A Separate Peace

By: John Knowles

Narrated by: Scott Snively

Length: 6 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

Now a modern classic, this story of two boys' friendship at an exclusive New Hampshire prep school as it parallels the inescapable and escalating atmosphere of World War II, is intense and engaging to the last word.

©2003 John Knowles (P)2002 Audio Bookshelf

Critic reviews

"Snively does an excellent job conveying emotions in scenes of conflict...This is an excellent treatment of a modern classic." ( AudioFile)

An important work

The book is well written, insightful, intellectual, sad and true. It covers both adolescent emotions and adult realities. I loved it.

headline

Read this now as a review to what I read in middle school. I honestly didn't remember very much from years and years ago. so I'm glad had the chance to review. but in the end, I didn't care much for the story nor understand why it's considered a classic.

I loved it!

This was one of my summer reading books for my high school, and I struggled when trying to read it in my head. I instead listened to this while reading along with the printed book.

I did notice that there were some word changes in the narration, I don't know if it was the narrator improvising or my book, but it didn't in any way affect the story line (ex. when the word in my book was "huge" the narrator said "large," little things like that). But other than that, the narrator did an excellent job in portraying the characters in general, as well as the many emotions in the novel.

As for a review of the book, it was very touching and I loved it. The writing did get a bit slow and confusing at times, but nothing too bad. I felt like I was there, right along side Gene and Finny...in a word, it's just spectacular! :D

Good story

I listened to this because my daughter had to read it for eight grade. I probably would not have read it if otjerwise, but I am glad that I did. The narrator was very good and the story kept me engaged.

Revisting a Modern Classic

Any additional comments?

I remember reading this novel in middle school and thought it would be interesting to revisit in audio. It did not disappoint.

Unmatched narration. Beautiful performance.

Beautiful performance of a beautifully written book. by far my favorite audible purchase this far.

A Classic, well told

I enjoyed this book very much. The narrator captured so many of the subtle elements of subtext and symbol. In the end, this well-read classic gets good treatment. Great literature and a good reader.

meh.

it was an interesting book and taught many good lessons. but I don't like this kind of book. if your into action/sci-fi/etc. then don't read this.

How can one fault a Classic like this?

This is probably one of John Knowles' most popular titles and represents a coming of age story between two friends over the course of a year. It has a very sobering tone and can be perceived as very 'heavy' in terms of the overall ending of the title. The author doesn't in any way spare you from the realities of that time and provides no 'magical fixes' for any of the problems the boys at the Academy faced. This book does in fact teach some rather jarring life lessons through its exquisite writing and sheer honesty.

The narration for me was lacking. I found myself somewhat steeling myself to get through the book. Had it not been for my 'grit your teeth and get through it' mentality or the fact that I simply enjoyed the book's content, I wouldn't have made it through the title.

I am taken back in time to when I first started getting into books with this one. Reading, or in this case listening, the classics always tending to produce in me a sense of nostalgia for the past, a time dated in the early 90's when I was just a kid.

The themes of adolescence do not change much.

I read A Separate Peace first as a teen-aged girl and listened to it recently as the mother of teen-aged boys. The tensions among the boys, as they sort out the adults they will become, are familiar in any decade. I agree with reviewers who comment that the story is slow. But as it deals with the loss of youth in many different ways, that is not necessarily a condemnation of this classic. I did not enjoy the narration, but that could have been my impatience with parts of the story.