A Separate Peace

John Knowles

Apr 2014 · Sold by Simon and Schuster

About this ebook

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read.

An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years, A Separate Peace is timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to World War II.

Set at a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II, A Separate Peace is a harrowing and luminous parable of the dark side of adolescence. Gene is a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas is a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happens between the two friends one summer, like the war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world.

Ratings and reviews

When I started reading this book sophomore year the first few chapters seemed very black and white-- I didn't think the story would have any depth. It has amazing depth and gray area however that you will only see if you power through, brought tears to my eyes

About two students in the early years of WWII. Read it Junior year of High school in Civics Class. Thought it was a great novel then. Not sure I really understood the whole story. But thought it basically came down to the personal differences in the two boy's ethics. One kid had a very simplistic view of life, and the way it should be lived. The other kid came very close to being a manipulative personality. Charismatic manipulator. That was my basic understanding. I will beinterested to reread this novel.

A Separate Peace is a dramatic novel that takes the reader into a sensitive feeling of life among different personalities and of self-awareness amongst others. It has one become aware of some of the "tricky" dynamics amongst individuals together and in contrast to one another. The backdrop of a World War also plays into the dynamics.

About the author

John Knowles (1926–2001) was a graduate of Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale University, as well as a recipient of the William Faulkner Award and the Rosenthal Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. His books include Separate Peace, Peace Breaks Out, and The Paragon.