Its extremely heartwarming to see others act passionately towards a piece of art I hold so dear. I read ‘Stoner’ for the first time back in March, then re-read it back in June. One through an audiobook, the other with a physical copy; regardless of form, this book stuck to my heart and has become by far my favorite book ever. Im so happy to see that you love it just as so.
Reading the very end of the book I have never felt so moved in my entire life, there is something so special about this book living this whole life along with stoner I felt like I was dying with him but not a scarred way in the same way as William. Truly incredible.
Comments like this always make my day so thank you so much for this comment! I am beyond happy that you love the book and that hopefully you will share that love to other people! :)
john williams trusts the reader's sensibility beyond his words. He doesn't try to overexplain complex but universal human emotions that you can identify by just reading about a character living through them.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings Tyler! Your genuine excitement is so wholesome! No joke, I smiled the whole video - seeing people talk about things with passion is both heart-warming and motivating. I'm really happy you found the book that spoke to you, it's the best feeling in the world! I do enjoy structured and thorough literary analysis, but in the end, it's videos like this that make you drop everything to run and buy the book. Also, it seems Mark's recommendations are always spot on, what a talent!😄
Thank you so much for recommending this book. I have just finished it and have to say I thought it was fantastic. It jumps through the years whilst taking care of the details and really clear rely describes situations or emotions so you know exactly what it would feel like to be in the room at that moment. I know this book isn’t as old as many classics, but it’s certainly a modern classic, and I’m embarrassed to say one of the first classic books of any kind I have read. I have obviously been missing out. This is now up there as one of my favourite books. I look forward to more recommendations from you and I’ll now have to go through your past videos to find some more. Thank you
Thank you!!! For me, reading Stoner is like looking at a Vermeer. I can’t get enough of a work of genius . You have genuine energy and it’s a wonderful surprise because Stoner is a quiet book and Williams deserves every appreciation you give him. I’ll will subscribe and watch more of your reviews. Here’s something you’ll appreciate. Steven Almond teaches Stoner and wrote “William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life .”. I feel you two should meet. I support your teaching Stoner. Thank you again.. Beautiful review.
Everybody in my book store suggested it after I finished the Song of Achilles (which broke my heart in the best way and it genuinely stayed with me for months). I was craving something similar and they ALL suggested Stoner (they know I like classics). It’s bleak, it’s depressing but it’s so honest! It’s so real! There’s no sugar coating and it ends up feeling so deeply intimate. I saw a lot of similarities between me and Stoner. Both quiet and not wanting to rock the boat. There’s just *something* that is so indescribable about this book.
*spoiler alert* I think the last page said it all, didnt matter that Stoner's book was trivial and didnt mean anything, the point is that the book was him, was a part of him. I think John Williams was really describing how he felt about his life, and he just poured himself into this book. I think thats why it resonates so much, even if it just kind of seems like a simple, "tale in the life of.." story.
I've had an ebook of this waiting for me for seven or eight years, but your love of it is what finally drove me to read it. So glad I did, cos it really isn't the most prepossessing subject on the surface but there's so much more to it. I don't suppose it's actually autobiographical as such but I got such a sense of Williams having experienced that sort of petty bureacratc bullshit (e.g. the business with Walker), and he clearly had the gift to make that actually kind of exciting. Excellent book.
Once again you've piqued my interest. I have half a dozen Murakami books I recently picked up encouraged by your vids and now I want to check out Stoner. Stoner was a quiet, sleeper type novel at my bookstore. Never a big mover of copies there were fans from time to time who sought it out. I also want to read Norwegian Wood so I can watch your discussion without having the book ruined by potential spoilers. Thanks for your enthusiasm sharing what you've loved reading. I appreciate it.
Thanks! This review will definitely help me. This book was coming to my Amazon recommendations for quite some times. One thing that caught my eyes instantly that the description says it is an academic novel, and i was like, what is that genre. And ofcourse it is about a simple man and his simple life. This is what drawing me. Definitely going to read this real soon.
I’m reading ( rereading actually ) this book for my novel / book group this month and loving it all over again ..I’ve also read and was blown away by “ Butcher’s Crossing “ as well as “ Augustus “ ..Butcher’s Crossing would make for a wonderful movie 🎥.. I would love to see the Cohen brothers take on it ! Ive thought a lot about the importance of a strong inner life in dealing with the hard issues we are facing these days ( Covid especially ). Certainly literature and music fills that need .! Loved your review !! Well done ! Those NYRB editions are wonderful don’t you agree ?
I agree that the book's main themes are love and nihilism, about the different shape love takes and the indifference it takes to let love happen and persist. In a sense it's about this balance between indifference and passion. One of the more astounding things is that after all the things and people he tried to love he finally found love for himself in a certain resignation. He comes to understand that all he has had and all he had to let go was there because he played a part in it. It was in the end his own self that he was loving, himself he was becoming. Once there was no more urge to alter himself or to further become he finally understood that he loved himself and all that around him. To me this is a very valuable lesson. That love, and much of life, is a mirror, and you choose what you see.
I usually only enjoy reading philosophical books, but man i really enjoyed this novel. To me this is the perfect prose; i feel as passionate as you about this book.
I read Stoner a couple of years ago, and it is truly one of my favorite books. It reminds me of Willa Cather's The Professor's house. Stoner is the perfect book.
Amazing! Those are my thoughts exactly. There are few who have read The Professor's House, but it is a wonderful book, and it may well be my favourite Willa Cather. The parallels between the two enhance the reading experience of both, and I would recommend them to anyone.
It’s much later but I just finished Stoner by your recommendation, and I never thought that feelings I felt would be put into words. Thank you for the recommendation
Thank you for this brilliant review and for reading those beautiful passages. Seems like one of those unforgettable reads. Just placed a hold at my library!
Thank you for your inspiring and passionate words about this wonderful novel. Love to hear more of your thoughts about English literature in general. Greetings from Germany 🫶
Been watching your videos since the beginning of this year and I just want to thank you for introducing me to this incredible novel. I just finished it and I am in awe of what I read. Never would I have suspected that I have so much in common with a fictional man from over a century ago. A real testament to the human condition. I would love to see this story through the eyes of Edith or even Grace too. All of the characters are so rich and complex.
Hi Tyler. I just finished Stoner, having bought it almost at random in Foyle’s (London) - it was one of the ‘staff picks’. I absolutely loved it and I immediately searched reviews on RUclips, just to hear what other people thought, and came across your video. You’re spot on about Stoner. I didn’t want it to end and I read it in 3 or 4 sittings, without wanting to put it down. I agreed with what you said so much that I looked at your other videos, wondering what other books you have enjoyed. I started watching your recent bookshelf video, but admittedly it was quite long, I had to leave the pub, and I didn't get to the end. I just wanted to ask if you've read any of the following and, if not, recommend them to you - quite a few are from celebrated British authors you might not have heard of: The Buddah of Suburbia (Hanif Kureishi) - about a boy discovering his sexuality in late 1970s London The Cement Garden (Ian McEwan)- about a dysfunctional single-parent family living on a council estate in London in the 70s A Kestrel for a Knave (Barry Hines) - about a boy who grows up in an abusive family environment in Barnsley (UK) in the 60s - and he raises and trains a Kestrel! King Rat (James Clavell) - about a group of soldiers surviving a Japanese prisoner of war camp Filth (Irwin Welsh) - about a corrupt and racist Scottish policeman who has split personality disorder investigating the murder of a black teenager in Edinburgh. Anyway, thank you for your video. If you read any of the above and like them as much as I do then do send me a msg. All the best, James.
Great video. Read Stoner a few years ago and looooved it. Definitely one of my favourite books too :) You are right, it's really hard to talk about this book, you just need to experience it. The only slight problem I had with it was the wife character, seemed too weird to me. I read Butcher's Crossing this year and it's really good too! You should definitely give it a go. It's about this young man who really wants to change something in his life, so a sort of innocence-to-experience narrative.
I followed your recommendation, bought the book, and started reading it since this weekend started, so far 🤔... sorry, nothing intriguing..but I will keep reading for one more week
An optimistic nihilist! I like that. Maybe I'm the same. A teacher colleague once said to me "I can't decide if you're the most extroverted introvert I know, or the most introverted extrovert". I told them I had the same problem.
I think it's important to note that war is in the back ground of this book in various ways. And stoner is himself not a veteran. There is a lot of things you could interpret from that.
It's fascinating how somebody can love a literary work that I personally didn't. I found the main character a bit uninspiring and tame, and thus frustrating, since his temperament is so different from my own. However, the book describes well the situations in life you don't decide for yourself, and it's language is beautiful. Maybe I will have to re-read it sometime later in life.
I too have a mixed relationship with the book. While I found much of it beautiful and true to life in various ways, I felt misled by all the talk about Stoner’s love for literature. I couldn’t tell you his favorite writer or favorite sonnet. Does he like the contemporaries of that generation? Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others? I could say more but I won’t.
I scrolled through comments trying to find this. I’m honestly having trouble finding anyone that isn’t head over heels for this book. It’s well written but I found stoner so agreeable and lack luster that I ended each chapter with “oh okay..” It’s not that interesting, but is that the point I’m missing? I honestly found Edith more interesting because she sounds insane but we don’t go into that other than she’s unlike-able.
The character’s stoicism seemed forced just for the novel’s sake when he falls in love with a woman who clearly has no interest in him and treats him like shit. That’s when I stopped reading. Just rang false.
It’s not climate change. Nobody is nihilistic because of climate change. It’s technology, globalization, and the over exposure to information, which is essentially all propaganda. Everything is propaganda. The death of locality, local economies, local cultures, local community, etc. for thousands of years humans didn’t even know what was going on 100km away from them in other communities. It was easier to have a meaningful local influence on people and their community. Nowadays, people are constantly looking at people who are more successful, talented and more attractive than them, so why even try? It’s either that or the behaviour sink theory. Nobody cares if there’s a cool local band playing at a local venue anymore because in their pocket is some international pop star backed by a propaganda machine designed to devour you
Its extremely heartwarming to see others act passionately towards a piece of art I hold so dear. I read ‘Stoner’ for the first time back in March, then re-read it back in June. One through an audiobook, the other with a physical copy; regardless of form, this book stuck to my heart and has become by far my favorite book ever. Im so happy to see that you love it just as so.
Yes! Stoner was an unexpectedly moving and powerful novel. I thoroughly enjoyed it as well!
Reading the very end of the book I have never felt so moved in my entire life, there is something so special about this book living this whole life along with stoner I felt like I was dying with him but not a scarred way in the same way as William. Truly incredible.
I picked up "Stoner" based on your recommendation ! I absolutely loved, just finished today and wow...
Comments like this always make my day so thank you so much for this comment! I am beyond happy that you love the book and that hopefully you will share that love to other people! :)
@@colorlesswonderland Same here! I just finished the book like a minute ago and I love it! Thank you so much for the recommendation! :D
same. Now I'm on my youtube review journey to repair this hole in my heart lol
I absolutely love Stoner and convince people to read it at every opportunity. I think it might be my favorite book. It's at least in the top three.
john williams trusts the reader's sensibility beyond his words. He doesn't try to overexplain complex but universal human emotions that you can identify by just reading about a character living through them.
Better than food did a review on this novel a long time ago and I gotta admit, you're absolutely right about this book being one of the best.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and feelings Tyler! Your genuine excitement is so wholesome! No joke, I smiled the whole video - seeing people talk about things with passion is both heart-warming and motivating. I'm really happy you found the book that spoke to you, it's the best feeling in the world! I do enjoy structured and thorough literary analysis, but in the end, it's videos like this that make you drop everything to run and buy the book.
Also, it seems Mark's recommendations are always spot on, what a talent!😄
Your enthusiasm is so infectious. I’ve never read anything like this but am definitely planning to get myself a copy right away. Great vlog
I have loved everything that John Williams has written. Butcher’s Crossing and Nothing But Night are both amazing.
I just picked up Butcher's Crossing!
I read this book in one day. It's really a fantastic book and deserves every bit of phrase it gets.
Thank you so much for recommending this book. I have just finished it and have to say I thought it was fantastic. It jumps through the years whilst taking care of the details and really clear rely describes situations or emotions so you know exactly what it would feel like to be in the room at that moment. I know this book isn’t as old as many classics, but it’s certainly a modern classic, and I’m embarrassed to say one of the first classic books of any kind I have read. I have obviously been missing out. This is now up there as one of my favourite books. I look forward to more recommendations from you and I’ll now have to go through your past videos to find some more. Thank you
Thank you!!! For me, reading Stoner is like looking at a Vermeer. I can’t get enough of a work of genius . You have genuine energy and it’s a wonderful surprise because Stoner is a quiet book and Williams deserves every appreciation you give him. I’ll will subscribe and watch more of your reviews. Here’s something you’ll appreciate. Steven Almond teaches Stoner and wrote “William Stoner and the Battle for the Inner Life .”. I feel you two should meet. I support your teaching Stoner. Thank you again.. Beautiful review.
Thank you for introducing me to this book. I am so thankful you did.
Everybody in my book store suggested it after I finished the Song of Achilles (which broke my heart in the best way and it genuinely stayed with me for months). I was craving something similar and they ALL suggested Stoner (they know I like classics). It’s bleak, it’s depressing but it’s so honest! It’s so real! There’s no sugar coating and it ends up feeling so deeply intimate. I saw a lot of similarities between me and Stoner. Both quiet and not wanting to rock the boat.
There’s just *something* that is so indescribable about this book.
*spoiler alert*
I think the last page said it all, didnt matter that Stoner's book was trivial and didnt mean anything, the point is that the book was him, was a part of him. I think John Williams was really describing how he felt about his life, and he just poured himself into this book. I think thats why it resonates so much, even if it just kind of seems like a simple, "tale in the life of.." story.
I've had an ebook of this waiting for me for seven or eight years, but your love of it is what finally drove me to read it. So glad I did, cos it really isn't the most prepossessing subject on the surface but there's so much more to it. I don't suppose it's actually autobiographical as such but I got such a sense of Williams having experienced that sort of petty bureacratc bullshit (e.g. the business with Walker), and he clearly had the gift to make that actually kind of exciting. Excellent book.
Once again you've piqued my interest. I have half a dozen Murakami books I recently picked up encouraged by your vids and now I want to check out Stoner. Stoner was a quiet, sleeper type novel at my bookstore. Never a big mover of copies there were fans from time to time who sought it out. I also want to read Norwegian Wood so I can watch your discussion without having the book ruined by potential spoilers. Thanks for your enthusiasm sharing what you've loved reading. I appreciate it.
Thanks! This review will definitely help me. This book was coming to my Amazon recommendations for quite some times. One thing that caught my eyes instantly that the description says it is an academic novel, and i was like, what is that genre. And ofcourse it is about a simple man and his simple life. This is what drawing me. Definitely going to read this real soon.
Hunger by Hamsun , Ask The Dust by John Fante along the same lines.
I’m reading ( rereading actually ) this book for my novel / book group this month and loving it all over again ..I’ve also read and was blown away by “ Butcher’s Crossing “ as well as “ Augustus “ ..Butcher’s Crossing would make for a wonderful movie 🎥.. I would love to see the Cohen brothers take on it !
Ive thought a lot about the importance of a strong inner life in dealing with the hard issues we are facing these days ( Covid especially ). Certainly literature and music fills that need .!
Loved your review !! Well done !
Those NYRB editions are wonderful don’t you agree ?
There is a movie of Butchers crossing in the works now. Nicholas Cage will be playing Miller.
I agree that the book's main themes are love and nihilism, about the different shape love takes and the indifference it takes to let love happen and persist. In a sense it's about this balance between indifference and passion. One of the more astounding things is that after all the things and people he tried to love he finally found love for himself in a certain resignation. He comes to understand that all he has had and all he had to let go was there because he played a part in it. It was in the end his own self that he was loving, himself he was becoming. Once there was no more urge to alter himself or to further become he finally understood that he loved himself and all that around him. To me this is a very valuable lesson. That love, and much of life, is a mirror, and you choose what you see.
I usually only enjoy reading philosophical books, but man i really enjoyed this novel. To me this is the perfect prose; i feel as passionate as you about this book.
I read Stoner a couple of years ago, and it is truly one of my favorite books. It reminds me of Willa Cather's The Professor's house. Stoner is the perfect book.
I gotta check out professors house now! I own it but haven't read it yet!
Amazing! Those are my thoughts exactly. There are few who have read The Professor's House, but it is a wonderful book, and it may well be my favourite Willa Cather. The parallels between the two enhance the reading experience of both, and I would recommend them to anyone.
It’s much later but I just finished Stoner by your recommendation, and I never thought that feelings I felt would be put into words. Thank you for the recommendation
Thank you for this brilliant review and for reading those beautiful passages. Seems like one of those unforgettable reads. Just placed a hold at my library!
Im so happy that you are going to read the book! You are 100 % right; it is unforgettable. Enjoy!
Thank you for your inspiring and passionate words about this wonderful novel. Love to hear more of your thoughts about English literature in general. Greetings from Germany 🫶
Been watching your videos since the beginning of this year and I just want to thank you for introducing me to this incredible novel. I just finished it and I am in awe of what I read. Never would I have suspected that I have so much in common with a fictional man from over a century ago. A real testament to the human condition. I would love to see this story through the eyes of Edith or even Grace too. All of the characters are so rich and complex.
I agree. Also it’s the only book which made me weep.
Hi Tyler.
I just finished Stoner, having bought it almost at random in Foyle’s (London) - it was one of the ‘staff picks’. I absolutely loved it and I immediately searched reviews on RUclips, just to hear what other people thought, and came across your video.
You’re spot on about Stoner. I didn’t want it to end and I read it in 3 or 4 sittings, without wanting to put it down. I agreed with what you said so much that I looked at your other videos, wondering what other books you have enjoyed. I started watching your recent bookshelf video, but admittedly it was quite long, I had to leave the pub, and I didn't get to the end.
I just wanted to ask if you've read any of the following and, if not, recommend them to you - quite a few are from celebrated British authors you might not have heard of:
The Buddah of Suburbia (Hanif Kureishi) - about a boy discovering his sexuality in late 1970s London
The Cement Garden (Ian McEwan)- about a dysfunctional single-parent family living on a council estate in London in the 70s
A Kestrel for a Knave (Barry Hines) - about a boy who grows up in an abusive family environment in Barnsley (UK) in the 60s - and he raises and trains a Kestrel!
King Rat (James Clavell) - about a group of soldiers surviving a Japanese prisoner of war camp
Filth (Irwin Welsh) - about a corrupt and racist Scottish policeman who has split personality disorder investigating the murder of a black teenager in Edinburgh.
Anyway, thank you for your video. If you read any of the above and like them as much as I do then do send me a msg.
All the best,
James.
I am currently binging your videos, and I think this series(?) is my favorite of yours!
I finished Stoner recently. It was a pretty amazing book about a fairly ordinary life.
Thanks for supporting my grandfather work ❤️.
Great video. Read Stoner a few years ago and looooved it. Definitely one of my favourite books too :) You are right, it's really hard to talk about this book, you just need to experience it. The only slight problem I had with it was the wife character, seemed too weird to me. I read Butcher's Crossing this year and it's really good too! You should definitely give it a go. It's about this young man who really wants to change something in his life, so a sort of innocence-to-experience narrative.
Hunger by Hamsun , Ask The Dust by John Fante
I followed your recommendation, bought the book, and started reading it since this weekend started, so far 🤔... sorry, nothing intriguing..but I will keep reading for one more week
An optimistic nihilist! I like that. Maybe I'm the same. A teacher colleague once said to me "I can't decide if you're the most extroverted introvert I know, or the most introverted extrovert". I told them I had the same problem.
Ok, I'm sold. I'm gonna buy a copy of this book.
Picked up stoner because of you, masterpiece
I read Stoner last year and I haven't found a better book since then
I think it's important to note that war is in the back ground of this book in various ways. And stoner is himself not a veteran. There is a lot of things you could interpret from that.
You convinced me to buy this book :)
i remember reading that book and feeling extremely frustrated at the protagonist for his passivity. Not my favorite. But thank you for your review!
Great video! This book has been on my list for a while but I’m definitely going to bump it up now
Thank you! I bet you are going to love it!
I loved stoner so much
missing you hope things are well!
You should check out some of Alasdair Grays work either Lanark or 1982 Janine!
Omg, Jace, I wonder what Tyler will think of Lanark! That was an amazing novel
@@michaelguzman5497 it’s such an amazing book, I hope he checks it out! 1982, Janine is very powerful as well.
I struggled to finish it, may be it's not for me 😢
you and drunzo should do a collab
I'm only a few chapters in but I'm not feeling anything yet.
Read butchers crossing
It's fascinating how somebody can love a literary work that I personally didn't. I found the main character a bit uninspiring and tame, and thus frustrating, since his temperament is so different from my own. However, the book describes well the situations in life you don't decide for yourself, and it's language is beautiful. Maybe I will have to re-read it sometime later in life.
I too have a mixed relationship with the book. While I found much of it beautiful and true to life in various ways, I felt misled by all the talk about Stoner’s love for literature. I couldn’t tell you his favorite writer or favorite sonnet. Does he like the contemporaries of that generation? Hemingway and Fitzgerald and others? I could say more but I won’t.
I scrolled through comments trying to find this. I’m honestly having trouble finding anyone that isn’t head over heels for this book.
It’s well written but I found stoner so agreeable and lack luster that I ended each chapter with “oh okay..”
It’s not that interesting, but is that the point I’m missing?
I honestly found Edith more interesting because she sounds insane but we don’t go into that other than she’s unlike-able.
missed ur messy hair, but like ya cut g
I miss it too but gotta get that professional cut for the new teaching year
Don’t you have an Instagram?
I have a private one not a public one! I am considering making a public one!
@@colorlesswonderland you should , man!
The character’s stoicism seemed forced just for the novel’s sake when he falls in love with a woman who clearly has no interest in him and treats him like shit. That’s when I stopped reading. Just rang false.
It’s not climate change. Nobody is nihilistic because of climate change. It’s technology, globalization, and the over exposure to information, which is essentially all propaganda. Everything is propaganda. The death of locality, local economies, local cultures, local community, etc. for thousands of years humans didn’t even know what was going on 100km away from them in other communities. It was easier to have a meaningful local influence on people and their community. Nowadays, people are constantly looking at people who are more successful, talented and more attractive than them, so why even try? It’s either that or the behaviour sink theory. Nobody cares if there’s a cool local band playing at a local venue anymore because in their pocket is some international pop star backed by a propaganda machine designed to devour you
Hunger by Hamsun , Ask The Dust by John Fante along the same lines.