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15th out of 373 books
—
266 voters
The Stone Angel (Manawaka Sequence)
In her best-loved novel, The Stone Angel, Margaret Laurence introduces Hagar Shipley, one of the most memorable characters in Canadian fiction. Stubborn, querulous, self-reliant – and, at ninety, with her life nearly behind her – Hagar Shipley makes a bold last step towards freedom and independence.
As her story unfolds, we are drawn into her past. We meet Hagar as a young...more
As her story unfolds, we are drawn into her past. We meet Hagar as a young...more
Paperback, The New Canadian Library, 328 pages
Published
1988
by McClelland & Steward
(first published January 1st 1964)
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Hagar Shipley doesn't have much to be proud of in her life. But as she muses, narrates and slips through time, I felt so drawn to her character. I identified with her in some ways that make me want to re-examine some deeply held assumptions in my own life.
Margaret Laurence so clearly "gets" human nature, what makes people tick and how easily we see faults in others, but not in ourselves.
I thought this book was brilliant. I can't believe it was written 4 decades ago... it could have come out th...more
Margaret Laurence so clearly "gets" human nature, what makes people tick and how easily we see faults in others, but not in ourselves.
I thought this book was brilliant. I can't believe it was written 4 decades ago... it could have come out th...more
May 24, 2012
Sheila Rocha
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Feminists. Plains literature buffs.
A stalwart reflection of the men who shaped her is the resistant spirit of Hagar Shipley. The Stone Angel successfully provides a realistic portrayal of one woman’s life in the prairie towns of western Canada. However, the stone angel of this story was born, I believe, prior to even her own self-recognition.
Hagar says, “The night my son died I was transformed to stone…” (243). Throughout her journey, even as she faces imminent death and resists the mortality of her own body, Hagar’s mind confla...more
Hagar says, “The night my son died I was transformed to stone…” (243). Throughout her journey, even as she faces imminent death and resists the mortality of her own body, Hagar’s mind confla...more
"Now I am rampant with memory."(p.5)
"It was not so very long after we wed, when I first felt my blood and vitals rise to meet his. He never knew. I never let him know. I never spoke aloud, and I made certain that all the trembling was inner. He had an innocence about him, I guess, or he’d have known. How could he not have known? Didn’t I betray myself in rising sap, like a heedless and compelled maple after a winter? But no. He never expected such a thing, and so he never perceived it. I prided...more
"It was not so very long after we wed, when I first felt my blood and vitals rise to meet his. He never knew. I never let him know. I never spoke aloud, and I made certain that all the trembling was inner. He had an innocence about him, I guess, or he’d have known. How could he not have known? Didn’t I betray myself in rising sap, like a heedless and compelled maple after a winter? But no. He never expected such a thing, and so he never perceived it. I prided...more
This book was recommended at IB training I went to Summer 2007. The instructor teaches it to his 12th grade English class.
It was one of the rare books I've read where I did not care for the protagonist, despite the fact that the story is told in first person point of view. Hagar, who is 90 years old and suffers from slight dementia, tells the story of her life through flashbacks. The reader can see how unfair she is as she relates various episodes in her life, yet can somehow still feel for her...more
It was one of the rare books I've read where I did not care for the protagonist, despite the fact that the story is told in first person point of view. Hagar, who is 90 years old and suffers from slight dementia, tells the story of her life through flashbacks. The reader can see how unfair she is as she relates various episodes in her life, yet can somehow still feel for her...more
This is one of the best books I have ever read. I don't give 5 stars unless I truly believe that is what it is worth, and Stone Angel is worth the five and more, in my opinion.
Hagar Shipley is a character you will never forget; stubborn, ornery, proud, locked in her own version of her world and unwilling to see it any other way until her dying breath.
The novel opens with a quote from one of the best poems ever written;
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the ligh...more
Hagar Shipley is a character you will never forget; stubborn, ornery, proud, locked in her own version of her world and unwilling to see it any other way until her dying breath.
The novel opens with a quote from one of the best poems ever written;
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the ligh...more
This is my first Margaret Laurence book, a bit of an awkward confession for someone who likes to push Canadian authours on fellow readers. I’m not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t this. This is a great story, painful and beautiful and real. I think I have sometimes lumped all Canadian authours into a group called “Too Intellectual for Me” and as a result I have missed out on some great writing that I am only now beginning to enjoy.
Hagar Shipley is the main character, an elderly widow liv...more
Hagar Shipley is the main character, an elderly widow liv...more
Mr. Troy has chosen a bad day to call. The rib pain is not so intrusive this afternoon, but my belly growls and snarls like a separate beast. My bowels are locked today. I am Job in reverse, and neither cascara nor syrup of figs nor milk of magnesia will prevail against my unspeakable affliction. I sit uncomfortably. I am bloated, full, weighted down, and I fear I may pass wind.
I remember my mother telling me, with great delight, that my younger brother was reading The Stone Angel in high school...more
I remember my mother telling me, with great delight, that my younger brother was reading The Stone Angel in high school...more
I have ALWAYS hated this book. And again, this is less about the literary merit of the book, which is, of course, excellent, and more about the fact that I am not the kind of reader who appreciates a story about how boring and disappointing life can be. I just don't see the value in learning, too late, that you've messed everything up, and if you could, you would go back and do it differently. Not that I don't understand it's something of a universal theme, being as common as it is, but... it's...more
May 24, 2012
Elizabeth (Alaska)
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
5-star-reads
It has been years since I read this - maybe 40 years. I have remembered it all this time. My library doesn't have other works by Margaret Laurence and more recently I have forgotten to look for her online. Fortunately, I was reminded recently because her work The Diviners is on the 1001 Books List, which I look forward to with great anticipation.
1 like · like · see review
“When I say "work" I only mean writing. Everything else is just odd jobs.”
― Margaret Laurence
Margaret Laurence was a Canadian novelist and short story writer and is especially remembered for her strongly etched female characters. Born Jean Margaret Wemyss in 1926 in the prairie province of Manitoba, Canada, Laurence has Scottish antecedents on her father's side and Irish on her mother's side. Thus, Margaret Laurence's biography is representative of the early history of Canada and reflective of i...more
― Margaret Laurence
Margaret Laurence was a Canadian novelist and short story writer and is especially remembered for her strongly etched female characters. Born Jean Margaret Wemyss in 1926 in the prairie province of Manitoba, Canada, Laurence has Scottish antecedents on her father's side and Irish on her mother's side. Thus, Margaret Laurence's biography is representative of the early history of Canada and reflective of i...more
I found this a troubling book. That this garrulous self-centered shallow uncommunicative character lived such a long life, remembered that the good die young.
The book, in Canada – at least in Ontario (and surely in Manitoba) – is required reading in most high schools. One day while reading the novel over a coffee at work, a colleague dropped by and commented that yes she had read the book and that the experience had been so horrible that it had turned her off reading.
There is, I believe, an un...more
The book, in Canada – at least in Ontario (and surely in Manitoba) – is required reading in most high schools. One day while reading the novel over a coffee at work, a colleague dropped by and commented that yes she had read the book and that the experience had been so horrible that it had turned her off reading.
There is, I believe, an un...more
This is one of the few books that I own that I can pick up, open up to any page, and begin reading.
This was the first Margaret Laurence book I'd read, but it won't be the last. This story drew me in from the first page and the end came too soon. It's not a book that you are anxious to get through because you want to see how it ends; instead, each page is savored. The book manages to span a period of 90 years without dragging; it's pages are not filled with overdone descriptions of places or thin...more
This was the first Margaret Laurence book I'd read, but it won't be the last. This story drew me in from the first page and the end came too soon. It's not a book that you are anxious to get through because you want to see how it ends; instead, each page is savored. The book manages to span a period of 90 years without dragging; it's pages are not filled with overdone descriptions of places or thin...more
Loved this book. I have had it for years and put off reading it because it never appealed to me. I took it on a camping trip so I would be forced to read it and I loved it. The main character, a 90 year old woman who is in declining health remembers her life in the small prairie town of Manawaka. The woman, Hagar, is insufferable. A crotchety old doll who can hardly give a good word to anyone. The thing is she has always been that way and her present position of having other people make decision...more
1 like · like · see review
The book was a challenging read. It spoke to me about elder abuse and about a tendency to assume that once humans have passed a certain age they revert to a child-like state and so we treat them as such when it is convenient and yet when it is not we expect them to behave in a rational manner. I love that the main character is an elderly woman who takes her life into her own hands and goes on an adventure again. But I felt conflicted and sad throughout the entire novel. It also made me think of...more
I read this for my very first University class. I never wanted to take the class but apparently it was a pre-req class for other ones i had to take...I later found out that I could actually take other classes without it and I was a bit pissed by that.
This book just dragged on. It had the potential to be an interesting read but it just didn't work for me and the film was boring as all hell to.
The MC was just a horrible human being and did everything she did to ruin other people's lives out of des...more
This book just dragged on. It had the potential to be an interesting read but it just didn't work for me and the film was boring as all hell to.
The MC was just a horrible human being and did everything she did to ruin other people's lives out of des...more
90 year old Hagar is an unhappy woman. Misanthropic and judgemental she is a friend to no one, not even herself. She was a bad daughter, wife and mother. You know the expression "She wouldn't piss on you if you were on fire?" Well, Hagar would -- just. As Margaret Laurence says in Adele Wiseman's afterward, she was full of pride for no reason. As Hagar herself says, Pride was my wilderness and the demon that lead me there was fear. She's a very interesting character who is of little use to anyon...more
I read this in high school. At the time I found it kind of tough slogging,I prefered (sill do!)Alice Munro to Margaget Laurence, and Margaret Atwood to either of these fine ladies of CanLit. But I am actually thinking that 20 ahem! something years later it is worth another read. Hagar Shipley was interesting enough of a character that I still remember her hame, and some of the other themes would likely resonate with me, a mom, a wife, a grown daughter than with a 17 year old girl. But I can't pu...more
I hated this book. I called it the 'Stoned Angel' because I think it would have been better if I were stoned on drugs at the time. as I told my teacher at the time of reading this book. "There have been women who have gone through far worse who aren't such b*tches." I could not relate to the character. yes, she had a hard life, but its hard to sympathize with her when she is making everyone around her's life just as miserable. Horrible boring read. Yes, its 'a Canadian classic,' but what does th...more
I was forced to read this in highschool, and I really and truly hated it then. I read it again when I was in my late teens and I liked it a little better, but I just dislike the characters so much that it's impossible for me to get past it and appreciate the story. Hagar Shipley is the least likeable character in the history of books I've had to read for school... I could even tolerate Satan in Paradise Lost better than I liked Hagar... What can I say. I suppose she's not a terrible, horrid vill...more
1 like · like · see review
Again, another book I was given in class to read, by a Canadian author (of course, Canadian school concentrates on Canadian authors), and there are many a good one.
I would probably enjoy it more now, than way back in highschool, and would give it a go again should I ever come across it, and the many other books I want to read are finished.
I don't remember enjoying this much, as it was an assignment, not a "pick it off the shelf myself". However, it stands out in my mind, so it must have been pre...more
I would probably enjoy it more now, than way back in highschool, and would give it a go again should I ever come across it, and the many other books I want to read are finished.
I don't remember enjoying this much, as it was an assignment, not a "pick it off the shelf myself". However, it stands out in my mind, so it must have been pre...more
If I could give this a 3.5 I would have, but that is not the case so...here we go.
This book was a high school read for me, and I'm sure if I were to read it later in my life that I may enjoy it more, or maybe be able to better relate to it. That being said, even my young 17-year-old self was able to enjoy it.
While I found present day Hagar difficult to read (at least in the beginning) I found myself being completely absorbed into her memories. Margaret Laurence created such a strong character, w...more
This book was a high school read for me, and I'm sure if I were to read it later in my life that I may enjoy it more, or maybe be able to better relate to it. That being said, even my young 17-year-old self was able to enjoy it.
While I found present day Hagar difficult to read (at least in the beginning) I found myself being completely absorbed into her memories. Margaret Laurence created such a strong character, w...more
This is one of those books I was forced to read in high school, an age when it had absolutely no relevance to me. Needless to say, I found it excruciatingly boring. Now--completely different story. I was completely absorbed by it and found the book hard to put down.
Hagar Shipley is at once admirable and infuriating. She is strong, determined, and independent, yet unable to open herself up to anyone. Her relationships suffer immensely from her detachment and I often found myself wishing she woul...more
Hagar Shipley is at once admirable and infuriating. She is strong, determined, and independent, yet unable to open herself up to anyone. Her relationships suffer immensely from her detachment and I often found myself wishing she woul...more
May 24, 2012
Ibis3
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
siy15,
canadian,
classic,
historical,
twentieth-century,
2011,
2011-favourites,
manitoba,
british-columbia,
re-read,
cl-lifetime
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
May 24, 2012
Laura
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
family-life-and-relationships
At close to ninety years of age, Hagar Shipley is struggling to maintain some control over her own existence. Always a stubborn, proud, and driven woman, Hagar has not changed or mellowed with age. In fact, she believes that the idea that extreme old age changes who we are was created by younger people who are "somehow comforted by the picture of old ladies feeding like docile rabbits on the lettuce leaves of other times". Instead of peacefully existing in her memories, Hagar struggles to mainta...more
Jan 27, 2010
Brittany
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Those in care of seniors, Can lit fans
Shelves:
canadian,
coming-of-age,
girly-books,
literary-fiction,
modern-classics,
movie,
school-books,
fiction
How I Came To Read This Book: High school English.
The Plot: It’s the late 1960s and cantankerous Hagar Shipley is at the end of her days – but she’s living for the moment when she escapes for the day and reflect on her life. From her early days living in a poor prairie town under the oppressive thumb of her Scottish father, to her youthful entanglement with her husband with whom she has an extremely stormy relationship, on through her experience as an overpowering matriarch, you get to experien...more
The Plot: It’s the late 1960s and cantankerous Hagar Shipley is at the end of her days – but she’s living for the moment when she escapes for the day and reflect on her life. From her early days living in a poor prairie town under the oppressive thumb of her Scottish father, to her youthful entanglement with her husband with whom she has an extremely stormy relationship, on through her experience as an overpowering matriarch, you get to experien...more
Laurence moves between two different time frames in this book. In the present (presumably late 1950s/early 1960s based on the book's publication) we meet Hagar, a woman in her early 90s, struggling to work out a dynamic with her son and daughter-in-law and struggling to perform day-to-day functions. As she has to confront some changes that are physical, social and emotional, she goes through a series of flashbacks in chronological order, beginning with her childhood in rural Canada.
I read this book in its French version. A really good story about a 90-year-old woman who remembers her life.
As we close the book, we understand that even if we want it - or not - we do not really change over the time. This wonderful woman, Hagar, is stubborn, proud and most of all, she clearly states that she loved one of her boys more than the other. Not so politically correct, no?
Thanks to Éditions Alto to let French speakers discover this brillant author.
As we close the book, we understand that even if we want it - or not - we do not really change over the time. This wonderful woman, Hagar, is stubborn, proud and most of all, she clearly states that she loved one of her boys more than the other. Not so politically correct, no?
Thanks to Éditions Alto to let French speakers discover this brillant author.
This story seemed dry and yet I finished it. An easy read, Stone Angel's characters kept me reading. I liked how the author used the main character's past to tell the story rather than telling it in chronological order. Spoiler: I felt sorry for Hagar at the beginning, so when it is desribed how strong and independent she was growing up and the sacrifices she made, I was intrigued to continue. It had me wanted to know this woman and almost feeling as though I did near the end.
I literally dropped my final year of English class because of this book. It was the most dismal, self-congratulatory, spiteful, misandristic, boring piece of crap I've ever tried to read. And no, I never finished it.
So guess what book we had to read a couple years later when I wanted to get my last English credit? That's right, The Stone f'n Angel. Strike two.
Thank you Margaret Laurence for this piece of Canadiana nobody really wanted.
So guess what book we had to read a couple years later when I wanted to get my last English credit? That's right, The Stone f'n Angel. Strike two.
Thank you Margaret Laurence for this piece of Canadiana nobody really wanted.
I had a tough time getting into this book, and it continued like that as I continued reading. I couldn't really connect with Hagar, and I just disliked her throughout most of the book. At parts I could feel for her, but overall, no. The only reason I kept reading was to find out how John died, since him dying was constantly hinted at, so props to Margaret Laurence for using foreshadowing and such effectively to pique the reader's interest. I found it to be a tad choppy at times, and flipping bet...more
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Margaret Laurence was born Jean Margaret Wemyss on July 18, 1926 in the prairie town of Neepawa, Manitoba, Canada. Both of her parents passed away in her childhood, and Laurence was raised by her aunt and maternal grandfather.
Laurence decided in childhood that she wanted to be a writer, and began writing stories in elementary school. Her professional writing career began in 1943 with a job at the...more
More about Margaret Laurence...
Laurence decided in childhood that she wanted to be a writer, and began writing stories in elementary school. Her professional writing career began in 1943 with a job at the...more
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“I can't change what's happened to me in my life, or make what's not occurred take place. But I can't say I like it, or accept it, or believe it's for the best. I don't and never shall, not even if I'm damned for it.”
—
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“Bless me or not, Lord, just as You please, for I'll not beg.”
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May 25, 2012 02:57am