To start off with " A Separate Peace", ill say that I really liked the way that the book started off, with Gene visiting his old school and looking around all the places that were important to him. After reading the book this shows that he was foreshadowing where the most important things went on in the story, for example when he goes to the marble staircase, which we find out later was the reason of his "Frenemy" Finny's demise. Also he visits the riverbank where the tree is, and to me this is probably one the most important scenes throughout the entire story.
As I went on reading the book, I found it well, boring. There is a lot of things that the author could have left out in the story, it seems like he was filling unnecessary space. The book at alot of points had a slow tone, and sometimes I got lost because of the lack of importance that is going on. The thing that kept the story going is the ongoing battle of frenemies Gene and Finny. I like Finny alot more then Gene, because he does realizes that everyone doesn't need an enemy, and forgives and disbelieves that Gene would intentionally hurt him. I am happy though that at the end, he finally was mad at Gene. In my opinion, Gene deserves it. I don't buy that it was something "subconscious" that made him make Finny fall, he was obviously jealous, and inside wanted it to happen so that he would be the "winner" of there rivalry. It seems that all he got out of it were a lot of opportunities to lie, and, a whole lot of guilt. When Finny fell down the stairs and broke his leg I was like, "OH JEEZ DIDN'T THAT HAPPEN ALREADY" but once he died because of it, it made the story a lot more powerful and moving. It really surprised me and I did not see that coming. Earlier I made have sounded harsh on Gene, but after this I felt bad for him in a way, because basically he caused his best friend who cared for him's death. I did not like the way the story ended, with Brinkers father showing disappointment in Brinker and Gene for not going the army, but I am glad it went back to Gene as a older version of himself giving us some sort of closure.
This was not my favorite book, but at the end it was alright. I get what the author was trying to do, but this book is more a certain type of person. This book doesn't have much action or suspense, and the main conflict is only sometimes a major occurrence. I found it being distracted by the other boys, (Leper, Brinker)'s stories, but at least they added something additional to the story. The theme of the novel that I found is, we all at least think we have an enemy, when sometimes they are not. Gene questioned a lot if Finny was his enemy, and in the end I think it was all his imagination and inner-jealousy. This book was a lot different then all the others we have read this summer, because of its lack of suspense, and overall lack of an "alluring" factor. But, it does send a different message also.
Finally! I cant believe this is already my last post for the summer... it went by really fast, and honestly it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. See you all soon, - Maxwell
