#John Knowles

[clearnachopirate]

If I had a nickel for every time i consumed a piece of media that at least partially takes place at an all boys boarding school in the middle of a world war and one of the boys has a crush on another but deals with it in a way that kills the other boy but also the narrative of the story takes place after the boy has already died-

if i had a nickel for every time that happened, i would have 2 nickels. which isnt a lot but its absolutely insane that it happened twice.

[queeringclassiclit]

Gene & Phinneas

from A Separate Peace by John Knowles

submitted by @specialagentartemis who said:

My first high school lit experience of “oh… they’re Gay… or at least Phineas is”

[aretheyqueer]

Is he gay?

disclaimer: this is a hc, not speculating on what the writers intentions were.

reason: C'mon... have y'all read this book? Gene Forrester is the very pinnacle of repressed 1940s homosexuality. Also his bestie/rival/love-interest?/it's-complicated, Finny, isn't doing himself any favors either.

tag: @plumomi

[book0ftheday]

A Separate Peace by John Knowles, cover design by Jim Tierney, originally published 1959, this edition 2003.

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[insomniacacademic]

Dark academia reading suggestions, beyond The Secret History: A Separate Peace

From an atmospheric perspective, if you're looking to capture the autumnal, back-to-school spirit of an elite New England school, I recommend this novel. While the characters may not be as intellectual as those in other Dark Academia works, their athletic pursuits convey many of the same themes.

I debated for some time whether this was truly "Dark Academia" or simply a boarding school novel. Ultimately, I chose to include it due to its key theme: the stark mental and physical separation between academia and the "real world." In Dark Academia literature, we often encounter intense, sometimes toxic friendships that thrive within the academic bubble but are short-lived and unsustainable outside of it. These friendships foster radical ideas that similarly cannot endure in reality. A Separate Peace explores this very direct through Finny’s belief that World War II isn't real, and through Leper’s dramatic transformation over the course of the novel. What makes this book particularly compelling is its exploration of how the pressure of a global event manifests within the insulated world of an all-boys boarding school.

[extracurricularactivities2-0]

Boygenius is for all the girlie pops who spent hours, days, weeks, and years trying to convince their 10th grade English teacher that A Seperate Peace by John Knowles was gay as fuck.

[girl-of-ink]

what is it about finny aseparatepeace that makes people so convinced that he's blond. he literally has a canon description but people are desperate to write him with blond hair and green eyes. people would rather write him as ginger than give him his actual brown hair and "blue-green eyes"

[cool-lesbian-is-here]

“There was a hard block of silence, and then i said quietly, as though my words might detonate the room, “Do you remember what made you fall?”

His eyes continued their roaming across my face. “I don’t know, I must have just lost my balance. It must have been that. I did have this idea, this feeling that when you were standing there beside me, y- I don’t know, I had a kind of feeling. But you can’t say anything for sure from just feelings. And this feeling doesn’t make any sense. It was a crazy idea, I must have been delirious. So I just have to forget it. I just fell.””

-a separate peace by John Knowles

DENIAL IS A RIVER IN EGYPT, THEY R GAY FOR EACH OTHER.

Also just try telling that doesn’t sound like an extract from a fic. Just try.

(That was so painstaking to type it all out 😭😭)

@jammahanna here’s the update on their gayness 🫶

Edit: I am rereading that extract and it makes absolutely no sense without context, so my condolences 🥲🥲

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Characters, book, and author names under the cut

Wei Wuxian/Lan Wanji - Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation/ Mo Dao Zu Shi by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Robin of Berecrofts/Katelijne Sersanders - House of Niccolò by Dorothy Dunnett

Nina Zenik/Hanne Brum - King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

Gene Forrester/Phineas - A Separate Peace by John Knowles

[willothewispwisteriadawn]

I’m kind of surprised A Separate Peace by John Knowles doesn’t get recommended or even talked about more in the circles that enjoy The Secret History, Dead Poet Society, and The Goldfinch. I felt like these stories, particularly the first two, had such similar moments and vibes to A Separate Peace.

[ofmiceandpeace]

John Knowles books web!!!

For clarity: some of these apply to the respective protagonists on screen (like "not a big athlete" between Gene and Lou from The Paragon) but others refer to the books in general (like "War" and "leg injuries" (between Gene and Pete from Peace Breaks Out---Finny was the one to break his leg but Pete injured his as well).

If you have questions or need clarifications then ask! I'll probably be able to answer them

[litandlifequotes]

I began to know that each morning reasserted the problems of night before, that sleep suspended all but changed nothing, that you couldn’t make yourself over between dawn and dusk.

A Separate Peace by John Knowles

[al-sapore-di-sigarette]

"Tutto deve evolversi, per non morire."

Pace separata — John Knowles

[karinyosa]

(10:17) There are some people who I think are partial to the notion, particularly kids, of having a twin… 

gore vidal on jimmie trimble, united states of amnesia / john knowles, a separate peace

id in alt.

some more quotes from this article that i initially wanted to add, but decided not to:

i believe they were sourced from palimpsest, vidal's first memoir, altho i can't verify bc there are no free pdfs of it online lol.

and one quote from asp, which i almost used in place of the "i didn't know you needed to study" quote, courtesy of @asp-quotes :

special shoutout to them for reminding me of most of these book excerpts and essentially causing me to make this post

[gene-forrester]

one thing about me is if i love something i’m going to collect as much of it that i possibly can. my favorite book of all time is A Separate Peace my John Knowles and i wanted to share my current collection of different covers/editions + related things.