Stoner - John Williams

⭐10/10

This is long, but I wanted to post the opening paragraphs of this book because I think it captures so much about it:

William Stoner entered the University of Missouri as a freshman in the year 1910, at the age of nineteen. Eight years later, during the height of World War I, he received his Doctor of Philosophy degree and accepted an instructorship at the same University, where he taught until his death in 1956. He did not rise above the rank of assistant professor, and few students remembered him with any sharpness after they had taken his courses. When he died his colleagues made a memorial contribution of a medieval manuscript to the University library. This manuscript may still be found in the Rare Books Collection, bearing the inscription: “Presented to the Library of the University of Missouri, in memory of William Stoner, Department of English. By his colleagues.”

An occasional student who comes upon the name may wonder idly who William Stoner was, but he seldom pursues his curiosity beyond a casual question. Stoner’s colleagues, who held him in no particular esteem when he was alive, speak of him rarely now; to the older ones, his name is a reminder of the end that awaits them all, and to the younger ones it is merely a sound which evokes no sense of the past and no identity with which they can associate themselves or their careers.

I will say right off the bat that this was my favorite read since i went through Lonesome Dove a few years back, and I think it might even surpass that one in my rankings. To me, it is the story of a main character who has no qualities of a main character. It is the story of an ordinary person who lives and dies, living an ordinary life and having a small impact on the world around him. He doesn't engage in heroics, he doesn't have a moving love story, he just goes through life making some choices for himself and having life make other choices in his stead. He doesn't always live the life he wants, but he doesn't live badly either. It's really just a look a simple life being profoundly observed. 

It's a bit hard to put my finger on the reason this story resonated so strongly with me because it's not that I necessarily relate to him, but in a sense I think anyone could relate to him because it speaks so well to the human experience. There are these beautiful passages about his longing for love, or even his ability and inability to express that love. It's about finding happiness, but also feeling trapped in circumstances. It doesn't cover a lot of ground or try to be a manifesto, and yet it says so much in its 300 pages. 

But all that aside, this novel in undeniably beautiful. It is one of the most beautiful yet accessible novels I've ever read, just one striking sentence after another. It reminded me a lot of Tolkien's final story Smith of Wooten Major, a story about an ordinary man travelling to the land of Faery and  having a difficult time putting that magic into words for those around him. Aside from the similar writing styles and the fact that Williams and Tolkien had similar lives, I think it also captures that magic we all sometimes experience but have a difficult time fully verbalizing or even appreciating for ourselves. The novel has a sense of melancholy but also of longing every sentence. 

It flies through the years, being Stoner's entire life with all the ups and downs, so it's very much a bird's eye view, but also the characters are so well realized that I felt I fully understood them and the way they age and progressed through the years. I love these stories that span generations and you get a sense of both dread and warmth as you see these cycles repeating. I also got the sense that the novel could be read from anyone else's perspective and you'd get equally interesting insights.

The cover of my copy has this quotation that I thought was perfect: Stoner is something rarer than a great novel -- it is a perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, that it takes your breath away.

I really think those are kinda my thoughts. It is a perfect book. Even the nits I could pick seem to have no power here. He often tells rather than shows, but I wouldn't want it otherwise. The characters are deeply flawed, and the narrator (author) even has views I sometimes disagree with, but no book better helps me understand another's way of thinking. What are seemingly flaws kinda endear me closer to this book.

I found this book on a booktok channel which is never a good start but I'm a believer now. I read it in a weekend and haven't stopped thinking about it since.