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A review by emilymknight
Stoner by John Williams
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
A sad and reflective journey of a simple life led by many small decisions, some good and some bad. The reflective side of this book reminded me of East of Eden while the monotony of his days reminded me a little of Of Human Bondage.
William Stoner is a simple man,he goes to university, becomes a professor at the same university, marries the first girl he falls in love with, has an affair, loves his job one second and finds it boring the next, his friend dies and he is left with only one more, and then he dies of cancer. He's a good professor at times, and a shitty husband at others. Nothing revolutionary happens, but that's the point.
While I did not love this book as much as I thought I would, I can definitely appreciate how well it has been composed, and the feelings it sought to convey. And I did particularly like the nostalgic feelings in the final chapter - it was well done, not overly emotional and dramatic, just simple, to reflect his simple life.
William Stoner is a simple man,
While I did not love this book as much as I thought I would, I can definitely appreciate how well it has been composed, and the feelings it sought to convey. And I did particularly like the nostalgic feelings in the final chapter - it was well done, not overly emotional and dramatic, just simple, to reflect his simple life.
"The light of the desk lamp (he could see it now) had been absorbed by her studious small face that bent in childish absorption over a book or a picture, so that the smooth flesh glowed against the shadows of the room. He heard the small laughter echo in the distance. 'Of course,' he said and looked upon the present face of that child. 'Of course,' he said again, 'you were always there.'"