Devon School, an exclusive prep school for boys in New Hampshire, is a world unto itself. But it is the summer of 1942 and the massive thundercloud of World War II threatens the school's peaceful environment. Paralleling the war, where real and imagined are sometimes collaborated with and sometimes destroyed, is the friendship between Gene and Phineas, two students attending the 1942 Summer Session at Devon. Their idyllic world begins to fall apart as the war escalates, and suspicion and the complexities of adolescence ...
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Devon School, an exclusive prep school for boys in New Hampshire, is a world unto itself. But it is the summer of 1942 and the massive thundercloud of World War II threatens the school's peaceful environment. Paralleling the war, where real and imagined are sometimes collaborated with and sometimes destroyed, is the friendship between Gene and Phineas, two students attending the 1942 Summer Session at Devon. Their idyllic world begins to fall apart as the war escalates, and suspicion and the complexities of adolescence result in violence and betrayal.
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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.
