Betsy Lancaster answers “It's a remarkably good book that has...”

Chris Bischof asked this question about Stoner:

It's a remarkably good book that has developed a cultish following. What is it that makes Stoner so compelling?

Betsy Lancaster After reading this several times I always come to some similar conclusions; it is about love indeed. Stoner has found a love that he didn't know even …moreAfter reading this several times I always come to some similar conclusions; it is about love indeed. Stoner has found a love that he didn't know even could exist growing up on a farm. His love for knowledge of language. It is truly remarkable to the lengths that he goes to enhance his knowledge, to try and share this with his students and his unwavering devotion to it that it does become his downfall in his marriage, but moreso at the university with Lomax. The love he has for his wife, or what he thought was love, doesn't bother him as long as he has his books and his writing. He is not ordinary in some sense; he was a very poor boy that never should have gone on to university, let alone achieve his doctoral status. His life is ordinary in the way that all of our lives are in going through the motions of life; people coming in and out of it and the sacrifices one makes to get by. Love, regret, joy, happiness, sadness are all wrapped up neatly in this beautifully written linear book of the life of a not-so-average guy living in an average world.(less)

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