Subject: Re: High school novels: John Knowles "A Separate Peace"
From: Paul Kennedy (kennedyp@toronto.cbc.ca)
Date: Tue Jan 18 2000 - 17:11:59 EST
It HAD to happen! Somebody had to mention A SEPARATE PEACE.... (It was
almost inevitable after the HUCK FINN discussion a few weeks back.)
Knowles, Salinger and Twain--in inverse order--made up the "novel unit" in
my Grade 9 English class.... (Lord knows what the girls were supposed to
get into! I guess adolescence was a male monopoly--like so many things back
then.... Why, closer to home here in cold Canada we had wonderful books
like LIVES OF GIRLS AND WOMEN by Alice Munro that SHOULD have been part of
the syllabus! But that's another story....)
By the time it hit the curriculum, I'd already read CATCHER a couple of
times. But A SEPARATE PEACE truly blew me away. Who couldn't wish that
Phinny was your best friend?
I'm not suprised that The Laughing Man liked it too. (The 'wardrobe'
reference proves that his personal literary adventure was established on a
sound foundation....)
Years later, I sought out several other novels by John Knowles. They were
all, sadly, disappointing. I guess I've been afraid to return to A SEPARATE
PEACE, for fear of finding it not quite (oops!) up to scratch. (Or, more
accurately, it's one of those books for which I can't quite imagine finding
the time to read again....)
Cheers,
Paul
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