Books

I had deliberately avoided reading and reviewing this book because of its incredible sales on being “rediscovered” last year, but so many people have recommended it that I thought I would give it a try.

I found it a moving and rewarding experience, causing me to wonder why, on its original publication nearly 50 years ago, it was so unsuccessful.

At times it has echoes of Henry James or William Maxwell, which suggests that some may have found it old-fashioned, but the voice belongs to John Williams alone and the themes it covers are timeless.

The book tells the story of William Stoner, Professor of English at a Midwestern university, from his early days as an agriculture student to his death in the 1950s.

From the reactions of staff and students to his passing, it would appear to have been an unremarkable, commonplace life but, as we read on, we find that he experiences war, love, success and failure, though maybe not in the ways we might expect.

To cram 50 years of life into under 300 pages is not easy, but Williams manages it without seeming rushed – the story develops at an easy pace so that time passes for us at much the same speed as for Stoner himself.

Characters age, staff and students come and go, but we are still surprised when he finds retirement approaching.

The way in which Williams fills an outwardly depressing, thwarted sort of life with glimmers of happiness is reminiscent of Thomas Hardy; the “neutral-tinted haps” with which Stoner’s life is scattered achieve a richer hue because they are the summits of his modest hopes; he is not, like the man in Hardy’s poem who “never expected much,” unambitious, but his ambitions are straightforward and honest, like the man himself and, despite the apparent failure of his marriage, his life is in fact filled with love.

He marries Edith simply because he has never seen anything so beautiful, but he finds true love twice, first with literature itself, for which he sacrifices an agriculture course and the chance to help his parents on their farm, and later with a student, Katherine, although this perfect affair is sabotaged by the petty jealousies of his colleagues and rivals.

He makes enemies, most notably the bitterly antagonistic chairman of the English department, Hollis Lomax, but he also achieves strong friendships with two fellow students; one, David Masters, is killed in France and his absence is a constant source of pain, but the other, Gordon Finch, retains an administrative position at the university and is his ally throughout his career.

That his periods of true happiness are brief is due to the pettiness of others; his wife denies him the attention and company of their daughter and Lomax not only sees to it that the affair with Katherine is ended but compounds this by mean attempts to limit Stoner’s teaching remit, yet he never resorts to bitterness. When his commitment to literature drives him away from his parents, Williams says that “he felt his love increased by its loss,” and at the end of his life he is literally holding on to proof that his choices have been worthwhile.

We all achieve something, we all experience love, failure, hope and disappointment to some degree; it is just that not everyone gets to the top. Stoner is one of the people who balance the world, and for this his value is immeasurable.