Stoner Review! | A Mediocre Professor Wanders Into a Masterpiece 

"I don't know if I liked this book, but I might have loved it" My exact thoughts boiled down to one sentence. Brilliant review!

This has to be my favorite review of the year of my favorite book of the year! 👏👏👏 Stoner is passive but surprising at times as well! The John Williams music inserts and the Walker impression! 🤣 For me, it would be a superb ++ even if does evoke an inevitable existential crisis.

I just finished it! Loved it! There's an existential bleakness throughout the novel that drew me in, which made me genuinely root for Stoner through his varied professorial challenges and personal travails. What amazed me is that amid the gray futility of life there is a mild, soft beauty woven into the prose that occasionally permits shafts of ethereal light to shine upon the weighty pages of this magnificent novel.

That pretty writing that has a good rhythm that just flows is such a joy. It's amazing how much this book has blown up. NYRB Classics is a great imprint.

It makes sense that this would strike home, if it's a very realistic portrayal of teacher-life. That's what I love about literary fiction and classics. They are often mean to show you what the day-in-the-life of someone looks like.

A book about an English professor, eh? I keep hearing folks I know here on BookTube rave about Stoner. Now you too! Being an English professor who is occasionally given to fits of melancholy (though I'm a full professor, at least), I feel like I probably should be reading this one . . . But what if it cuts too close to the bone?!

That's why we need more Student jeopardy episodes so that they remember you forever.

Somehow, this review really moved me. As a neglected and verbally abused child in a household not caring about what happened at school or with my grades, teachers might have thought I didn't care for them as a person or their courses, but really it had more to do with my personal struggles, especially lack of encouragement and one-on-one time with teachers that cared. The worst part was that I thought I was the problem, that I wasn't smart enough, I didn't have the maturity to analyze the situation properly. I think it's so easy to take things personally, but most of the time the way people act, whether they're teenagers or adults, has little to do with us. When it comes to teaching methods, they won't necessarily work for all students. I remember a Russian teacher I've had, she was so sweet and clearly passionate, but I really struggled in her class because she had no visual aid whatsoever and I needed to see those words (it was an online Uni course - it would have cost me more to cancel it so I just quit :/). I had nothing against her personally. It sounds like a very interesting and profound novel. I must admit that Stoner being indifferent to his daughter's well-being would be triggering to me. I can't talk about that marriage and what could've been done since I haven't read it yet, but your marriage and child should be your first priority. If your wife is toxic, if divorce isn't an option for x reason, you still can't live with that person harassing you everyday. Maybe he stayed for the child, but it sounds like he really didn't protect her. I understand the desire to be remembered for your hard work, but let's say he was remembered for it by his colleagues, what kind of father would his daughter remember? That, in my opinion, would be even more tragic: misplaced priorities.

Great review! Williams write like a dream and life can be a nightmare. Stoner is the best book I ever read. Thanks for confirming.

This sounds like the most riveting and moving mundane story that I will ever read. Hearing Johanna, Jimmy and now you gush about this one has really sold me on the book. Plus, it helps that it's such a short one! Loved hearing your thoughts, I am glad this was such a hit for you!! 🤩

I have wanted to read this one for a very long time, and I absolutely love that this somewhat random book is getting a spotlight in this corner of booktube. Any book where you go back and read a scene after you finished has to be a great one. Excellent review, I think you have pushed me to getting to this one soon.

Now I've seen Alex, Johanna, Jimmy and you rave about this book. I guess I need to put it on the TBR finally!

I just downloaded this book on audible! I've been in a fantasy book slump so I've been trying to read other genres this month.

I've seen this book a lot in the used bookstore over here. I will be picking it up next time. Thanks for the review. 🥰

The scene where Stoner is burying his mother and reflecting on the "meaningless" of their labors to farm, where the more work they put into it, year after year, the more barren it became, that is the scene where I had an existential crisis. Yet, it was oddly cathartic in its nihilism. It's interesting that William Stoner is the only one that leads a comparatively fulfilling life: he has achievements offered to him but he rejects them for the comfort of his position. Yet, Edith is thrust into marriage because I think it was expected of her. And Grace was running away from the stagnation of William Stoner in his fulfillment and the overcompensation in Edith's lack of fulfillment.

I guess this is next on the TBR now. I always know if Allen gives a glowing review it is always going to be one of my favorites.

I just recently read Stoner and very much agree with your review. It was wonderfully written and was objectively a 5⭐️ book, though my enjoyment was at a 4⭐️ level because of my frustration with Stoner.

Does this mean Burnt Sugar is coming?!

Eu gostaria de agradecer vc pelas suas reviews vc tem tanta energia quanda fala dos livros que me da vontade de ler youtubers de livros nao são tao populares e por isso eu agradeço demais pelo seu esforço e pelo incentivo para ler mais e aprender outros idiomas quando eu comecei a ler em inglês eu fiquei desnorteado pela quantidade de opções mas vcs me guiaram obrigado I would like to thank you for your reviews you have such energy that make me want to read more booktubers are not very popular and because of that I thank your efforts and for the incentive to read and to learn new languages when I started english I got really disoriented with the quantity of options so Im grateful for your guidance

When I wrote my review for this book I struggled to explain the whole Lomax and Walker situation, and you explained it so much more succinctly.

wait....we didn't get down to business. IDK what to do

Enjoyed this book a lot, and it's nice to see it getting attention on Booktube. Great review!

If you think Stoner had a terrible life, ask yourself if he'd been better off returning to the farm as his family wanted and expected him to do. Williams also creates a bit of existential angst by showing that for most of us, our existence is only really felt by a very few people we've connected with deeply and forgotten by the many whose lives we pass through mostly unnoticed. For Stoner, I'm sure that Katherine will always feel his presence in some way.

Just finished the book in Audible and I’m surprised that you described the book just as I couldn’t, but felt!! I hated so much Edith and Walker, Stoner’s passivity! Grate book!!

I got recommended this book after an acquaintance said my bleak outlook reminded them of Stoner. Considering your comment on being remembered as a teacher, please know that if you show your genuine passion, it will ring true for some students. While I have forgotten many of my teachers, there are still a few I will never forget. Each left a very lasting impression that definitely contributes to the person I am today. Whether I reached their expectations is another matter.

I recently read Butcher's Crossing and loved it so I'm looking forward to reading Stoner and Augustus. Still unsure if i will Nothing But the Night since Williams appeared to disown it or something.

I read this ages ago for a summer lit class at Mizzou. It's stick with me for two decades.

What a fabulous book!! I read this last week while visiting my grandmother in central Missouri which just so happened to be the perfect place to read this book.

I came on here looking for people who are stoned and high just reviewing something... and this was not the stone I had in mind. LMFAO

I owned this book before it became a Booktube darling....I need to read it still. Lol. Great review!!

Awesome review Allen. Literary fiction isn’t typically my thing either, but maybe I’ll check it out.

Oh nice, glad you liked it.

Obidiah Hakeswill vs Edith Stoner vs Lowmax..who do you hate the most? Thanks for the review. Stoner was an awesome book! I listened to it on Audible after jimmy mentioned it to you at chatting with Nutts.

Fantastic review man ! I keep hearing great things, might need to read it in my classics January.

[dinosaurs bellowing]

that's a great book that not many people know about. Excellent review!

I liked it for all of the same reasons, and like yourself, I never would have found it without recommendations from Booktube. Best surprise of the year.

Stoner recommends to his students, two novels which he says are all any student should need to read & understand. Does anyone remember the names & novelists that he recommends?

Picked this book up last week, not sure when I'll read it exactly, but with a name like William Stoner, not that I'm a stoner,(not that I need the happy smoke to be spacey) sorta speaks to me. One thing I already don't like is how they treat their daughter, as a weapon, though it should be read more so folks think twice about doing it too, happens way too often. As far as the existential crisis, yeah have had that and it pops up again and again. After doing a lot of head scratching and soul searching, reading Pratchett among others, I tend to think that it's unfortunately correct. Nothing does matter, the universe will expand forever and get so cold even photons faded out...BUT what that means is, we've sorta been handed a blank check, to write in values and beliefs that matter to us. The universe, life, has whatever meaning we give it. Whether this helps anyone, eh who knows, but I find it helped me.

wait, it feels like it has been a while since we got a kingfin approval system. Has their been a break from it, or have I gone insane anyway, you made me click want to read. The way you described the characters kinda reminds me of how I think of Hobb characters

I knew about the book but would not in a million years have picked it up. But now it's on my audio tbr.😅

One of the few books I’ve read and reread several times.

But... Jimmy only reads big epic tomes he can read in a nano-second

ZEUS, are you the one who has talked about Augustus? It’s a good audiobook. Epistolary format made it really interesting. I will never remember all of those similar Italiany names because the library didn’t have the kindle version. 😩 your name is this but we’re going to call you this other unrelated name …. 🤨 thank you if it was a book you had on your TBR, good book … 4+⭐️

I loved it

Thank you all for your support of my grandpa work .

loved this book

This sounds very depressing, idk if I’m ready for it😂. But I’m excited to read Augustus

An excellent book and a great review.

Dinosaurs bellowing

I really enjoyed Stoner as well and was compelled to try it based on Booktube reviews. I did struggle with the depth of the side characters, but I thought Stoner was a fascinating character. I also think how the antagonists were written hasn't aged well and I felt uncomfortable at the poor representation of characters with disability. The book could have been rewritten slightly so those characters weren't disabled and it wouldn't have changed the story at all. Thanks for the great review.

:D

Everyone is reading Stoner, what's going on?? I've tried few years ago but font was so small I dnf it

trendy, overblown review

i didnt like the book

Stoner is what made me appreciate NYRBs. It’s been years since I read this book and I can remember each scene in detail, maybe that’s due to the excellent prose.