A Separate Peace [Hardcover]

An American classic and great bestseller for over thirty years,A Separate Peaceis timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence to the second world war.

Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II,A Separate Peaceis 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 Peaceis John Knowles’s crowning achievement and an undisputed American classic.This reading group guide forA Separate Peaceincludes an introduction, discussion questions, and ideas for enhancing your book club. The suggested questions are intended to help your reading group find new and interesting angles and topics for your discussion. We hope that these ideas will enrich your conversation and increase your enjoyment of the book.

Introduction

Set at a boys’ boarding school in New England during the early years of World War II,A Separate Peacefollows the friendship of the serious, intellectual Gene and the athletic, charismatic Phineas and the tragic turn their relationship takes when a moment’s impulse has terrible consequences.A Separate Peaceis timeless in its description of adolescence during a period when the entire country was losing its innocence; it is an American classic, published more than fifty years ago and a bestseller for decades, striking in its depiction of coming-of-age and the struggle to understand human nature.

Topics & Questions for Discussion

1. Gene says, “I was subject to the dictates of my mind, which gave me the maneuverability of a strait jacket” (plóå