Book Discussion - A Separate Peace by John Knowles

Brightdreamer wrote:

"It's been a long time since I read it, but I don't recall Finny having any military ambitions; IIRC, he didn't believe something as horrible as the war existed, and continued denying it until"

Please see my last reply to Blacbird regarding my still unanswered question in my first reply to this thread.

Regarding your quote, Finny reveals his true feelings towards the end of the novel. He writes every branch of the service trying to enlist, and even writes Charles de Gaulle in the hope he might be accepted into the Free French Forces, notwithstanding his injury. The very idea of someone like Finny wanting to be left out of something as momentous as WWII is patently absurd and totally in opposition to his character.

Cyia said:

It's been years since I read this one, but I don't think Finny had ambitions of any kind. He coasted on his natural ability and was even uncomfortable with how easy things were for him. He couldn't really show off until he was alone, when no one was keeping score and he didn't have to worry about outdoing everyone else. In that way, he was self-aware, but he also had no idea the impact his natural aptitudes had on those around him.

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Thank you for your response but is there not one person willing to address the moral consideration I raised?

Regarding your response, when I used the word "ambitions," I intended it as meaning "plans," the word I should have perhaps used.

Donald Schneider said:

Blacbird wrote:

"An unanswered question at the center of this great, and now underappreciated novel...."

A Separate Peace still has an Amazon sales rating of around 250. That's not bad for a novel this old.

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It's shitty, compared to, say, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Old Man and the Sea, Fahrenheit-451, 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, and a whole bunch of novels of similar vintage, lesser value and quality. That's why I made the comment earlier about this novel being underread. It is simply a magnificent literary work, by any standard.

caw

blacbird said:

It's shitty, compared to, say, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Old Man and the Sea, Fahrenheit-451, 1984, The Catcher in the Rye, and a whole bunch of novels of similar vintage, lesser value and quality. That's why I made the comment earlier about this novel being underread. It is simply a magnificent literary work, by any standard.caw

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Oh, I think I and a great many people could live comfortably from the royalties of a book with an Amazon sales rating of 250 or so; just not opulently as Harper Lee's novel would have afforded her if she had any such desire. Apparently, she never did, and neither does Joanne Rowling from what I read. (JR: "It's nice to have enough money to pay the bills.")

Bear in mind that this rating of 250 (out of nearly two million titles Amazon offers!) is as of now, the summer. When school begins, it might well spike up on a seasonal basis.

By the way, I've transplanted my original response here as an original post on AW Roundtable per someone's thoughtful suggestion. I've received some thoughtful and helpful replies there to my question per se.

Thanks again.