Stoner in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Feb 03, 2016 Susanne Clower rated it it was amazing

Shelves: american-history, historical-fiction, fiction, classics, human-history, world-war-ii, world-war-i, character-studies, psychology

I'm still pondering on this story and I'll likely have to re-read it. I think it might work its way up into my top 10 favourite books of all time; up there with To the Lighthouse and Angle of Repose. I tend to like stories of ordinary lives and this one was exquisite. You can't help but respect Stoner's integrity, even as you silently wish for him to go along to get along, just to relieve his pain.

So much of earlier literature seems to be about people trapped by societal expectations. I wonder h ...more

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May 01, 2014 jenn rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fiftyfiftyme, 2014

Man, I wanted to hate this book. You win, Stoner. Take all five stars, you pale, quiet, stooped, ineffectual motherfucker, you.

Stoner is sympathetic. BUT THEN HE'S NOT. The writing is super plain. UNTIL IT'S NOT. Writing is about making choices, UNLESS IT'S ABOUT MAKING NO CHOICES AND JUST WRITING DOWN EVERYTHING ONE DUDE DOES WITH HIS LIFE, AND WE ARE ALL TRICKED INTO THINKING IT'S BRILLIANT.

But what if it *IS* brilliant?

Needless to say, I have a lot of feels about this one. Including anger at ...more

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Jun 13, 2014 Martin rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, 2014books

I was turned on to this semi-forgotten 1965 novel by The Millions, a fantastic lit blog. And as soon as I was intrigued about the novel's rediscovery, just about everybody else in the free, literature-loving world got intrigued as well.

An incomplete survey:
http://www.themillions.com/2013/06/a-...
http://www.npr.org/2013/05/19/1847706...
http://www.newyorker.com/books/page-t...
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/17/boo...
http://therumpus.net/2009/01/lost-and...

A slim, compact tale which encompasses the ...more

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Nov 12, 2013 Suzanne Hamilton rated it it was amazing

Quietly amazing.

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Oct 28, 2014 Carla rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: own, portuguese, 2014

Never before I've read something in which I thought "I don't want my life to be like this". And it's not that Stoner's life was bad. I admired how he found comfort in his work, his books, in some small things that happened to him, precious moments, but I don't want the hateful relationships, at home and work, that he had to endure. His stoicism is admirable but not something that I would want for me. ...more

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