A review of John Williams’ Stoner (1965).
This classic novel from 1965 by American author (and professor of English) John Williams tells the story of William Stoner, a stoic farm boy from rural Missouri, who emerges from a sparse and colourless existence into the world of the University campus. The “campus novel” subgenre, a literary tradition dating back to the 1950s, is a niche yet rich source of storytelling, and John Williams manages to take this rarefied area and spin it into a story which at once feels both human and relatable.
The story’s protagonist, whose name ‘William’ is derived from the author’s surname, starts off as an outsider to the rarefied world of academia. With the aim of aiding the family farm, Stoner attends the University of Missouri to study agriculture. However, after taking a mandatory literature survey course in his second year, he soon discovers an obsession for literature and learning which leads to a lifelong career with the Department of English. It is indicative of the unique type of story with which we are dealing that the most distance actually travelled by our protagonist is from farm to campus. Ultimately it is the internal journey of Stoner, in all its emotional and psychological subtlety, that makes each page more compelling than the last.
While this may sound essentially like a “rags to riches” story set in an academic context, the last thing one could associate with this novel is a sense of triumph and conquest. At every stage in the life of William Stoner there pervades an almost overbearing sense of pathos, as he encounters defeat after defeat in a world he cannot understand nor contend with. Uncomplaining and humble to his last breath, Stoner never manages to shed the quiet stoicism of his industrious origins. Like his parents, Stoner meets his troubled existence with a silent, almost Spartan resolve to carry out his duty.
Yet despite the mute tone of this world, where mundane normality and casual cruelty often coalesce, in the characterisation of William can be glimpsed the subtle arc of a real-world hero. Not the glittering world-conqueror of Greek fame, battling great monsters in the Mediterranean sun, he instead quietly and diligently suffers his way through all trials and tribulations. With dutiful resolve and a quiet passion, Stoner bears the weight of the world with humility. A miserable marriage to the deeply troubled Edith, a distant relationship with his daughter Grace, and a bitter struggle with his nemesis Professor Hollis Lomax; Stoner is rarely without sources of pain, and only once does he attempt to take up arms against his fate.
In response to his torment, all our protagonist does is put his head down and work harder. And yet, despite the gloomy picture this paints, it is precisely this habit that becomes the most enduring source of satisfaction in his life. Fundamentally, this novel is about the relationship between love and work: about loving what you do, and working on what you love. Even when Stoner has little else worth living for, he always has this. His journey may therefore be described as an Odyssey of sorts, though one in which his grand cosmic struggle is never beaten for long.
When once asked about why Stoner had such a depressing existence, author John Williams responded: “I think he had a very good life. He had a better life than most people do, certainly. He was doing what he wanted to do, he had some feeling for what he was doing, he had some sense of the importance of the job he was doing.”
The bleak beginning of the Missouri farm boy’s life leads to an equally bleak end. And yet, in the long years of his career, Stoner finds a purpose to pour his hard labour into which genuinely means something to him. In so doing, he transcends the Sisyphean existence of his parents, at least in spirit, and answers a Call to Adventure he himself only partially understands. Could this be the new archetype for the modern-day hero? To find in the petty squabbles of a disenchanted world a meaningful struggle and a true identity? Gone are the vast blue waters of the Aegean Sea, replaced by the claustrophobic bureaucracy of the American University. Gone are the monsters skulking at the edges of the world, replaced by the one Stoner chooses to marry. Is this not the same for all of us? What monsters are left but the ones we live with at home? We can assume that Stoner only just scratched the surface in his journey of self-discovery, but he got deeper than most.
Williams has created a rich, complex and deeply sad novel, which nevertheless offers a compelling portrayal of an ordinary man. Stoner may have been ignored and disregarded in his own world, but on reading this novel you will likely be unable to forget him.