The year is 1942, the setting a boys' school in New Hampshire, the narrator Gene Forrester, now in his thirties, as he looks back at his last years at Devon School for Boys. His room-mate and best friend was Phineas, athletic and enigmatic, processing a charm, vitality and way with words that would soften the hardest of masters. Gene, excelling academically while Phineas does in sports, takes us through the final years of their schooling and his remarkable friendship with Phineas, all set against the background of WW2 and the looming threat of becoming and active part of that war.

It is a beautifully told story, rich in imagery and symbolism. The friendship the two boys enjoy is heart warming and touching, yet there is hint of a darker undercurrent that could possibly lead to ruin that keeps the reader in a gentle suspense.  ( )

Tiresome as stale potato chips.
Not that it wasn't well-written--but I didn't even read this for school and it still made me yearn for a nap. The most interesting part? Discovering at age twelve that the name "Phineas" is actually pronounced "FIN-ee-us," not "fin-AY-us." Hmmm. The logic in that still eludes me. ( )

Like most folks, I read this in high school...one of the few school books I enjoyed reading. A coming of age story focusing on two friends and memories sifting from imagined to realized. The TV show MASH "borrowed" an event from this book for one of their episodes. ( )

I have to say, I really enjoyed this book. I read it last year for english class and thought it was very well written. The relationship between Gene and Finny is a meaningful one. The feeling of friendship is mutual, but the aching feeling of jealousy is always present. I found this very true because there always seems to be a line between friends. It's the line that separates laughing and joking from jealously and skepticism. Is he/she really my friend? Are there underlying meanings to what he/she is doing? I found myself able to relate to both Gene and Finny. At the end of the book, I couldn't help but experience this feeling of peace. Even though Finny was gone, there was calmness that Gene possessed. I would recommend this book to any one of my friends. ( )

One of the first novels I ever read. It still brings pleasant memories. ( )

I bought this book years back, after discovering that it was Jack Bangerter's favorite book. I never got around to reading it though, until just after I graduated, right before we went to Europe. My copy had water spilled all over it, and never really dried in the humidity, so as I read it, each page disintegrated and came unattached as I turned it. It's a really nice story of two school friends around WWII, Gene and Phineas, and while my recollection is slightly fuzzy about each, I would probably characterize this book as a less Jewish The Chosen. Monumental (and highly surprising) ending, also. ( )

An interesting book. I might have liked it better if the prof in Adolescent Lit hadn't beat me over the head with all the symbolism. ( )

A coming-of-age story set in an English boarding school at the start of WWII. Gene and Phineas, though very different, form a deep friendship that is tested one summer. The boys' actions show that the line between good and evil is perhaps not so clear-cut as we would like to believe. ( )

There is a lot of lovely language in this book, but I found it hard to connect with any of the characters. The whole mood of the book feels slightly overdramatic to me, and even though I understand that this was most likely an intended stylization, I got impatient with it. I'm sure that I would have enjoyed and appreciated it much more if I'd had some interest and/or connection with the characters. ( )

I loved this book. It was beautiful!!!!!!!

Gene Forrestor goes back to his old school, Devon, to reflect on past happenings. He thinks back on the times before World War II.

Him and Phineas, his best friend, both jumped off this tree. Later, from jealously and confusion, Gene bounces the tree limb while doing a double jump with Phineas. Phineas falls and is crippled. This book explores the life of adolescents as they mature and become adults. The war is a main theme of the book.

This is a very good book! I recomend this to everyone! I loved it! The word choice was very good too! ( )

I think that this book was okay. It was good because it had a good plot, but it was bad because it went kind of slot moving. ( )

I recently re-read this book for the AP class that I'm teaching and I was reminded of what a deceptively simple book this appears to be on the surface. Set in an all boys prep school during WWII, A Separate Peace explores how the encroaching reality of war affects the psychological and social development of all the boys at the school. The poignant irony of providing these young men with a classics based education at a prestigious school just to be sent into war to kill and be killed effectively shows how, before they even make it to the battlefield, the war cripples them--for one physically, for the others psychologically. The book focuses on the relationship between Finny, the popular and perfect athlete, and Gene, the intelligent and dangerously introspective one. Gene's all-consuming envy toward Finny causes him to shake the tree limb both are standing in; Finny falls to the ground and breaks his leg. However, this is a metaphor for how Gene's betrayal of the friendship has broken Finny.

Effective use is made of Finny as a Christ figure and we witness as Gene grows psychologically in response to the realization that he has destroyed Finny. Gene comes to realize that the real enemy is the enemy within and, through Finny, Gene finds a form of salvation from his dark, neurotic tendencies.

Knowles does so much with setting and imagery in the book that I pick up on something new every time I read it. ( )

One of the few assigned books in high school that I actually liked. It helped that I was in a school much like the one mentioned. Finny supplied us with several tricks that were perfect for bored, boarding school students, which added to the interest, of course. What drew me most to this book was that it captured the experience so well. I've heard the novel disparaged because it's about a bunch of whiny rich kids. Obviously there's a lot of truth there, but these people miss the point. While privileged, the kids don't realize it. It's as natural to them as water to a fish, so it has to be ignored to see the real story which is the fragile identity of the kids & their struggles with it. We're told the story from Gene's POV as an adult, although he obviously still harbors a lot of insecurities & isn't as accurate as he thinks in his reporting. He's still trying to decide where he stands. During the book, he's best friends with Finny who is as carefree as anyone can be, but he's torn between his friend & the conservative respectability that the school embodies, the expectations of his world. They're pretty much summed up in another school mate, Brinkman. Added to Gene's confusion is his jealousy of Finny, who is a natural athlete. Gene can't measure up to his friend. He doesn't like himself for feeling this way, but the fact remains.Not my normal reading, but I've re-read this a couple of times over the years, getting something a bit different out of it each time. The war time setting dates it a bit, but not too badly. ( )

I read this book in the 10th grade, and I hated it. I decided to pick it up about 5 years later, and I liked it a lot more. I won't go so far as to say that I loved it, but it was a lot more bearable for me. It was fairly interesting until the last 10 pages or so. I had to force myself to get through those pages. ( )

A Separate Place by John Knowles is one of those books you read because it is so beautifully written. A simple story but that is but a facade and before long, you start to delve into the complexity of the hidden darkness behind some of the characters in the book.

An idyllic time in the life of boy, Gene Forrester, attending summer school in Devon in the early 40s. The war is but a rumor at that point. He meets Phineas, and is swept into a whirlwind of adventures and fun, but then there is an accident... or is it an accident? Does Gene secretly harbor resentment against Finny for being what he wants to be - charming, athletic, charismatic and a leader?

The war does encroach after all, but even then, the school appears to provide a safe haven for the teenagers, until one student, Leper, leaves to enlist after watching a video on snow troops, but ends up returning because he's deemed by the army to be psychotic. Does this bring up the old accident and will truth out? Will we ever learn what's behind Finny's carefree nonchalance?

Beautifully written, this is well worth reading ( )

A very descriptive account of the relationship between two boys while at a New England prep school during the years of WWII.
The book certainly captures the mood of those years, at least among 16 year old boys of a certain class.
Some homoerotic undertones, the friendship between Finny and Gene is more of a fight for status than a real friendship, which, i guess is the point of the story. ( )

Boarding school roommates Finny and Gene couldn't be more opposite. Finny is friendly, outgoing and quite the athlete, whereas Gene is the quiet studious type. During the summer term of 1942, Finny is injured and Gene is tormented by feelings of friendship, loyalty and jealousy while Finny is oblivious to it all. I just reread this book last summer and again realized its classic status. A must read for all teens.

This book would be difficult for a student younger than high school age to understand. Can be slow at times, but very descriptive.

This is a beautifully written story with complex characters. All the necessary connections are made to give dimension to the actions of the characters. The war even becomes a character in its own right. The rite of passage storyline is enhanced by the first person telling and the suddenness of events. Reality doesn't generally foreshadow itself, but it does reveal itself in hindsight. This book could spark endless discussions of metaphorical significance. It should never be confined to adolescent readers and it should never be read just once.

What I found most interesting about this book was the theme of male friendship and its deep reflection on rivalry, jealousy, betrayal, love and forgiveness. It made think quite a bit about the the relationship between Amir and Hassan from the Kite Runner and the similar themes of friendship and betrayal. I found it a lovely reflective book. ( )

1045 A Separate Peace A Novel, by John Knowles (read 14 Mar 1970) I have just finished reading this. What does it all mean? A story of life at a New England prep school, Devon, [modeled on Phillips Exeter] in 1942 and 1943. "I"--Forrester--shakes a tree limb and causes Phineas to fall, and, later, to die. I will have to read interpretive material. Excellently written. ( )

I like the meaning behind it and that's where it gets props, but other than that its not for everyone. ( )

Man, I slogged through this book convinced it would become more engaging. I've read worse, but just don't get why this is considered a classic. Other reviewers will encapsulate the story. It didn't do anything for ME. ( )

Interesting ( )

A coming of age story from the male perspective isn't the type of book that would usually appeal to me. I did enjoy it however because of the interplay between the over-achiever and his angst filled friend. I especially enjoyed the historical perspective of that time and how it might have been to be a young man facing the prospects of being called upon to serve one's country at wartime. ( )