Helpful Score: 5
Critics have praised this book as a "masterpiece," and "American classic" for decades. It has been a best-seller for over 30 years, and after reading it I understand the sales records and whole-heartedly agree with all the praise given. The setting is a boys' boarding school in New England during the early years of WWII. The school creates their own private world, and the ways in which the war creeps slowly into their lives is both dark and moving. Dark moments of adolescence mimic the war, and I found myself drawn to the parallels of the current Iraq war. At only 200 pages it is a fast, and moving read.
Helpful Score: 5
Required reading at my school that I found to be the most boring, dry and uninteresting books I have ever picked up.
Helpful Score: 4
I also was required to read this book in high school. However, it was the only required reading that I really got into. I loved this book. It is one of only a few books that I re-read years later. I just really related to the characters. It is a wonderful book.
Helpful Score: 4
I really enjoyed this book. It had a slow start, but don't let that stop you from reading it.
Helpful Score: 3
Quick read, beautifully written, poignant, haunting coming of age about New England boarding school boys, at the onset of WWII. Narrated by Gene as an adult revisiting the Devon School, he tells the story about his best friend and roommate Phineas, and their complicated relationship. Gene is all awkward intellectualism and Phineas is outgoing, charming, athletic and beautiful. What transpires between the two is painful and powerful.
