I first read A Separate Peace by John Knowles the summer before my sophomore year of high school. It immediately became my favorite book; a position it has kept ever since. The tale of coming of age, friendship and rivalry, peer pressure and social status, is certainly a product of the period during which it was written. But, at the same time, the themes of the book, and the struggles of the characters, are universal. I think that adolescent boys, in particular, will find plenty to relate to in the characters.

My copy of the book makes reference to Peace Breaks Out, by the same author. For years I didn’t look for any other books by Knowles. I probably told myself I had enough to read. I suspect I was also nervous about reading what is considered a companion novel to A Separate Peace. Worries about inevitable comparisons between the two books were, I feel sure, on my mind. But recently I decided to ignore all of that and read Peace Breaks Out anyway. It was a good choice. The latter book takes place about four years after the former. Where the characters in A Separate Peace were restless and uneasy because they knew they would be off to fight as soon as they graduated, in Peace Breaks Out the characters are restless because they will not have a great war to fight and give them a purpose and mission. This unease permeates both books. And Knowles writes well about the dark side of the competitive environment of an elite boarding school such as Devon. I enjoyed returning to the setting of A Separate Peace and I plan to check out his other books now that I’ve read Peace Breaks Out. Have you read anything by Knowles? If so, what did you think?