Seeing plenty of rave reviews piqued my interest in this novel and I went into John William’s ‘Stoner’ with high expectations and, suffice to say, it did not disappoint. This is the book that finally stirred me from my avoidance of writing since moving to Glasgow based purely on the simplistic beauty of Williams’ prose. I did not have much of an idea of what the book was actually about going into it, and even if I did I couldn’t have anticipated the effect that the book had on me.

Based off of the title alone, I had an image of this book in my head as a drug induced snapshot of the American vagrant class similar to Burroughs’ ‘Junky’. I now see that this was naïve and desperately undervalued the incredible achievements that ‘Stoner’ makes as a novel, captivating me from the opening paragraph to the final word. No other book that I can think of has described entirely ordinary, at times mundane, happenings with such vividness that you are left hanging on to every word. I am now excited to read more of Williams’ work and can clearly see what the fuss is about with ‘Stoner’ and why it continues to receive such fanfare despite being released in 1963.

The story here is no less than the entire life of one man, John Stoner. Born into middle American rural obscurity, Stoner shows an academic spark and looks beyond the farm work of his early life and travels at the University of Missouri. Upon being exposed to the wider world, we experience all of the events of Stoner’s life at his side. From personal milestones like falling in love and beginning his career to history-defining moments like World War I and II, we see everything through the eyes of Stoner and come to know him in a way that I have rarely experienced with fictional characters.

We see a simple man, a man of his time and a man who largely lets major of events of his life happen to him with staunch stoic resolve. The ecstasy that Stoner finds upon reaching his goals is fleeting, both his relationships and friendships often end in estrangement, his career is bogged down by workplace politics, even his best efforts are seldom noticed, and yet our protagonist keeps going. For Stoner the reality of life is always somewhat lacklustre to his expectations but he perseveres and finds something to hold on to.

His is not a steely character that refuses to be broken, but that of a passionate man that tries his best and wants to do right. He is as human as any of us, making even some of his more questionable actions appear reasonable in the moment. Even when we may not agree with him or wouldn’t have done the same, we can always empathise with Stoner as if he were a family member or a close friend.

Without going into anymore detail so that you can enjoy this book properly, I’ll just say that ‘Stoner’ is a masterpiece to me. It was on my mind every day since I started reading it and has continued to be on my mind after finishing it. The relatively straightforward way that Williams’ describes the life of William Stoner is perfect and manages to contain worldly insights, a spectrum of deep emotions and stunning passages without ever missing a beat. Williams’ made no concessions when balancing the brevity and beauty of his writing, describing an entire lifetime of failings and triumphs in less than 300 pages.