Stoner
By John Williams & John McGahern
- Release Date: 2006-06-20
- Genre: Literary Fiction
Description
Discover an American masterpiece. This unassuming story about the life of a quiet English professor has earned the admiration of readers all over the globe.
William Stoner is born at the end of the nineteenth century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar’s life, so different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a “proper” family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.
John Williams’s luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.
Reviews
Amazing
5By Jackie is not coolI loved this book so much, I think first the sentence composition, there were so many beautiful and yet simply crafted sentences that I had to highlight and take note of. Usually I don’t read novels like this because I find them a bit slow but this book truly enthralled me. Especially the part with Lomax and the student he was having problems with. As someone going into academia, it really highlighted the drama within the field and the sort of contempt held within the department between faculty. I also always love some solid absurdist themes. Such an amazing classic to read.Amazing and moving portrayal of humanity
5By applewontletmeLoved this genre bending memoir/whodunnit.Stoner
5By geosaptxThis is a beautifully written and poignant novel. Lovely and bittersweet....Great great great novel
5By DeafWoofAs a writer I have read a lot of books but there are a few I wish I'd written. This is one of them.Stoner by John Williams
5By Ligia UrrozA breathtaking novel, flawlessly written, a masterclass. A must-read. Stoner is a character that I will never forget. Ligia Urroz.The life of a professor
5By Dr E music loverThis is a great book. While Stoner is not an adjunct, he might as well have been; a life with potential that passes by under-appreciated. Sad, but an accurate depiction of many American lives. Like Balzac, John Williams captures the quiet desperation of the middle class with beauty and succinct prose.Stoner
5By Lilly4141An absolutely gorgeous book....a must.....enjoyed every single word !!!A Poignant Tale of Life in Academia
4By One SuitcaseA poignant tale of life in academia, specifically a fictionalized Univ of Missouri from 1910 - 1955, well told with an engaging central character, English Professor William Stoner.Excellent Book
5By Emmet AloysiusMy first book by Williams and a great story by an author who knows how to compose a good, old-fashioned human interest narrative. Stoner is a memorable character...EAF
