Stoner by John Williams

 

In this weeks Sunday Times in the regular article "Dead, alive and underrated", Taffy Brodesser-Akner chooses Stoner by John Williams for the first of these. This is one of my very favourite books. Here is my review from 28th January 2014.

The last in a trilogy of American University novels I have read recently, and equal to the wonderful The Art of Fielding and The Secret History. Recently rediscovered in the UK, John Williams' novel Stoner from 1965 is a beautiful, sad but at times uplifting story of William Stoner, a farm boy who finds literature during his time at the University of Missouri. There he stays to teach and we follow his quiet life through all it's ups and downs. But what propels this book to it's status as Waterstone's Book of the Year is the prose. Simple and clear, you are able to race through the sentences whilst at the same time absorbing everything on the page. The writing flows expertly and intelligently and keeps the reader involved despite the subject matter. A simple life, one mainly devoid of love and humour. Stoner has difficulty with relationships, although most are not of his own making. I was so angry at certain points in the story that I wanted to throw the book across the room. Chapter 8 is 14 pages of domestic horror. Is Stoner one of life's losers? We have to ask that question. I don't think so. He may have been if he stayed on his parent's farm. But he had choices. He married the wrong woman, and perhaps these days he would have left. But in the 1930's and 40's things were different. But he had his books and his teaching and for him, that was just enough.

I was going to read it again but cannot find it on my bookshelf. A new copy would be nice.