Stoner by John Edward Williams
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
Stoner was fascinating. I'm startled that I loved something so much that six months ago I'd not so much as heard of.
I loved the first third of the novel - it was so quiet and contemplative. I found the characters easy to empathize with. I thought the exploration of the urbanization of America illustrated well in Stoner. The marital and university conflicts were interesting, especially that the reader was left to try and guess what made Edith do the things she does and how Stoner can't see that Lomax sees himself in Walker and that drives part of his fury.
Stoner's relationship with his daughter was tragic. That he wouldn't fight his wife over the happiness of his child struck me as incredibly sad.
The ending is quite a punch to the gut.
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