John Knowles - A Separate Peace

I figured it's been a while since I've written a book review. So here's another literary work that I've digested and regurgitated for your pleasure.

A Separate Peace
Written by John Knowles
Genre: Tragedy
Published by Macmillan 1959.
ISBN: 978-0-743-25397-0



This story revolves around two boys, Gene and Finny and is told from the former's point of view. The setting takes place in a boarding school in New England (not located in England) during World War II. Gene and Finny are best friends. But Finny seems to be the type that can get away with anything and do everything, such as ditching school to go to the beach, breaking swimming records, and jumping out of trees. Finny would be what you call a stud, but he can't because the school he and Gene happen to be at is a men's club: no girl students.

So after having some fun, Gene has his own private Enlightenment. He begins to realize that Finny is his enemy! And there was a deeper reason why Finny is pretending to be such a good friend to him than being a good friend. Finny was trying to lower his grades so that he could be a better student!

So one day, at a tree jumping session of the Super Secret Summer Suicide Society, Gene's knee "accidentally" moves and the Finny falls out of the tree like a nut and cracks something. The only problem is Finny doesn't believe that Gene did it on purpose and Gene doesn't know if he did it on purpose, either.

...You know what? I'm tired of giving a summary. Go read it for yourself.

Rating: 8/10

The book has its boring moments, especially during the beginning of the book. But as you keep reading, you realize the theme is quite interesting. A boy secretly thinking that his best friend is trying to undermine him. I can't believe it. These people aren't even living in the 21st century where even perfect SAT scores aren't enough to get you into the college of your choice, and these boys are competing? Relax! There's plenty of jobs in the world. You could always go invent the computer and the Playstation.

What's funny is that this whole thing about secret peer competition is that my mom feels the same way. Whenever I want to do something with my friends, she'll go, "Who are your friends? Are they good students? They're just trying to get you outside so you can't study (not like I do when I'm inside) and they can get better grades than you." If the entire world were like what she believed, the world would be a rather cold place.

But the main reason I wrote this review was something deeper. This book is about homosexuals. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but Gene and Finny are gay. There, I've said it. They're gay, even though my English teacher doesn't admit it.

Evidence:

Summary on back: "What happens between two friends one summer, like war itself, banishes the innocence of these boys and their world."

Page 19: "I threw my hip against his, catching him by surprise, , and he was instantly down, definitely pleased. This was why he liked me so much. When I jumped on top of him, my knees on his chest, he couldn't ask for anything better."

Page 48: "...you can't come to the shore with just anybody and you can't come by yourself, and at this teen-age period in life the proper person is your best pal, which is what you are."

Page 69: "I was thinking about you..."

Page 102: "He looked up with a provocative grin."

Page 104: "After [my Army shirt] came off there was just my undershirt, stained with sweat. He smiled at it for a while and then said, as he eaved himself out of the chair, 'There. You should have worn that all day, just that. That has real taste. The rest of your outfit was just gilding that lily of a sweat shirt.'"

Page 107: "Finny hobbled over to the dresser and took up his soap dish. 'I'm first in the shower,' he said.
'You can't get that cast wet, can you?' asked Brinker.
'No, I'll keep it outside the curtain."
'I'll help,' said Brinker.

Page 108: "Phineas was shocked at the idea of my leaving. In some way he needed me. He needed me ... He wanted me around."

Page 113: "No locker could have more pungent air than Devon's; sweat predominated, but it was richly mingled with smells of paraffin and singed rubber, of soaked wool and liniment, and for those who could interpret it, of exhaustion, lost hope and triumph and bodies battling against each other. I thought it anything but a bad smell. It was preeminently the smell of the human body after it had been used to the limit, such a smell as has meaning and poignance for any athlete, just as it has for any lover.

Page 171: "'Let's make a double jump,' because I thought if we went together it would be something that had never been done before, holding hands in a jump..."

--

QED. For more proof, well, you just have to read the book for yourself. Rather recommended, but not as much action as I would like. Really deep psychological side-effects though.

Don't Forget Them Earplugs

The expert gunslingers always say, "Bring earplugs to a gunfight." I say, "Bring earplugs to a pep rally."

Pep rallies are really loud. Apparently, whoever controls to volume on the huge speakers in our school gym must have bad hearing because they turn it up WAY too loud.

But that's not all. You might think normal voices are loud, but you haven't heard anything yet, possibly because your hearing is already damaged.

Our pep squad seems to enjoy dancing to very bizarre music. Unfortunately, the music also has very bizarre sound effects, such as screeches, squeals, and all the other acoustic concoctions only a computer would know how to make. The song may once upon a time have sounded pleasant, but after taking steroids raising them to a seat thumping loudness, they begin to sound like Charlie Brown's teacher.

Our varsity percussion also likes loud noises. One drum is bad enough. Two drums are worse. Two drums and a base drum are really, really bad. TEN drums and TWO BASE drums are a recipe for major hearing loss. Not to mention the fact that they also have aforementioned artificial computer sounds generated by a stupid Macbook and about ten of those suspended of cymbal things.*

Pep band is the worse. Not only do they play the same music over and over, but they enjoy playing right next to the door you exit out of and have no regard for your audio safety. You can't even hear yourself. This is why we should a pep orchestra, not a pep band. At least it's not the entire bloody band itself.

And they said listening to music on portable music players was bad for your ears. Hypocrites.

*And never, ever, underestimate the loudness of a xylophone. They might not look like much, but they pack a big punch, especially in large numbers.

Religious Excuses

I did say I was going to write something about "those silly monkeys jumping up and down shouting 'Allah akbar!'", didn't I? Well, thanks to a local screening of Invisible Children*, here it is. Only try really hard to resist causing more acts of death and destruction after reading this.

Just because I made fun of Islamic militants doesn't mean you other radical theists** get away, too. You're all part of the problem. The Crusades. The Holocaust. I'm pretty sure the Islamic people didn't start the problems. I can't remember exactly, but I'm also pretty sure the Ten Commandments included something along the lines of don't kill, which Common Sense also tells you to do.

Waging a war because some God(s) (which for purposes of this post represents all spiritual figures and does not exist) told you to is just ridiculous. I've heard of strict obedience, but attempting to overthrow a government, as corrupt and pathetic as it may be because a voice in your head (who is most likely not your conscience are most certainly not your higher being of choice) suggested it is plain stupid. What if God told you to jump off a cliff? Well, I suppose some of you might. There is a reason why they call you 'extremists'.

This is exactly what happened to a deranged lunatic named Alice Lakwena, and for the last two decades, an unseen war has been waging in Uganda between the government and the Lord's Resistance Army. Children have been kidnapped by this terrorist group and are forced to either learn how to shoot a gun or be shot with one.

Maybe it's the government's fault, but your crusade isn't helping any. All you're doing is adding to the instability of your region and helping your already weak government doing a worse job of fixing it's many problems. If you took the money that you were wasting on junk food such as guns and bombs and gave it to a more noble cause, the world would be a much better place.

Luckily, the story of the Invisible Children has a happy ending. The conflict has become less transparent to the world, and there has been peace for several years and hope for a bloodless solution. Maybe you could all take a lesson from them and put that Holy Sword you were planning to smite the Infidels with down or place that highly fashionable C4 down vest from Abercrombie and Fitch back in the closet.

Post may be expanded later.
Religion is inefficient. De-convert today!

*Moufflets is not associated with Invisible Children or its affiliates in any way, shape, or form.
**All theists negatively referred to in this blog have declared Holy War of some sort or another or have used violence in the name of their imagined higher being. Moufflets does not establish that all theists are ill-hearted people in general, and apologizes and asks to be notified if it has done so.