In a recent review, I mentioned my predilection for novels about books, book stores, and English Professors. A day or so after writing the review, Stoner by John Williams came to my attention. I had never heard of Williams or any of his works. Scant information is available, and what I could find out remains largely undocumented.
Williams was born in
northeast Texas in 1922. His
grandparents were poor farmers, and his first attempt at a junior college ended
in failure after one year. He joined the
Army Air Corps during World War II, and while serving completed a draft of his
first novel. After discharge from the
military, he moved to Colorado, and enrolled at the University of Denver. He completed a BA in 1949 and an MA in
1950. During this time, his first two
books were published, a novel and a book of poetry. He enrolled in the PhD program at the
University of Missouri, which he completed in 1954. He then returned to the University of Denver
and became an assistant professor. He
remained in Denver until his retirement in 1985. He died in 1994. (Sources: various book reviews).
His third novel, Stoner, published in 1948, tells the
tale of an English Professor at the University of Missouri. William Stoner came from dirt poor farmers in
Missouri. His uneducated parents sent
him to the University on the advice of a county agent, who suggested the young
man could learn about modern agricultural techniques. While a student, William lived with a cousin
of his mothers, and helped work their farm.
During his first
semester, he took agricultural classes and a survey of English Literature with
the forbidding Archer Sloane. He failed
the class, but he was bitten with the mystery and beauty of literature. He changed his major and completed a BA, then
an MA and began teaching. Then World War
I interrupted the plans of many students and faculty who rushed off to fight
for Democracy. William did not enlist,
but rather applied for and received a deferment. He completed a PhD, and because of a shortage
of faculty, was hired as an assistant professor.
Stoner is one of those rare novels which has such beauty, grace, and wisdom I
was captivated from page one. Williams
writes, “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” (4). Stoner
switched to English Literature because it “troubled and disquieted him in a way
nothing had ever done before” (10). As
time passed, Professor Sloane asked Stoner what he intended to do with his
life. Stoner did not have a clue. “‘But don’t you know, Mr. Stoner? … Don’t you
understand about yourself yet? You’re
going to be a teacher.’ ‘Are you
sure?’ ‘I’m sure,’ Sloane said softly” (20). I could easily quadruple the length of this
review with many more passages marked and underlined as wonderful as this.
This intelligent,
thoughtful novel tracks an event which alters Stoner forever. The prose is filled with literary references,
philosophical musings, along with a dash of bitters and some drops of
sweetness. I nearly read this book in a
single sitting. I found myself
identifying with William Stoner on many levels.
In fact, I think I will take that rarest of steps and read it again …
now! A mere five point scale simply will
not do. 8 stars.
--Chiron, 5/17/14
--Chiron, 5/17/14
No comments:
Post a Comment