The best classic coming-of-age novels set within the last century

A Separate Peace published in 1958 is a terrific example of a coming-of-age novel and perhaps the first one I myself read in this genre. 

I read the novel as a teenager and found that I had to read it twice to truly understand it. The story is set in England during WWII and shows the closes friendship of two young men, Phineas, a charismatic, outgoing athlete and Gene Forrester, an introverted, intellectual who is secretly jealous of his friend. Without ruining the story, Gene commits a hideous, physical act to destroy Phineas.

Reading this when so young, I had a problem understanding Gene’s behavior but as I grew older and understood better the dynamic of codependency and youthful jealousy, it all makes amazing sense. Told in flashback, it is a must read. Made into a movie twice I have yet to see either adaptation.

Portnoy's Complaint published in 1969 I read the novel in college and I still have my copy.

I remember wondering if Phil Roth had lost his mind showing no shame in his brilliant revealing of male sexuality no one up to that time had the courage to write about. I thought a lot of it was grandstanding until I realized I too had the same fantasies Portnoy did. 

What is interesting is that Portnoy’s Complaint, was created in a world before cell phones, Instagram, and digital porn. Do young men today still have this struggle with sexual desire? Are they beyond it or perhaps they have less struggle with their desires. I recommend the novel because what is still clear is that the novel’s theme is still relevant, sexual desire is proof we are alive.

I recently screened the film version and unfortunately it was filmed at a pitch of hysteria and does not work at all. The novel is much more relevant.

Published in 1943, this was certainly my favorite coming-of-age novel which I read in high school. I grew up in a neighborhood in Queens with trees and parks while to me, Brooklyn was a world of concrete.

Francie intrigued me with how she survived her drunk father, her single-minded mother, and the harshness of poverty. My working-class world was a lot less dangerous and drastic than Francie’s so she intrigued me as she never wavered or lost her belief that everything would work out. The novel is the epitome of the coming-of-age book since it is truly about growing up and looking back on childhood memories no matter how unforgiving they are.

You are only young once and the novel tells us to relish those memories since there is always something good in them even if they are buried. The movie directed by Kazan is a good watch showing the basic truth of the novel. 

This is a series of four novels with the first one titled My Brilliant Friend.

The novel is set in the outskirts of Naples in the 1950s following the early lives of two friends. One is dark and outgoing but seems to contain an inner strength as well as inner demons while the other is lighter, more introspective, and tentative. Life quickly rushes at them as they deal with the families of local mafia sons and their girlfriends both in school and the neighborhood.

The writing is so intimate and perceptive it brings you right to the doorsteps of both young girls as their surroundings mold them into grown women. When the darker one decides to ignore her teacher’s pushing her to take a creative writing class, her friend takes her place and both of their destinies are set in motion. The HBO series is a true and exact adaptation of the books and it is as amazingly fluid and brilliant as the novels. 

You cannot mention a coming-of-age novel without mentioning this classic.

Pip is an orphan who meets an escaped prisoner in a graveyard, does him a good deed, then is made a gentleman from an inheritance he knows nothing about. All of us enter our youth with great expectations and some of us are lucky enough, or unlucky, to meet our own beautiful Estella or the damaged and doomed Miss Havisham or the worldly and wise attorney Mister Jaggers.

Set in London where the worlds of extreme poverty and privilege co-exist side by side, we experience this world firsthand as Pip does wondering, all the time, if we can survive it unscathed. Ignore all other movie adaptations since they will only disappoint. Screen the 1946 version directed by David Lean. It is a great film.