Book Review: Stoner
I knew about 20 pages in that I was going to love this book. I knew that this was going to be one of the best books I’ll read this year, not just in terms of ‘classics’ or LitFic, but out of all the books I’ll get through, this’ll be the one I think about for years to come. John Williams has a way with prose, and that is saying something as I don’t really pay too much attention to the way a book is written. I tend to focus on plot and characterisation. But Williams writes about a seemingly unextraordinary life as though it were something rare and precious; he writes with a sensitivity that I have not come across before and that, in part, is what made this book one of the best this year.
William Stoner is a farmer’s boy. His destiny already seems mapped out for him: he will grow up, he will take over the family farm, he might marry, and then continue the cycle for the next generation. But one day it is suggested that he go to the University of Missouri to study agriculture, but one day, he encounters Sonnet 73 by William Shakespeare, and it changes the course of his life. He falls in love with literature, and a passion he didn’t know he was capable of ignites.
I think it can be said that the character of William Stoner is, in essence, a reflection of all of us. Moving from hopes and dreams to being dragged into the harsh realities of life. Life has a way of grinding down the ideals and ambitions of young people. For Stoner, this happened in various ways: the outbreak of the First World War and the loss of friends. He himself chooses not to fight much to the chagrin of many around him, but because of it, he witnesses the loss of innocence of those around him and the profound change that it brings to society, even all the way in Missouri. That is not to say his dreams die; his love of literature is really the only thing that carries him through life even when it is threatened. He falls in love with the wrong woman, a woman who was already bitter and unhappy, a woman who chose to marry despite not loving him back and a woman who chose to use their child as a weapon of her ire against Stoner, deserved or not.
Stoner is a character that will still always intrigue me; he doesn’t stand up to what is right all the time. He doesn’t argue with his wife when he should; he takes her mistreatment as a form of self-punishment and is quite happy with his current position in life. He has no grand ambitions. It is a juxtaposition to a lot of the characters one reads in today’s fiction where the stakes are inexorably high. But there is something beautifully quiet about this book. It’s the fact that the minute injustices and victories that Stoner goes through are what really make this book. I would almost argue that Stoner is a walking Albert Camus quote. There is a philosophy of life to him that is hard to pin down.
As I have said, this is a beautiful book and well worth reading, and I would highly recommend it. You will see this on the 2026 wrap list.