About this book
Knowles drew on his own experiences at a New England boarding school in order to write this haunting story about the friendship between Gene and Finny. Effectively polar opposites and yet fiercely devoted to each other, Gene and Finny develop a rivalry that sustains each of them. Gene especially tries to emulate Finny's positive qualities to make himself better. But their friendship takes a dark turn as a result of a rash decision that Gene makes while the two are perched on a tree branch. The fallout and ensuing tragedy haunt Gene for the rest of his life. A Separate Peace is a stirring meditation on adolescence, masculinity, guilt, and friendship.
Knowles's classic is an uneasy coming-of-age, set at a boys' boarding school among the desperately carefree 16-year-olds of 1942: too young, still, to be drafted into the war outside; too old to evade the responsibilities and the guilt that follows from the breaking of their fraught and fragile private bonds.
First line
As the novel opens, Gene Forrester returns to Devon, the New Hampshire boarding school he attended during World War II.
First Edition Identification
Secker & Warburg published the First UK Edition, First Printing hardcover in London, 1959. The Macmillan Company published the First US Edition, First Printing hardcover in New York, 1960.
Details
- Title A Separate Peace
- Author John Knowles
- Binding unknown
- Publisher Bantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group
- Date January 1, 1984
- ISBN 9780553242300
More Copies for Sale
A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
- Used
- good
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Good
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 13
- 9780553242300
- ISBN 10
- 055324230x
- Quantity Available
- 1
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Show Details
A Separate Peace
by John Knowles
- Used
- Acceptable
- Paperback
- Condition
- Used - Acceptable
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 13
- 9780553242300
- ISBN 10
- 055324230X
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
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Seattle, Washington, United States
- Item Price
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$6.47FREE shipping to USA
Show Details
A Separate Peace
by Knowles, John
- Used
- Condition
- Used - Good
- ISBN 13
- 9780553242300
- ISBN 10
- 055324230x
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Seller
-
Mishawaka, Indiana, United States
- Item Price
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$7.58FREE shipping to USA