let me preface this by saying this book isn't for everyone. expect no fast paced action-packed style, as much of the conflict is internal. also bear in mind that this is set in an all-white all-male boarding school community, which of course is not interesting to everyone. that said, i have to say this book is most definitely one of my favorite -- if not my absolute favorite -- books. the characters feel like they have a lot of depth, and the story is told very earnestly and subtly from a place in the author's memory that seems tender and wistful. the writing and story never felt manufactured or saturated to me. it is also a good look into one experience of the war, and how even those of the most privileged classes were affected. a lot of what happens is interpreted very differently from person to person, more so than most books i've read. that's one of the beauties of it, in my opinion. characters and events are written explicitly enough to make sense but ambiguously enough for everyone to read it their own way. david levithan's afterword is insightful but brief and easy to read, which is a blessing as most books that fall into the classic lit genre have really long and overblown additions.

Fantastic! in every sense of the word.

John Knowles is a legend. This book was made very realistic and intense enough to get you intersected in the book. 5 star worthy!

This book is a classic and one of the most readable of all books given the 'classic'designstion. Ignore the negative reviews. One thought they were downloading an audio book. How can their incompetence downloading content reflect poorly on the book? The other complained about page count. Apparently they didn't know simply changing the font size on your iPad changes the page count.

good book but the description says its only 204 pages, once i bought it i discovered its actually around 550

This book has a ton of information. In the beginning it is a little slow but overall is a super fast read and a great book.

Tbh the paper back book is only 5 dollars so why would I pay $10 so it can be on my phone ? I could go online and read it for free...

I read this book twice once as a high schooler and once thirty years later and enjoyed it both times. Good story, good writing, and characters who you care about. Recommended!...EAF