Review of A Separate Peace by John Knowles

I slightly remember having 'read' this book in AP English for high school. I picked up this book from my shelf of books that I had already read, but knew that I did not understand its full meaning as I didn't actually read it when I was in school.
Now with a Bachelors in Biology and Science, along with being an aspiring doctor, I figured that I would be able to pick up the subtle nuances of this text. I was definitely right.

This novel is set during WWII in a Boy's school, meant to make these young high school boys into the fighting men for this country. In the reality of this novel, however, the boys are barely exposed to the realness of the war around them and thus live in 'a separate peace'.

The main focus is on the friendship between two boys, One of them being the main protagonist whose thoughts are revealed to us, and then his friend who he can't help but feel jealousy and envy towards.

I don't want to give the whole story away, but I will mention there are many plot twists that will leave you wondering "if I was in his/their position, would I have done/felt the same"?

The prose is beautiful and descriptive-- if you really focus when reading this novel, you can imagine each backdrop of the scenes and create a true movie of what you are reading. Few books can do that in my opinion.

There was one scene in the novel that brought tears to my eyes. When you read it, you might be able to spot which part(s) of it are so sincere and emotionally open.

I do not believe this novel should be read in high school-- I remember dreading having to read it and I had few marks in the novel from the first time I read it. Now, my book is overflowing with notes and an extra small paper I used as a bookmark that contain my flow of thoughts as I was reading it.

I am glad I picked this novel back up from the dusty shelf of books I dreaded in high school and gave it a second try.

Show me your bookshelf Challenge

 What I am listening to as I write: Maps by STRFKR

My body woke me up at 6:30AM after going to bed around 2:30AM. I'll probably need a nap (unfortunately) half-way through the day but for the time being (8:31AM) I decided to organize my bookshelf😁

The first shelf consists of books I have read; I would like to reread the classics in this section as I read them in high school and now it is 10 years later! I know I'll be able to do a more proper and thorough literary analysis of these beauties.


Second shelf consists of books I have not read yet. Towards the end of this shelf are books that I "suffered reading through" in my honors English classes. I doubt I will venture to read through Gilgamesh and Aeschylus again.




Ignore the third shelf-- I have two other shelves of nonfiction books that I will get to organizing when I need a break from studying.



Anyways, Show me your bookshelf!







I have several kindle versions of the classics which I will use that way I can annotate and analyze the books more efficiently. My GoodReads account has a better list of books I want to read and what I have read. I am always up to book discussions!

One could say I like to read for pleasure, but in all reality I love to highlight quotes and reread them, analyzing them and connecting them to my own life experiences.
That is the best part.

A Great Book Study (copied)

Found this with the individual's analysis of certain books that I plan on reading myself.

A Great Book Study: The Well-Educated Mind List: "Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested." - Francis Bacon

First post: Music, reading and musings

What I listened to while writing:

This is my first blog post, not sure how to work the symbols above so until then I will be keeping it short and simple.

Sometimes I have the urge to review the books I have; as a child I would act like a librarian and reorganize my books, writing a list of all of them in order to 'check out' and read one of them for the nth time.

So now I am 25, finished with a B.S. in Biology and History and I am going back over the books that I grew up reading through high school and college.

I love my goodreads account, it's quite interesting to look back on the books that I had to take notes of and study during my education.

As I have matured, I believe that these books I read 6-10 years ago will mean a lot more to me than when I first read them.

Thus, I am on a mission to go through them, sort them into piles of what to reread, what I haven't read yet, and what I have read that is an all-time favorite.

Ex: Stieg Larsson's series with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. I explicitly remember reading that book, the way I was positioned in bed, the weather outside...everything. Those are the memories I look to form when I read a novel.

I believe I am similar to many people in the respect that I own a lot of books that I haven't read. I've tried to read it, I've seen it on lists of "must-read" books and I feel like I am missing out.

My strategy will be to read this book with the help of notes online or the discussions brought on by other readers.

I want to be able to accumulate knowledge from the Classics.

Signing off,

TraumaQueenEMT