# Separate Peace or Catcher in the Rye?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separate-peace-or-catcher-in-the-rye/96218>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [November 30, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separate-peace-or-catcher-in-the-rye/96218 "2001-11-30T23:44:03Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Hedda\_Rosa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hedda_rosa/32/1204_2.png) [@Hedda\_Rosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hedda_Rosa)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2001, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separate-peace-or-catcher-in-the-rye/96218/1 "2001-11-30T23:44:03Z")

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In honor of the passing of John Knowles, author of _A Separate Peace_.

I have long thought that _A Separate Peace_ and _Catcher in the Rye_ by JD Salinger have a remarkable number of similarities, not the least of which being that they are finely drawn portraits of male teen angst. Also that they each were their respective author’s defining work.

For myself it is _A Separate Peace_ by a mile, both because I find the main character more sympathetic, and because I think the ambiguities woven into the story more accurately reflect how I feel as I look back on my teen years. But that is just me.

I’d love to see if and why anyone else thinks one is better then the other.

Twiddle

P.S. I debated with myself for a while whether this really belongs here or in Cafe Society - if I got it wrong I apologize.

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**Author:** ![Hello\_Again](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hello\_Again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hello_Again)\
**Post date:** [December 1, 2001, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/separate-peace-or-catcher-in-the-rye/96218/2 "2001-12-01T01:08:07Z")

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I’m with you. _A Separate Peace_ by a mile. For me its because it contrasts the Golden Boy with the Average Kid, with the Average Kid finally coming out of the shadow of the Golden Boy. A big life-changing part of my adolescence was when I stopped comparing myself to others.

Holden Caulfield always struck me as an irresponsible jackass, even when I was 13. Dammit, don’t you know how much fencing foils _cost_??