Reviews

Stoner by John Williams

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landonlunceford's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is one of the best novels I’ve ever read. All it does is follow the mundane life of an English professor, but you are so encapsulated with it. The death scene at the end might be one of the best things I’ve ever read.

jiji17's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It has been a long time since I've read a book this good. Stoner is compelling in a way that leaves the reader wondering why they are so gripped by the story of one man's totally conventional and ostensibly depressing life. Yet it is indisputably gripping, as well as unforgettably poignant, in its short length successfully touching the reader in a way that not many books do.

Williams' writing is as quietly clever but unobtrusive as the character of Stoner himself. He paints a vivid image of the University of Missouri, which Stoner's life orbits unquestioningly around, sketching all of Stoner's simple joys and personal tragedies in a way that evokes the deepest feeling from the reader and yet also simultaneously reminds them of the ultimate triviality of everything that has been described.

Throughout the novel Williams seems to prompt the reader to question Stoner as a character. Should we really empathise with him, or has he earned the hardship in his life - from being a bad husband, an inadequate father, an inflexible teacher? Yet through the portrait that Williams creates, we see that Stoner is a merely a man, a man with faults, but also with principles, empathy, and passion. A man just like many before him and many after him. This is where the true beauty in the novel lies - in its aching melancholy that admits the inconsequence of most of the struggles and triumphs of our lives and yet embraces them anyway.

I believe that in a very different way to Camus, Williams asks us to embrace the absurdity of life, to continue the endless struggle of human existence, and to reflect on the meaninglessness and yet unbearable significance of each of our lives.

fallona's review against another edition

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4.0

One of the bleakest novels I have ever read, and yet somehow I genuinely enjoyed it. It's moving in its desolation.

offboss's review against another edition

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5.0

One of those books that became instantly important to me. The best thing I have read in at least a year. I don't know if it's a "perfect novel" as the blurb claims, but it is incredibly beautiful and sincere.