故事发生在二次大战期间，吉恩和菲尼两个同窗好友是所读高中的佼佼者。菲尼在体育上尤为特长。这让吉恩嫉妒。在从一个高高的大树跃入河中的竞技中，内向而羞怯吉恩虽然在菲尼之后跃入水中，但也落入了心理的障碍，他不能超越菲尼。为了可以卓越，在后来的一次的跳水中，他踩动树枝，菲尼结果跌倒地面上，终身残废……故事以吉恩怀着独自和解的心情从回忆往事的角度来描述，故对主人公的内心思想活动刻划得非常细腻。本书为英文版。

故事以第二次世界大战为背景，主人公吉恩回忆十五年前在德文学校求学时期他和同学特别是和菲尼亚斯相处在一起时发生的事情。那是1942年夏，十七足岁的高年级学生为应征入伍都要进行备战训练。有一项训练项目是爬树，再从树上跳入河中。吉恩和菲尼亚斯等人都不满十七岁，但他们也都私下去爬树跳水。吉恩比较孤独，性格内向，但在班上学习成绩名列前茅，菲尼亚斯慷慨大方，有一股犟劲，是全校最好的运动员。吉恩渴望能在毕业典礼上当学生代表致告别词，但他担心菲尼亚斯会取代他去致词；另一方面，他妒忌菲尼亚斯，却又误认为菲尼亚斯是个妒忌他，想阻止他学业进步的人，因而暗中对菲尼亚斯怀有敌意；而菲尼亚斯一直信任吉恩，并视他为自己最好的朋友。一次，他们又同去爬树跳水，菲尼亚斯刚爬到一棵小树枝上，由于吉恩在后面震动了树枝，菲尼亚斯失却平衡跌了下去，以致成了跛子。后来吉恩向菲尼亚斯承认事故是他造成的，但菲尼亚斯怎么也不相信。之后，其他同学也逼着吉恩把事实经过说说明白，可就在当天晚上，菲尼亚斯又摔跤受伤，最后因开刀死在手术台上。

故事以吉恩怀着独自和解的心情从回忆往事的角度来描述，故对主人公的内心思想活动刻划得非常细腻。

本书适宜于大学英语专业中、高年级学生及具有相仿英语水平的社会读者阅读欣赏。

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I went back to the Devon School not long ago，and found it looking oddly newer than when I was a student there rifteen years before．It seemed more sedate than I remembered it，more perpendicular and strait-laced，with narrower windows and shinier woodwork，as though a coat of varnish．had been put over everything for better preservation．But，of course，fifteen years before there had been a war going on．Perhaps the school wasn’t as well kept Up in those days；perhaps varnish，along with everything else，had gone to war．

I didn’t entirely like this glossy new surface．because it made the school look like a museum，and that"s exactlv what it was to me，and what I did not want it to be．In the deep，tacit way in which feeling becomes stronger than thought，I had ahvays felt that the Devon School came into existence the day I entered it，was vibrantly real while I was a student there，and then blinked out like a candle the day I left．

Now here it was after all，preserved by some consideratehand with varnish and wax．Preserved along with it,like stale air in an unopened room，was the well known fear which had surrounded and filled those days，so much of itthat I hadn’t even known it was there．Because，anfamiliar with the absence of fear and what that was like，I had not been able to identify its presence．

Looking back nOW across fiReen years，I could see with great clarity the fear I had lived in，which must mean thatin the interval I had succeeded in a very important undertaking：I must have made my escape from it．

I felt fear"s echo，and along with that felt the unhinged,uncontrollable joy which had been its accompaniment and oppositeface,joy which had broken out sometimes in those dayslike Northern Lights across black sky．

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