Movies like a separate peace

A Separate Peace is a coming-of-age novel by John Knowles, published in 1959. Based on his earlier short story "Phineas", published in the May 1956 issue of Cosmopolitan, it was Knowles's first published novel and became his best-known work. Set against the backdrop of World War II, A Separate Peace explores morality, patriotism, and loss of innocence through its narrator, Gene.

Gene Forrester returns to his old prep school, Devon (a thinly veiled portrayal of Knowles's alma mater, Phillips Exeter Academy), fifteen years after he graduated, to visit two places he regards as "fearful sites:" a flight of marble stairs and a big tree by the river. First of all, he examines the stairs and notices that they are made of marble. Then, he goes to the tree, which brings back memories of his time as a student at Devon. From then on, the novel follows Gene's description from the summer of 1942 to the summer of 1943. In 1942, he is 16 and living at Devon with his best friend and roommate, Phineas (nicknamed Finny). World War II is taking place and has a prominent effect on the story's plot and characters.