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John Knowles (1) (1926–2001)

Autor(a) de A Separate Peace

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17 Works 13,690 Membros 204 Reviews 1 Favorited

About the Author

John Knowles was born in Fairmont, W.Va., on September 16, 1926. He began prep school at Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire from 1942 to 1944 and was then inducted into the U.S. Army Air Corps. After World War II ended, he attended Yale University, graduating in 1949, and then worked as a mostrar mais reporter for the Hartford Courant. He eventually turned to freelance writing, often writing articles about travel. This took him to Europe where he spent much of the 1950s. In addition to this writing, he served as editor for Holiday magazine for a time. A Separate Peace, his first novel, was published in 1959 in England and the United States. Set in a prep school much like Exeter, the novel takes place during World War II and is about the impact of the war on young men on the homefront; the troubled relationship of the two main characters symbolizes the fear and suspicion that can lead to war between nations. Knowles received the William Faulkner Foundation Award for a First Novel and the Independent School Education Board Award. A Separate Peace continues to be one of the most widely read novels in high schools and colleges. Knowles's subsequent novels include Morning in Antibes (1962), A Vein of Riches (1978), which is set in his native West Virginia, and Peace Breaks Out (1981) which returns to the setting of A Separate Peace. He also wrote a non-fiction book, Double Vision: American Thoughts Abroad (1964). He remains best known, however, for his first novel. John Knowles has lived on Long Island, N.Y. since the early 1960s. (Bowker Author Biography) mostrar menos
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Séries

Obras de John Knowles

A Separate Peace (1959) 12,787 cópias
Peace Breaks Out (1981) 402 cópias
Indian Summer (1965) 118 cópias
Phineas (1968) 102 cópias
The Paragon (1971) 60 cópias
A Stolen Past (1983) 42 cópias
Spreading Fires (1974) 21 cópias
Morning in Antibes (1962) 18 cópias
A vein of riches (1978) 16 cópias
A Separate Peace [2004 TV movie] (2004) — Writer — 12 cópias
Backcasts (1993) 2 cópias
Blitzball 1 exemplar(es)
The Trap 1 exemplar(es)

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Resenhas

I love the writing! The story was sad, but I expected it to be with a title like that and with the time period it's set in (WW II).

I listened to it on audiobook, and the narrator was really good. The voice he used for each character fit their personality so well (in fact, you could guess their personalites by their voices alone).
 
Marcado
Dances_with_Words | outras 189 resenhas | Jan 6, 2024 |
I think a lot of people read this in high school, but I didn't. I decided to pick it up because I kept seeing it everywhere. My impressions:

1. There are almost no females in it. The lack of girls and the lack of interest in girls among these 16- to 18-year-old guys, made me think that the two main characters were in love with each other, which is probably just because I minored in gender studies. But, really, the total lack of anything sexual was an interesting choice.

2. This is a deep, dark book about living in wartime. I was reminded of how little the Iraq war affected my time in college compared to how tremendously WWII affected the boys at the boarding school in the story.

3. Obviously, this is also a story about the psychology of adolescence, particularly among young men, particularly in a competitive and isolated environment. The way they talked was so old-fashioned, though, that I kept picturing them as much younger, like 12 or 13.

4. How reliable of a narrator is Gene? Can Finny really be so perfect? I went back and forth on this. I kind of hated Gene, but I also felt so sorry for him.

5. Overall, a really fascinating book that I'm sorry to read all by myself with no professor to guide a discussion.
… (mais)
 
Marcado
LibrarianDest | outras 189 resenhas | Jan 3, 2024 |
Worst Book I've Ever Read
 
Marcado
hubrisinmotion | outras 189 resenhas | Nov 14, 2023 |
The book tells the story of boys at a boarding school in New Hampshire during 1942-43. The heart of the book is the relationships between the various boys at the school. It is primarily about the protagonist, Gene, and his friend Phineas, their friendship and their rivalry. But the war is an ever present background, which eventually intrudes in the story when one student leaves to enlist, and suffers a mental breakdown as a result, before he is ever sent overseas to fight. There is a surprising plot twist at the end.

Overall, this is a sad story, and I have mixed feelings about it.
… (mais)
½
 
Marcado
atozgrl | outras 189 resenhas | Sep 16, 2023 |

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Estatísticas

Obras
17
Membros
13,690
Popularidade
#1,695
Avaliação
½ 3.6
Resenhas
204
ISBNs
105
Idiomas
5
Favorito
1

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