Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes books contain complete plot summaries and analyses, key facts about the featured work, analysis of the major characters, suggested essay topics, themes, motifs, and symbols, and explanations of important quotations.
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Created by Harvard students for students everywhere, SparkNotes books contain complete plot summaries and analyses, key facts about the featured work, analysis of the major characters, suggested essay topics, themes, motifs, and symbols, and explanations of important quotations.
Read Less
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Seller's Description:
Good Condition. Book appears to be in Used Good Condition. Cover has some wear, scuffs, dings and corner bumps. Front cover has right bottom corner torn. Text appears to have underlining. Spine is in good condition. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Education; ISBN: 1411403592. ISBN/EAN: 9781411403598. Pictures of this item not already displayed here available upon request. Inventory No: 1561043948.
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Very good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
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Seller's Description:
Good. Connecting readers with great books since 1972! Used books may not include companion materials, and may have some shelf wear or limited writing. We ship orders daily and Customer Service is our top priority!
I'm about 1/4 into the book and it's definitely a good read. This is my first John Knowles; I like his style of writing.
jeff k
Oct 3, 2011
A Simple Classic
The laughable thing about most of the negative comments posted here, among other things, is that these faux critics believe that a novel is important only if the character is "likable". What nonsense! The character Gene Forrester may or may not be a likable character, but he is completely believable.
I would argue that Gene's struggle with loyalty, jealousy, remorse, and sorrow are more than believable--they're part of the WWII era that marked top students for the top positions in many aspects of American life in commerce, law, education, and the military.
For those who cannot get out of their own heads, I'm sure that the story was "boring" or "unlikable" but that is due to your own limitations.
The book is flawlessly written and captures both the time period and the coming of age feel for young men who understand the pressure of competition and the real fear of not living up to high expectations. The novel is a classic and will remain so unless the spurious notion of "likability" becomes the new currency for rating high works of art.
None of the critics here could touch Knowles' ability.