Stoner

By: John Williams

Narrated by: Robin Field

Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

William Stoner is born at the end of the 19th century into a dirt-poor Missouri farming family. Sent to the state university to study agronomy, he instead falls in love with English literature and embraces a scholar's life, far different from the hardscrabble existence he has known. And yet as the years pass, Stoner encounters a succession of disappointments: marriage into a "proper" family estranges him from his parents; his career is stymied; his wife and daughter turn coldly away from him; a transforming experience of new love ends under threat of scandal. Driven ever deeper within himself, Stoner rediscovers the stoic silence of his forebears and confronts an essential solitude.

John Williams's luminous and deeply moving novel is a work of quiet perfection. William Stoner emerges from it not only as an archetypal American, but as an unlikely existential hero, standing, like a figure in a painting by Edward Hopper, in stark relief against an unforgiving world.

©1965 John Williams (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“A perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, it takes your breath away." (Morris Dickstein, New York Times Book Review )

“A masterly portrait of a truly virtuous and dedicated man.” ( New Yorker)

“An exquisite study, bleak as Hopper, of a hopelessly honest academic at a meretricious Midwestern university. I had not known…that the kind of unsparing portrait of failed marriage shown in Stoner existed before John Cheever.” ( Los Angeles Times)

One of the saddest book’s I’ve read in a long time

Although some of the reviewers’ comments gave me pause, I decided to listen to the book anyway. Given the story line, the narrator was a perfect choice. In the beginning I felt like his voice was monotonous but realized that it was the perfect vehicle for the story as I continued to listen. The story speaks to human experience and existential issues. I’m not sure how to recommend it other than to say that it affected me deeply.

Well written and well narrated

I can’t find any fault in the writing or narration. Still I must admit that I only listened until the end because I had read so many excellent reviews. The story was completely melancholy, gloomy and dreary until chapter 14. Then there was hope for something more, but too soon everything was back to the original tone.

Wonderful book

William Stoner is a character designed to make you wonder about the choices we’ve made in life and the choices we don’t get to make. This is a heartwarming tale about the many mistakes and regrets we accumulate throughout our lives, yet those same failures are what shape us into the people we are today. There are lessons to be learned, moments to share happiness with the characters and lessons which are only learned by experience.
This book has become a must read for me. Great depiction of the midwestern lifestyle and life as an academic. Hats off to the author for this marvelous story!

Quiet novel that stayed with me

William Stoner, a Missouri farmer living with his parents, is sent to college to learn more about agriculture. At college, he is drawn to his English Lit classes, and changes his course of his study and the course of his life. This novel is slow moving, but the main character and his early/mid 19th century era comes alive. Stoner is a college teacher with a love of learning. This novel follows him through the many ups and downs in his life - marriage, family, love, learning, and school politics. I liked Stoner and found him so believable. I didn't know how much I liked this book until the end, when I was aware of how moved I was by the end of his life. This book might not be for everyone, but I loved this about a quiet but rich life.

A Classic "Everyman" story.

Great book and wonderful narrator.
Beautiful writing with well developed characters. A story for all time.

Wow

I was looking for a novel in an academic setting and saw this book on recommended lists. The writing is so outstanding, as well as the narration! It’s now one of my favorites of all time.

Felt it!

I so enjoyed listening to this book and I love Mr. Stoner. I felt his every sadness and also Edith’s! I even began to like her at the very end.

This is the first time I have heard a book read in the third person. It added to the sadness of Mr. Stoner’s life. I did not think that I would like it but it grew on me and the explanations added to the sense of his life’s story.

I do not like “Gorilla” books but I did enjoy this one immensely.

Amazing

The greater one's love of literature is, the greater they will appreciate Stoner. It is a perfect novel.

I was expecting a deeper inner life

This book was pitched to me via BookTube as being about a guy who leads a relatively uneventful life as a university professor but, through his love of books, has a rich interior life. That's not what I got. The book was good, but I wanted more about how books touched his life. How specific books he read illuminated his grey-tweed life. His life was more satisfying and rich through reading than it appeared from the outside. I kept thinking of Brooklyn as I read it. It was another book that left me wanting more of her feelings about what was happening around her. I also had just read Dust That Falls From Dreams, which had a lot of similar themes. Both books had complex relationships at their centers. Ultimately, my preconceptions made Stoner a bit less enjoyable for me.

Drill

Main character insipid and wanted to shake him up and take some action for himself