has this effect on many of the boys, and it is easy to begin, like Gene, to feel resentment towards this non-conformer, who is (intentionally?) sabotaging the boys' grades. Yet Finny is not a bully, and there are no real consequences to refusing him, as we learn when Gene lashes out about needing to study for his French test.

  Interestingly, the only time Gene acts independently is when he decides to hurt Finny. Yet this is more of an uncontrolled impulse than a carefully weighed choice. Perhaps Gene is trying to save himself from Finny's overpowering influence. To resist Finny is harder than to destroy him. Yet Finny is not the root of the problem; Gene's weakness is.

  The issue of choice is magnified by the looming backdrop of the war, and the inevitability of enlisting or being drafted. There may appear to be no choice for these boys, they are destined to serve, or to suffer for (depending on your point of view) their country. Indeed, this is the terrible cost of war.

  However, during Gene and Brinker's interaction with Brinker's father, a WW1 vet, the older man reacts stongly to the boys' comment that "they'll do what they have to"". His point is that you always have the choice to do more than you have to, and how you carry yourself in the face of adversity will affect your image of yourself for the rest of your life. (show less)

   

   

  by Facebook User on Jul 13, 2009 at 04:56PM

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  This book means a whole lot more to me now, as an adult, than it did when I read it in junior high or whenever that was for school. I didn't like it much then, and I am surprised to discover that it's really an excellent novel. The descriptions of the school are clear and evocative, Finny is engaging and interesting without being cliche, and all the vagaries in the relationship between Gene and Finny were spot-on and very true to that age. One of my favorite parts is when Gene imagines the... (show more)

  This book means a whole lot more to me now, as an adult, than it did when I read it in junior high or whenever that was for school. I didn't like it much then, and I am surprised to discover that it's really an excellent novel. The descriptions of the school are clear and evocative, Finny is engaging and interesting without being cliche, and all the vagaries in the relationship between Gene and Finny were spot-on and very true to that age. One of my favorite parts is when Gene imagines the tooth-and-nail competitiveness between him and Finny and then, at another sentence from Finny, it all evaporates. I also liked how Leper Lepellier goes from one of the vague guys in the background to a complete character, the naturalist on skis. I don't know how I managed it, but the first time I read it, I think I ignored everything to do with World War II. But this time through I see how central it is to the novel and to the maturity of these people. Well-done, Knowles! (show less)

   

   

  by Juliet Williams on Nov 01, 2009 at 04:40PM

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