Reviews tagging 'Alcoholism'

Stoner by John Williams

21 reviews

floatinthevoid's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

After reading about 60% of the book, I was very sure , this would be my new favorite. Until,

the cheating plot came in. God damn it immediately made me gone to a reading slump. Like I could endure cheating in fiction if it's not romanticized.

That part of the book is sooo annoying. I think John Williams is a very talented writer. He could write mundane things to be somethinh to have a very deep and long conversation. But if I had to sum up this book briefly, I'm just gonna say, this book is perfect for all of you who likes to suffer reading a depressing book. That's it. Oh, maybe some of you who study English Lit will also like this too. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and War

Minor: Alcoholism

raffia's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Death of parent

Moderate: Toxic relationship

Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, and War

kydnmthws's review against another edition

reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

”What did you expect?”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Death of parent

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

sadiaa's review against another edition

4.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and War

lief_'s review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Cancer, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Medical content, and War

Minor: Alcoholism

maithaalfalasi's review against another edition

emotional lighthearted reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual content

Academia, slow life, quiet

samarakroeger's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.25

the marital r*pe scenes caught me off guard but I guess it was unfortunately par for the course in those days. 

William Stoner is an incredibly awkward and passive-aggressive protagonist. The book is sad, slow, and deeply melancholic as it follows his tiny little life at the University of Missouri during the Greatest Generation. I found him frustrating, but in a way that makes a compelling book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Cancer, Eating disorder, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Death of parent

wormgirl's review against another edition

emotional reflective slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Alcohol, War, and Classism

millenniumix's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

On the back cover of the book, it is described as the “perfect novel,” and in many ways, it is. It is a perfect contemporary work of fiction, one that packs a realness and rawness in prose that is so well put together. “Stoner” is a man and a life who just so happens to be a book. There are no surprises in the story, no twists and turns, no overt melodrama. Just simply a walk through one man’s existence and an attempt at a contemplation of meaning and purpose that are elusive. 

And if you think it sounds like a bore, I assure you it isn’t. Anybody would be bettered by having picked this one and read it. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Alcoholism

klor's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

I had to take a few minutes of silence after I finished this book. There's a quietness to it the whole way through and a loneliness, not a bombastic one. The plot doesn't really have a lot going on, we're just following this man's life and yet the writing was so good that I just had to keep going. I honestly got so attached to our protagonist and felt for him through the various unfortunate things in his life

through his failed marriage, to not being able to connect with his parents after going to college, to the shitty bureaucracy in his job, his mentally ill wife emotionally distancing his daughter from him, to not being able to be with the woman who actually loved him

it's not a grand thing or events but damn they hit hard a lot once they enter the picture. Half the time, readers can see it coming and you almost wish that he should stand up for himself but that's just not his character. The love he had for literature is the same love I have for the field I'm in. This story simultaneously made my heart clench and then break and then make peace with it. It's like ribs by lorde but like as an adult lol

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Grief

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Death, Mental illness, and Death of parent