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The Paragon
- GenresFiction
210 pages, Unknown Binding
Published January 1, 1971
About the author
John Knowles
108 books419 followersJohn Knowles was an American novelist best known for A Separate Peace (1959).
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
February 23, 2024
Generally enjoyable and entertaining, and funny and tragic in some parts. There are a few moments where it's just political discussions about like the conflict between the Koreas which probably relates to the moral and themes of the story, but I have no clue. That was kind of boring. But Lou as a character is very interesting and so are his interactions with everyone else. The ending was kind of quick, not like A Separate Peace where Gene narrated what he learned for 6 or so pages. So here I think there could have been more aspects touched on or at least mentioned. ---and really weird things happen that I think should have been explained more 😭
Interesting insight at the end though 😔
Interesting insight at the end though 😔
April 9, 2020
I loved A Separate Peace, and I had a copy of this on my bookshelf. It was a quick, good read, just nothing earth shattering. I felt it portrayed important feelings about finding yourself and your place in the world without much depth.
December 10, 2021
"Louis Colfax, you are an uncertain fool and so you will be okay."
Lou Colfax, the protagonist of "The Paragon", is a mixed up crazy college kid trying to find himself. Except it's in 1954 and he's attending Yale University after a brief and very unsuccessful career in the Army. Cut from the same (or similar) cloth as Holden Caulfield, Lou is a misfit, a lovable creation who is comfortable in his own odd skin when he's not busy being uncomfortable within it.
"The Paragon" is a delightful book, filled with many laughs and shrugs, despite not having much of a plot. Written in the early 70's, it is a splendid examination of all that faced college students a generation earlier, during the age of the Korean War, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. Lou is filled with self-doubt, even though he never doubts that his ex-girlfriend Charlotte, a married woman now that he deeply pines for, is the mother of his child. He is presented as a young man at the precipice of either greatness or failure; a dreamer with big ideas and unconventional ways of 'acting out.' A rebel on his own terms, not running against macro-society as much as his microcosm world. So, in turn, the book is largely filled with Lou behaving in unconventional ways that are often funny while he also tries to figure out what to do with his future and how to grow up and live a fulfilling life without Charlotte.
Lou Colfax, the protagonist of "The Paragon", is a mixed up crazy college kid trying to find himself. Except it's in 1954 and he's attending Yale University after a brief and very unsuccessful career in the Army. Cut from the same (or similar) cloth as Holden Caulfield, Lou is a misfit, a lovable creation who is comfortable in his own odd skin when he's not busy being uncomfortable within it.
"The Paragon" is a delightful book, filled with many laughs and shrugs, despite not having much of a plot. Written in the early 70's, it is a splendid examination of all that faced college students a generation earlier, during the age of the Korean War, McCarthyism, and the Cold War. Lou is filled with self-doubt, even though he never doubts that his ex-girlfriend Charlotte, a married woman now that he deeply pines for, is the mother of his child. He is presented as a young man at the precipice of either greatness or failure; a dreamer with big ideas and unconventional ways of 'acting out.' A rebel on his own terms, not running against macro-society as much as his microcosm world. So, in turn, the book is largely filled with Lou behaving in unconventional ways that are often funny while he also tries to figure out what to do with his future and how to grow up and live a fulfilling life without Charlotte.
February 8, 2021
I have always been a John Knowles fan since reading "A Separate Peace" and this is book seems not to be one of his better known works. However, I found that the character of the protagonist, Lou Colfax, is one of his most memorable characters....The book takes place in 1953 and Mr. Colfax has returned to Yale after being discharged early from the USMC. Colfax has a near genius IQ but is clearly on the spectrum and doesn't always handle his relationships in an appropriate manner. This book is a wonderful read with other memorable characters in the Yale community...
December 6, 2010
Show, don't tell!
No, ok, this is one of those "I should read something I already own" books. I remembered liking A Separate Peace somewhere in the haze of college or whenever, and I didn't DISLIKE this book, it just wasn't very good.
THE BOY WEARS ALL BLACK! LET'S FOCUS ON THAT, SHALL WE?
Light, sort of entertaining read. I mean, I did stick with it, right? And I liked the part about the horse.
No, ok, this is one of those "I should read something I already own" books. I remembered liking A Separate Peace somewhere in the haze of college or whenever, and I didn't DISLIKE this book, it just wasn't very good.
THE BOY WEARS ALL BLACK! LET'S FOCUS ON THAT, SHALL WE?
Light, sort of entertaining read. I mean, I did stick with it, right? And I liked the part about the horse.
October 9, 2026
Dull and rambling. And I'm too dense to figure out who or what is 'the paragon' in this story.
The protagonist is clearly mentally ill, but it seems the author wants us to view the events through the eyes of this young man.
The most dramatic events occur at the end of the book. The resolution is improbable and abrupt.
Pretty writing, of course. John Knowles has a talent for the rhythm of a sentence. He simply did not have much to say here.
The protagonist is clearly mentally ill, but it seems the author wants us to view the events through the eyes of this young man.
The most dramatic events occur at the end of the book. The resolution is improbable and abrupt.
Pretty writing, of course. John Knowles has a talent for the rhythm of a sentence. He simply did not have much to say here.
April 21, 2022
Lou is a college kid trying to find himself. He’s probably Asperger’s with some genius thrown in along with some impetuous tendencies An okay read. The evening with Thor the horse was great fun
July 3, 2016
It was a pretty good read, nothing great. I thought the end fizzled out.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews