Average Rating: 
Rating:  - A LETTER TO MR. KNOWLES IF HE'S STILL ALIVE
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:  - A Frienship about envy
I found A Separate Peace by John Knowles to be one of the best books that I have read. I recommend this book to all people who attend boarding school, even if he or she doesn't like to read. The novel is a page- turner about how envy can complicate a friendship. Throughout the novel, Knowles writes about the troubled Gene who comes to terms with his inner feelings about his friendship with Finny. This book was worth reading because it made me think about true friendship. Gene and Finny have to overcome the problem of envy that occurs in their friendship. In one scene, Gene is studying and his mind starts to wander when he says to himself, "I was more and more certainly becoming the best student in the school; Phineas was without question the best athlete, so in that way we were even. But while he was a very poor student I was a pretty good athlete, and when everything was thrown into the scales they would in the end tilt definitely toward me. The new attacks of studying were his emergency measures to save himself. I redoubled my effort." Even though Gene has these feelings, he discovers throughout the book that he still cares for Finny and their friendship.
Rating:  - A Very Interesting and Realistic Book
I enjoyed the novel A Separate Peace by John KNowles. He presents the main characters Phineas or Finny and Gene togethor in an all boys senior class. Their final year of childhood is upon them as the mystery and fear of WWII looms ever present beyond their 18th birthday. Knowles creates realistic characters in Finny and Gene, because of the way he allows the reader to glance into the the mind of GEne. Finny seems realistic because of the emotions, actions, and dialogue we see or hear from him through Gene's interpretations. I took delight in this style of writing. I also took pleasure from the surplus of conflicts readily available in the book. These seem to imitate true human life and give the book it's special tint of authenticity. Also, the backdrop of WWII gave a keen tinge to the story, which added both more stress among the boys and knowledge of the times to the reader. Although I won't reveal it presently, I also relished the ending, as it was clear and definite. I particularly enjoy endings of that nature. To heighten the lifelike qualities already present, Knowles adds characters such as Brinker who is smart and social, or Leper, who is more of a weak person but a good friend. Knowles adds these people as frioends because they bpoth rely on Gene and Finny as friends, increasing Gene's and Finny's importance. Overall, the style and content were quite enjoyable. Although not a thriller, A Seperate Peace was in its own subtle way enthralling.
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