I have to be honest and say I have not read this book since I was a sophomore in high school taking Honors English 10; and now I remember why. It was slow, uneventful, and repetitive. Now that I have probably made some of you a little upset...
The setting and plot were what I disliked the most. The characters are what I liked the most. However, everyone was so wishy-washy. I understand it was war time and the boys wanted to contribute to their country in a way they felt honorable and valuable; but when it came down to it, they didn't. Except for Leper, but that is when the reality of the war set in for these prep-school boys. War is ugly. Watching someone die in the field after shrapnel tears through and embeds itself into the flesh is not something many realize war brings. Just watch the first 20-30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. These boys talked big because that was the thing to do; and the reality of it, they probably were not going to see combat due to their placement in time.
I must say, though, it is a pretty good 'coming of age' story where 'innocence is lost.' Finny knew there was a war, but refused to accept it because he couldn't fight in it any longer. What do most children do when they don't want to realize the truth? They deny it ever happened. Children aren't the only ones who behave this way by any means. This book shows how boys want to prove themselves to each other and the world. Jumping out of the tree, being the most athletic, the most academic, the most whatever just to prove they are the best. Good old competition. But Finny isn't completely like this. The scene in the swimming pool where he breaks the record says a lot about him. He does have some humility and modesty. This is the conflict Gene is faced with throughout the entire book. Is he really best friends with Finny, or is Finny his biggest threat? Gene questions this once he realizes what he did at the tree. I don't think Gene bounced the branch intentionally or consciously, but I do think it was his subconscious that caused him to harm Finny.
I felt the most sorry for Leper. All he wanted was to be respected. Even when he did come back as a Section Eight discharged soldier, he still wasn't respected - so he thought. In his eyes, he could never accept himself or like himself. I think that is what was the root of his problems. He was a peaceful person with an imagination and lots of a curiosity, but very little confidence. We saw that when he couldn't jump out of the tree and by the way he withdrew from the group most of the time during the school year. That peace, imagination and curiosity might have been what caused his discharge. Confidence is a tricky thing. If you have too much of it you are seen as a threat; if you don't have enough of it, you are weak. Finding that balance is what one must do in order to be satisfied with oneself. None of these characters had that balance; hence, the coming of age story.
Even though this is not my favorite book of the summer, it is a good book. It shows us how internal conflict can change our lives and others in an instant. It shows us how escaping reality is a coping skill and defense mechanism. It shows us how important friendship is even when it is challenged. I often wonder what the story would be like if the characters were all adolescent girls - oh wait, I've seen that. Isn't it called Mean Girls?
See you all in a few weeks. Enjoy what is left!
I completely agree with you on everything you've said about the novel, although I liked the book a little better than you seemed to. I agree with you that the book mainly revolves around the coming of age story of the teenage boys, and how that transformation between being a child and being a man can cause major changes in a person's life that can never be fixed, as in Finny's case. I think that part of Gene's thinking throughout the novel, about Finny, was probably the common saying,"keep your friends close, your enemies closer".
ReplyDeleteI actually diagreee with you about the setting and the plot. the setting of a high school during a War really showed the war didn't just affect soldiers it affected the boys at home too. The plot was also important for me especially at Phineas' death really showed me life is way too short and you must take all the risks in life for you don't know what day will be your last. I do agree with you about the characters. I loved analyzing the characters the most.
ReplyDeleteI like how you made the connectionm from A separate piece to mean girls. I do see the similarities. I think that Gene's relationship with Phineas is outardly he thinks of Phineas as a friend, but self concously he viesws him as the biggest threat. Thats whyI think he believed he did move the branch so Phineas would fall. Of course he didn't mean to hurt his friend, but deep inside his heart it was only getting rid of his rival.
Alexix,
ReplyDeleteDo or did you see our high school boys acting like the boys in the book? Granted, you were very small when the 'War on Terror' began; but we still are in a war-like situation, don't you think? How is war-time in the novel different from war-time today?
As far as Finny's death, I think it was too brief. I didn't see it as life being too short; I saw it as an unfortunate incident due to a mishap in the operating room. Bone marrow in the blood stream? His death was not the focus of the story, but helped with Gene's guilt and quest for finding his truth.
Neither boy was really what I'd consider a risk taker, but more of the 'I have to prove myself to the others so they will respect me' kind of boy. Very selfish, but consider the age of teh boys. What do you think?
Forgive me Alexis, my fingers went too fast. I should have proofread before I posted.
ReplyDeleteMy "view" of the book was somewhat similar to yours. The characters were what I liked most, but the plot and setting were next.
ReplyDeleteYou also seemed to basically say in your "analysis" of characters, exactly what I was trying to say in my analysis of Leper. I think I had a little difficulty trying to get the point across.
I am with you. This wasn't my favorite book, but it was interesting. I though, like you, it was repetitive and ongoing.
Kayla, I agree with your saying that you thought some of Gene's thinking throughout the novel was an example of the common saying, "Keep your friends close, your enemies closer". I think that sums up that particular area of Gene's thinking 100%.
I really like what you said about balance. It reminded me of how none of the characters use moderation. This is all very intertwined with the episode where Phineas burns The Iliad. It seems that all of the major themes could be connected to events of the "parallel" masterpiece. There's also a stab at the meaning of justice here. The courage of Phineas, the wisdom of Gene and the moderation that all these characters lack can act together to derive justice from a seemingly unjust universe. Unfortunately, that never happens here.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I got a sense that the boys lacked a sense of meaning in their lives. Perhaps why I didn't "connect" with them was because they all seemed rather too innocent for sixteen- year- olds. I definitely agree with your observation that it was slow reading.
I agree with most of what you said. I did quite enjoy the book though. And how you mentioned that Finny knew the war was there he just denied it. That was one of the parts of the book that i thought was interesting because he was trying to convince Gene he would be in the Olympics all because he didn't want to believe the war was going on.
ReplyDeleteUhm... I kinda saw the novel a little differently then you did. You were right about that it was slow at first but once you thought about what the chapter ment or what the deeper meaning to what that person said. It really makes you think and that's what i loved about Knowles writing for this book. Also when you brought up how Finny tried to hide the war... But in the end he was really trying to enlist but couldn't :( so he was trying to hide the fact that there was a war going on. I didn't understand at first what Phineas was meaning by that action because of the whole Gene and Olympics thing... But then i understud why he took the war the way he did.
ReplyDeleteI believe that Gene and Finny were truely bestfriends but Finny was Genes biggest threat... Competing with your bestfriend is normal but not to the extent of hurting them beyond repair. That isn't friendly competition is it?
It was a bit of slow reading, but I actually really enjoyed this book, it was my favorite out of the rest. But I do agree with you, Leper had most my pity. He was just different, a free-spirit, and saw things in a different way. Then he went off into war, and his personality changed, with his 'craziness' intensified. I felt like he showed the greatest "loss of innocence" of all the characters, although, like you said, most of the boys didn't even do anything in the line of duty.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your ending thoughts, and this was definitely better than "Mean Girls". :)
I like how you said having too much confidece makes you a threat, and not having enough makes you weak. I like how you related it to the 'coming of age' story.
ReplyDeleteI also disliked the setting and plot. Thinking back, the only important events in the novel were Phineas falling out of the tree, Phineas finding out it was Gene's fault, then Phineas falling again except this time dying from his injuries. If this book was three pages long and only had these events, we would still get the whole plot picture. The whole military academy setting is also a very typical setting during a war time. It seems as if all the kids just know they are going to war, but truthfully the draft would only take a few of them. We did not send every man to war, but that is what was in the boys' mind in this novel. I also felt sorry for Leper. He could not handle the strains of war. It is sad because he had a great imagination and that is now gone with post-war syndrome. The saddest fact being he never even went to war, only to boot camp.
ReplyDeleteThat opening paragraph really shocked me. I loved the book. I did not find it slow at all. Though I have to note you on that it was a good coming of age story. The character development was pouring out of the story. But I don’t necessarily see "Mean Girls" being a mirrored plot of this book.
ReplyDeleteI think Finny was Gene's biggest threat. Maybe that is why Gene was best friends with Finny, because aren't you supposed to keep your enemies closer? I too did feel sorry for Leper, but he seemed a little unstable when he first enlisted.
ReplyDeleteI also disliked the setting. Though I liked the characters so much that I could not dislike the book. I really liked what you said about balance and confidence. In most of our books this summer there has been at least one character who had too much or too little self confidence, even if they were a minor character. I love reading your blogs. They make me think a lot about the novel and bring things to my attention that I didn't notice while reading.
ReplyDeleteI mostly agree with your first paragraph, at points the book is very uneventful and slow. I disagree with where you say the plot is not important, I found the school a good place for the presented characters to live in, because without school, they would not be as competitive with one another.
ReplyDeleteWasn't it the point that they did not contribute to the war? It was about how they had an illusioned peace, hence the book's title, without the reality of war foremost on their minds. They couldn't give up the peace they had for something unknown and faraway. They didn't think about or commit themselves to the war until it literally showed up in their front yard.
ReplyDelete"This is the conflict Gene is faced with throughout the entire book. Is he really best friends with Finny, or is Finny his biggest threat?"
ReplyDeleteMs. Jesik,
I love your point about this book which I have quoted above. I think that this is a situation in which everyone can relate to. We all have friends in which we are always competing with whether we know it or not. I really looked up to Finny in points in the novel. For example, I thought very highly of him on how he was able to forgive Gene for ruining his athletic career. I also like when he didn't want anyone to say anything about him breaking the swim record. It made Finny look very humble as a character. Very well written blog! It made me think about a lot of stuff that I hadn't even considered.
Always,
-Brandd. :)
yea after thinking about it, it wasn't thee best book of the summer. BUT, it was definately not the worst; i enjoyed reading this because of the characters in the book. I do like all the little mischeif too that isn't so serious but still cool and ends up big at the end.
ReplyDeleteThat was a funny but pretty cool comparison of this book to Mean Girls haha. The competition is what i see the most from that.
I think the setting was actually very very important, unlike today when you can enlist willingly, back then if you didn't enlist willingly you were drafted. Like it or not. They may not have been fighting but the terror of fighting, killing, and possibly being killed still hung over their heads like a death sentence.
ReplyDeleteWhile you mention "innocence is lost", I believe it is traded in for experience. Gene grows into adolescence, and has to experience mature situations, like losing a friend and dealing with war. With the adventures of this summer, he does lose his innocence in that he begins to indentify himself as a person.
ReplyDeleteI love that you brought up that the story is a "coming of age" story. I loved seeing the progress in these characters lives. I also believe that these boys were just "talk" when it came to war. No body wants to go to war but they would love to show off to others how brave they are.
ReplyDeleteYou are right when you say it was slow, but i think most good stories are. If you wanted a fast story it would have been someone telling you what you just said in your post. But i disagree with you on the setting fact. Having it in a boarding school for boys was perfect. In high school you try to find yourself, change yourself and become part of a group. Every boy was different but wanted to be part of the same group, the army. Gene and Finny came from two different places yet become best friends. This was the perfect setting to have a coming of age story.
ReplyDelete-Cool Beans:)
Mrs. Jesik,
ReplyDeleteEverything you wrote I mostly agreed with, except for when you said the story was slow. Sure there would be a few long pauses where nothing would happen. Yet when the action began, like the Winter Festival, it made me want to turn the page and keep reading. As I read in another blog, they said that this book sort of relates to high school now. We don't have war in high school, but it's like a war. Fighting to fit in, fightiing to get the good grades, and fighting to prepare ourselves for the other wars to come, like the real world after high school. Don't you think so too??
See you soon!
-Angie:)
Ms. Jesik,
ReplyDeleteI only agree with some of what you wrote. I absolutely loved this book, so that would be why. The thing that I agree with you most on, is where you mentioned that Finny had modesty. Of course, every boy out there is trying to be the best at everything they do. But it's the one that doesn't brag about it even when he knows he is the best, that makes him that much better. Have you ever read "If" by Rudyard Kipling? It's my absolute favorite poem. And for some reason, I'm not quite sure why, it reminds me of this book and the characters in it. Looking forward to finally seeing you in class.
;morgan.
At times I did feel like I was reading a huge pile of complex words that led to no event or importance, thus making the book seem slow. But I must admit, I loved this book! I loved it because of each characters' situation. Mainly Finny's. He was like the jack-of-all-traits. He had natural talent, charm, and he was true not only as a friend. But then, the worst got the best him, what often happens to most people like him. However, he accepted it, moved on, and kept his head up. Like a soldier at war. And yet, in the end he still didnt make it. Kind of like a hero.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the statement that innocense is lost. Throughout the book it shows this. Gene making Finny fall was the opposite of innocent and was caused by jealousy. The concept is so relateable because everyone has someone that is superior to them and we dont always like that. It's all about how you handle your jealousy... If everyone shook tree branches when someone was better then them our world would be very twisted. You need to take it and turn it into your stive to do better.
ReplyDelete