From School Library Journal
Grade 9 Up-The volatile world of male adolescence provides the backdrop for John Knowles' engrossing tale of love, hate, war, and peace. Sharing a room at Devon, an exclusive New England prep school, in the summer prior to World War II, Gene and Phineas form a complex bond of friendship that draws out both the best and worst characteristics of each boy and leads ultimately to violence, a confession, and the betrayal of trust. Narrator Scott Snively's ability to switch seamlessly from the perspective of a teenager tormented by feelings he doesn't want to understand to the reflective musing of a man looking back at the formative experience of his youth provide both the story and the setting with an immediacy that quickly engages listeners. Not only does Snively give a distinctive voice to each of the main characters, he also delineates the mannerisms and personalities of the other boys and the teachers surrounding them. Intense, mesmerizing, and compelling, this rendition of a classic coming-of-age tale belongs in all public library collections, and will be especially helpful to high school students as an accompaniment to the written text.Cindy Lombardo, Orrville Public Library, OH Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From AudioFile
Scott Snively tackles Knowles's famous novel about rivalries and relationships at the fictional Devon School, a prep school for boys, during WWII. The story is told from the point of view of Gene, a man looking back on his last year at Devon. Like Gene himself, Snively's narration is sometimes wistful, sometimes regretful, sometimes hesitant. Most of the performance is subdued, with subtle distinctions in the voices of the major characters. Snively does an excellent job conveying emotions in scenes of conflict. He ably conveys anger and sadness with changes in pitch and a few well-placed shouts in a way that sounds genuine, never forced. This is an excellent treatment of a modern classic. A.F. © AudioFile 2002, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine
Review
Aubrey Menen I think it is the best-written, best-designed, and most moving novel I have read in many years. Beginning with a tiny incident among ordinary boys, it ends by being as deep and as big as evil itself.
National Review A masterpiece.
The Observer A model of restraint, deeply felt and beautifully written.
Review
Warren Miller Mr. Knowles has something to say about youth and war that few contemporary novelists have attempted to say and none has said better.
Review
Warren Miller Mr. Knowles has something to say about youth and war that few contemporary novelists have attempted to say and none has said better.
Book Description
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. A bestseller for more than thirty years, A Separate Peace is John Knowles's crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.
From the Publisher
Gene was a lonely, introverted intellectual. Phineas was a handsome, taunting, daredevil athlete. What happened between them at school one summer during the early years of World War II is the subject of A Separate Peace. A great bestseller for over thirty years--one of the most starkly moving parables ever written of the dark forces that brood over the tortured world of adolescence.
"I think it is the best-written, best-designed and most moving novel I have read in many years. Beginning with a tiny incident among ordinary boys, it ends by being as deep and as big as evil itself." -- Aubrey Menen
"A quietly vital and cleanly written novel that moves, page by page, towards a most interesting target." -- Truman Capote
"Is he the successor to Salinger for whom we have been waiting so long? -- Encounter.
"A masterpiece." -- National Review.
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