Despite several virtues—some good writing and good observations about how boys live at school—"Peace Breaks Out" suffers from its author having told such a similar story so much better before [in "A Separate Peace"]. A moral mystery of this kind requires, if not the first-person narration of the earlier version, then at least a unified point of view. I suspect Knowles once meant to provide one in the person of his teacher and at some point sensed that his teacher is too dull to sustain it. Worse, his story requires that the culprit go free—which means in this case that neither police nor coroner may take an interest in the victim. The particular strength of "A Separate Peace" lay in Knowles's inspired conception of his characters: of a victim who in no way resembles a victim and a murderer who does not know he is one until after the event. By contrast, in this recension the boys are neither likable nor believable. Going back to your old school is always a risky business: the old pranks you used to play will never work again. (p. 92J)
Peter S. Prescott, in his review of "Peace Breaks Out," in Newsweek (copyright 1981, by Newsweek, Inc,; all rights reserved; reprinted by permission), Vol. XCVII, No. 16, April 20, 1981, pp. 92H, 92J.
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