Stoner (novel)
First edition
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| Author | John Williams |
|---|---|
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Viking Press |
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Publication date
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1965 |
| Pages | 288 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 61253892 |
| 813/.54 22 | |
| LC Class | PS3545.I5286 S7 2003 |
Stoner is a 1965 novel by the American writer John Williams. It was reissued in 2003 by Vintage and in 2006 by New York Review Books Classics with an introduction by John McGahern.
Stoner has been categorized under the genre of the academic novel, or the campus novel. Throughout the 200-word prologue and 200-page novel, Stoner novel follows Stoner's undistinguished career and workplace politics, his marriage to Edith, his affair with his colleague Katherine, and his love and pursuit of literature.
William Stoner is born on a small farm in central Missouri in 1891. After high school, Stoner expects to continue working on the farm. But the County Agent advises that he go to agriculture school instead. Stoner enters the University of Missouri, where all agriculture students must take a survey course in English Literature during their sophomore year. The literature he encounters in this introductory course, such as Sonnet 73, opens a gateway to a new world for Stoner and he quickly falls in love with literary studies. Without telling his parents, Stoner quits the Agriculture program and studies only the humanities. A professor suggests to Stoner that his love of knowledge means that he will be a teacher. When his parents come for his graduation, Stoner tells them he won’t be returning to the farm. Stoner completes his MA in English and begins teaching. His teaching is uninspiring but he still enjoys the classes he takes. In grad school he befriends fellow students Gordon Finch and Dave Masters. Masters suggests all three are using grad school to avoid the real world. World War I begins, and Gordon and Dave enlist. After some soul searching, Stoner decides to remain in school during the war. When the Armistice is signed, a party is held for the returning veterans, where Stoner meets an attractive young woman named Edith. Stoner begins to call on Edith, who is visiting from out of town. When Stoner calls on her, Edith acts very distant and withdrawn. Stoner feels they are still strangers, but he has fallen in love with Edith. Very soon he proposes marriage. When her parents consent to the marriage, Edith insists that they marry soon. Edith tells Stoner she will try to be a good wife to him, and they marry a few weeks later.
Stoner’s marriage to Edith is bad from the start. It gradually becomes clear that Edith has profound emotional problems. She treats Stoner inconsiderately throughout their marriage. Within a year, Stoner loses all hope the marriage will ever improve. From the start, Edith appears disinterested in sex. Their first party at home ends in a sudden emotional outburst from Edith. For awhile, Edith no longer wants to leave the house. Stoner begins to spend more time at work. He sleeps in a different room than Edith and their sex life is nearly non-existent. After three years of marriage, Edith suddenly informs Stoner she wants a baby. For two months she is absolutely voracious about sex with Stoner. But when she becomes pregnant she once again is disinterested in intimacy. When their daughter Grace is born, Edith remains inexplicably bed ridden for nearly a year. By now, Stoner has reworked his dissertation into a published book and he is promoted to Associate Professor with tenure. Without consulting Stoner, Edith accepts a $6,000 loan from her father to buy a house, a loan which Stoner fears they cannot afford. Stoner also gradually realizes that Edith is waging a campaign to separate him and his daughter. For short periods, Edith throws herself into outside activities like community theater. She is alternately inattentive and oppressive in her relationship with their daughter. She periodically disrupts Stoner’s work space in the home. He is forced increasingly to spend his free time working at the University instead of at home. For the most part, Stoner accepts this poor treatment from Edith passively. The next few years are happy for Stoner despite the house debt and his poor relationship with Edith. He and Edith have reached a temporary stalemate. Stoner gradually realizes how centrally important Grace is to his life. He begins to teach with more enthusiasm. But still, year in and year out, his marriage with Edith remains perpetually unsatisfactory and fraught with problems.
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