Books are always, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. My favourite novelistsare Richard Yates, Charles Bukowski...my favourite horror authors are Richard Laymon, Clive Barker andTom Stearns. (the letter underrated)
I picked up a copy of Stoner a couple of months back and was immediately drawn into it but had to put it down as I had so many books on the go for various readathons that I couldn’t start another. It’s high on my priority list for the summer. Loved the discussion around publishing as a business - it’s a pretty cutthroat one! It is good to remember this when we are championing books! Great chat Ollie!
I read Stoner last year and loved it. I was amazed at how the banal, mundane life of the character was so engaging and gripping. One of my favorite books of all time.
Great review and comments about what keeps a book in print, or brings it into the limelight. The New York Review of Books, NYRB Classics, kind of specializes as a publisher of neglected classics. I've read a fair number and have even more on my shelf, but here are a few that I enjoyed in addition to Stoner: A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes Life and Fate, and Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamentis In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes There you go, all 5-star reads on my Goodreads account. I should think The Murderess in particular would make an interesting CriminOlly selection. In a Lonely Place was reviewed on this channel and didn't meet with high favor, but I maintain that it is a terrific example of crime noir and anyone with an interest in the genre should check it out. Also a famous film with Humphrey Bogart but not as good as the book in my opinion. By the way, if you go to the NYRB website and join the mailing list they have occasional sales with up to 50% off so it's possible to really load up on their books, which I have done almost to a fault.
Great review. Thanks. I will add that, while the Humphrey Bogart's film of the same name is quite good, it veers off away from the novel in the one key element that you and I know because we've read the book and seen the film, but that I will not spoil for future readers except to state that the endings are quite different because the main character acts differently: he is one kind of man in the novel, and another in the film.
I read it a while back and loved it. I couldn't quite understand why I loved it because it was somewhat depressing. I think it was written so well that it just kept me reading. I gave a way several copies praising it to the hilt but your discussion here is the first time I have seen or heard anyone talk about it. Thanks
Hey Olly, I was a buyer for the big W when Stoner was re-discovered back in 2006. They got Random House to produce a lovely grey cloth bound edition which occasionally crops up on eBay. There was a real push back then to find books that could be reprinted for a modern audience. Stoner ticked all the boxes. This was when I first read it. A truly great novel. It was outselling contemporary titles for quite a while which cheesed off other publishers. I bet Random were rubbing their hands with glee. We were tasked with finding the next Stoner but beyond the SF books, which were not required back then, we struggled. All my choices had already been earmarked by Virago🙂
Excellent review. I have also read Augustus and Butcher’s Crossing and I am impressed how Williams wrote three such different novels all of which are of such high quality.
Thank you for this reminder that I still need to read Stoner. Like, how am I even allowed on booktube without having read it 😂 Yesterday I was looking at the shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, and one of the books there, Sift by Alissa Hattman, is is only available from the tiny indie press website in America. I'm hoping this shortlisting will make it more widely available because it looks like an interesting book! (Yes, I'm trying to hype it a bit here because why isn't there even an ebook?!?)
Stoner is worthy of all the praise! I love what you shared about publishing and social influence. Williams was praised for Augustus, which won the National Book Award. I believe Butcher’s Crossing recieved worse reviews than Stoner, but it’s now being highly praised. All three books are well worth reading, but Stoner is my favorite! 😊
I've just started this book last night, so I'm interested in your review today . Also, I just finished Joe Hill N0SA4A2. I enjoyed links to Stephen King .
The Great Gatsby was also a book that got a boost several years after its publication. On its publication in 1925. the sales were disappointing. The War gave it a massive boost. In the spring of 1942, mere months after the United States' entrance into World War II, an association of publishing executives created the Council on Books in Wartime with the stated purpose of distributing paperback Armed Services Editions books to combat troops. The Great Gatsby was one of them. Within the next several years, 155,000 copies of Gatsby were distributed to U.S. soldiers overseas, and the book proved popular among beleaguered troops, according to the Saturday Evening Post's 1945 report.
What an interesting discussion! I read Stoner earlier this year and loved much of it-but the book left me struggling with some questions, too. Eventually, I decided I should reread it before talking about it on booktube. Whenever so many people talk about something being fantastic, it feels weird to me to express even slight quibbles without really thinking things through.
There are quite major issues with the book, even though it is overall very good, and I do wish more people would offer a nuanced perspective, because the crowd always likes to hype things up uncritically.
And, as is often the case in situations like this, the author is is no longer around to enjoy and reap the rewards from the renewed interest in his works. Fitzgerald and Melville come to mind. His other major novels, Augustus and Butcher's Crossing, are just as worthy.
I'm surprised more publishers are not using the print on demand options. Amazon KDP and other POD companies are options to use when a book no longer generates a huge amount of interest. They may not get as good of a return as they normally receive, but it has to be better than no return whatsoever.
Stoner may not have fit into the mid-1960s University culture at the time. It's not about war, radical politics, or drugs. I keep meaning to read Augustus and Butcher's Crossing.
LMAO you are different than me I live an ordinary regular life that's not something I care to read about. I read for fun and escape so this doesn't sound appealing to me if I'm I may be missing something but it just doesn't sound appealing
Well, certainly a portion of the story was that Williams died in the early 1990s, and he hadn't published anything since 1972. There simply wasn't anything to hype. Then, too, Stoner was not what the late Sixties was looking for.
It's a very good book, although Stoner's wife Edith verges on being a stereotype. I've seen very few nuanced reviews of Stoner, because for the most part the reviews are just pure hype, which is exactly the opposite of what a book like this calls for.
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Stoner is indeed a great novel. Butcher’s Crossing is another Williams novel equally great but for different reasons.
Books are always, like beauty, in the eye of the beholder. My favourite novelistsare Richard Yates, Charles Bukowski...my favourite horror authors are Richard Laymon, Clive Barker andTom Stearns. (the letter underrated)
I don't think I've heard of Tom Stearns, I'll have to check him out
You are so right about Edith’s Diary!
Williams' book, Butchers Crossing, is also very good. Sort of a proto-Blood Meridian.
That’s a terrific review. I loved Stoner and I appreciated that wave of hipster chic that pushed me to read it. It’s a great story about a great book.
I picked up a copy of Stoner a couple of months back and was immediately drawn into it but had to put it down as I had so many books on the go for various readathons that I couldn’t start another. It’s high on my priority list for the summer. Loved the discussion around publishing as a business - it’s a pretty cutthroat one! It is good to remember this when we are championing books! Great chat Ollie!
I read Stoner last year and loved it. I was amazed at how the banal, mundane life of the character was so engaging and gripping.
One of my favorite books of all time.
Well considered and described. Publishing is, number one, a business.
Great review and comments about what keeps a book in print, or brings it into the limelight. The New York Review of Books, NYRB
Classics, kind of specializes as a publisher of neglected classics. I've read a fair number and have even more on my shelf, but here are a few that I enjoyed in addition to Stoner:
A High Wind in Jamaica by Richard Hughes
Life and Fate, and Everything Flows by Vasily Grossman
The Book of Ebenezer Le Page by G. B. Edwards
The Case of Comrade Tulayev by Victor Serge
The Moon and the Bonfires by Cesare Pavese
The Murderess by Alexandros Papadiamentis
In a Lonely Place by Dorothy B. Hughes
There you go, all 5-star reads on my Goodreads account. I should think The Murderess in particular would make an interesting CriminOlly selection. In a Lonely Place was reviewed on this channel and didn't meet with high favor, but I maintain that it is a terrific example of crime noir and anyone with an interest in the genre should check it out. Also a famous film with Humphrey Bogart but not as good as the book in my opinion.
By the way, if you go to the NYRB website and join the mailing list they have occasional sales with up to 50% off so it's possible to really load up on their books, which I have done almost to a fault.
Great review. Thanks. I will add that, while the Humphrey Bogart's film of the same name is quite good, it veers off away from the novel in the one key element that you and I know because we've read the book and seen the film, but that I will not spoil for future readers except to state that the endings are quite different because the main character acts differently: he is one kind of man in the novel, and another in the film.
I love Stoner. Edith’s Diary is amazing.
Just finished this book last month. Excellent from start to finish.
.
There is a movie called TOLL BOOTH. It’s made in Wales and the book STONER is reviewed by the toll booth attendant.
I read it a while back and loved it. I couldn't quite understand why I loved it because it was somewhat depressing. I think it was written so well that it just kept me reading. I gave a way several copies praising it to the hilt but your discussion here is the first time I have seen or heard anyone talk about it. Thanks
Hey Olly, I was a buyer for the big W when Stoner was re-discovered back in 2006. They got Random House to produce a lovely grey cloth bound edition which occasionally crops up on eBay. There was a real push back then to find books that could be reprinted for a modern audience. Stoner ticked all the boxes. This was when I first read it. A truly great novel. It was outselling contemporary titles for quite a while which cheesed off other publishers. I bet Random were rubbing their hands with glee. We were tasked with finding the next Stoner but beyond the SF books, which were not required back then, we struggled. All my choices had already been earmarked by Virago🙂
Just added Stoner to my book challenge list for 1965. Thanks for the recommendation.
Excellent review. I have also read Augustus and Butcher’s Crossing and I am impressed how Williams wrote three such different novels all of which are of such high quality.
I love Stoner!!! What a wonderful novel.
I was stunned at how good Stoner is.
Thank you for this reminder that I still need to read Stoner. Like, how am I even allowed on booktube without having read it 😂 Yesterday I was looking at the shortlist for the 2024 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize, and one of the books there, Sift by Alissa Hattman, is is only available from the tiny indie press website in America. I'm hoping this shortlisting will make it more widely available because it looks like an interesting book! (Yes, I'm trying to hype it a bit here because why isn't there even an ebook?!?)
Stoner is worthy of all the praise! I love what you shared about publishing and social influence. Williams was praised for Augustus, which won the National Book Award. I believe Butcher’s Crossing recieved worse reviews than Stoner, but it’s now being highly praised. All three books are well worth reading, but Stoner is my favorite! 😊
Williams needs more hype. I've read three of his four books and all three were awesome.
I've just started this book last night, so I'm interested in your review today . Also, I just finished Joe Hill N0SA4A2. I enjoyed links to Stephen King .
I read Butcher’s Crossing for June on the Range and immediately downloaded Stoner afterwards. You’ve just bumped it up my tbr. It sounds great 😊
The Great Gatsby was also a book that got a boost several years after its publication. On its publication in 1925. the sales were disappointing. The War gave it a massive boost. In the spring of 1942, mere months after the United States' entrance into World War II, an association of publishing executives created the Council on Books in Wartime with the stated purpose of distributing paperback Armed Services Editions books to combat troops. The Great Gatsby was one of them. Within the next several years, 155,000 copies of Gatsby were distributed to U.S. soldiers overseas, and the book proved popular among beleaguered troops, according to the Saturday Evening Post's 1945 report.
So World War 2 is to blame? !! I blame Michael K Vaughan too 🤭
@@DDB168 We can't blame Michael K Vaughan for everything.
What an interesting discussion!
I read Stoner earlier this year and loved much of it-but the book left me struggling with some questions, too. Eventually, I decided I should reread it before talking about it on booktube. Whenever so many people talk about something being fantastic, it feels weird to me to express even slight quibbles without really thinking things through.
There are quite major issues with the book, even though it is overall very good, and I do wish more people would offer a nuanced perspective, because the crowd always likes to hype things up uncritically.
@@DanLyndon I’d love to hear more about what you think about the book!
And, as is often the case in situations like this, the author is is no longer around to enjoy and reap the rewards from the renewed interest in his works. Fitzgerald and Melville come to mind. His other major novels, Augustus and Butcher's Crossing, are just as worthy.
Just like Herman Melville's Moby Dick one of the greatest books ever written. Books beyond there time maybe.
I'm surprised more publishers are not using the print on demand options. Amazon KDP and other POD companies are options to use when a book no longer generates a huge amount of interest. They may not get as good of a return as they normally receive, but it has to be better than no return whatsoever.
💚🖤
Stoner may not have fit into the mid-1960s University culture at the time. It's not about war, radical politics, or drugs. I keep meaning to read Augustus and Butcher's Crossing.
LMAO you are different than me I live an ordinary regular life that's not something I care to read about. I read for fun and escape so this doesn't sound appealing to me if I'm I may be missing something but it just doesn't sound appealing
Well, certainly a portion of the story was that Williams died in the early 1990s, and he hadn't published anything since 1972. There simply wasn't anything to hype. Then, too, Stoner was not what the late Sixties was looking for.
It's a very good book, although Stoner's wife Edith verges on being a stereotype. I've seen very few nuanced reviews of Stoner, because for the most part the reviews are just pure hype, which is exactly the opposite of what a book like this calls for.
But if I read this does that mean I'm a dudebro? I don't know if I'm ready for that. 🤭
I don’t think it does. But maybe.