John Knowles

From BookJive

Born:	September 16, 1926
Died:	November 29, 2001
Residence:	Southampton, New York
School:	Phillips Exeter Academy
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John Knowles (September 16, 1926 - November 29, 2001), b. Fairmont, West Virginia, was an American novelist, best known for his novel A Separate Peace.

A 1945 graduate of the Phillips Exeter Academy in Exeter, New Hampshire, Knowles graduated from Yale University as a member of the class of 1949W. A Separate Peace is based upon Knowles' experiences at Exeter during the summer of 1943. The setting for The Devon School is a thinly veiled fictionalization of Phillips Exeter. The plot should not be taken as autobiographical, although many elements of the novel stem from personal experience. In his essay, A Special Time, A Special Place, Knowles wrote:

The only elements in A Separate Peace which were not in that summer were anger, violence, and hatred. There was only friendship, athleticism, and loyalty.

Gore Vidal, in his memoir Palimpsest, acknowledges that he and Knowles concurrently attended Phillips Exeter, with Vidal two years ahead. Vidal states that Knowles told him that the character Brinker, who precipitates the novel's crisis, is based on Vidal. "We have been friends for many years now," Vidal said, "and I admire the novel that he based on our school days,A Separate Peace.

A Separate Peace is widely included on high-school curricula. The novel's possible homosexual subtext continues to stimulate spirited debate.

Knowles's other significant works are Morning in Antibes, Double Vision: American Thoughts Abroad, Indian Summer, The Paragon, and Peace Breaks Out. None of these later works were as well received as A Separate Peace.

A resident of Southampton, New York, Knowles wrote seven novels, a book on travel and a collection of stories. He was the winner of William Faulkner Award and the Rosenthal Award of the National Institute of Arts and Letters. In his later years, Knowles lectured to university audiences.

[edit] Selected Books

Title: A Separate Peace Author: John Knowles A short story about two teenage boys who became best of friends despite their differences. Gene is quiet, introverted with high intellect, who fiercely envies Finny; Finny is outgoing, daring and popular. The conflict begins when the envy explodes, causing hurt to the other, and a guilt feeling to the one who lost his innocence forever.

• London, Secker & Warburg, 1959; New York, Macmillan Co., 1960

Title: Spreading Fires Author: John Knowles A brief novel of decadence and homosexuality set in the south of France, deals with madness, potential madness, and the low life of the upper class.

• New York, Random House, 1974

Title: Peace Breaks Out Author: John Knowles The book follows the story of Pete Hallam as he returns to the school and becomes a history teacher as well as a coach. It is a story of the aftermath of World War II and the loss of innocence of young men. It starts by Pete Hallam returning to the school he graduated from, war-torn and emotionally scarred. He now is a teacher at Devon School and detects a subtle but deep hate between two members of the class in the first session alone.

• New York, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1981

[edit] References

Wikipedia