Stoner: A Novel by John Williams

Author John Williams · Publisher RHK · Published 2015-01-02 · ISBN 9788925554990

About the Book

There are lives that require one to prove something, not through a few successes and failures, but by 'staking one's entire life.'
This is why we listen to the ordinary and quiet life of Stoner, and it is the source of profound emotion.

William Stoner, the son of a farmer, enrolls in college at nineteen to study agriculture. It was a path he chose without his own will. However, the seventy-third sonnet of Shakespeare, encountered in an introductory English literature class, completely changes his life. He falls in love with literature. Instead of returning home, Stoner chooses to remain at college and pursue a path as an English literature student. He marries the woman he loves, starts a family, and lives the life of an educator as a professor. Although he was more dedicated to academic achievement than to campus politics or career advancement, and loved his family, for some reason, his position at both the university and at home remains precarious. Isolated from his family and colleagues, his sad and lonely life, by worldly standards, is no different from a failure. Yet, through world wars and the Great Depression, suffering personal misfortunes and failed loves, and battling sudden illness, he strives to live as himself until the very end. As if trying to prove something through his entire life, just like his lifelong research.

Sometimes, the world too easily divides lives into 'successful' and 'failed.' Stoner also experiences several minor successes and failures, but by worldly standards, his life is no different from that of a failure. However, the way author John Williams portrays Stoner's life is a little different. With his characteristic, almost obsessive, detailed narration, the author unfolds the life of an ordinary man truthfully and intensely, with compassion for humanity. Perhaps this is why readers, deeply empathizing with the protagonist Stoner as they read the book, feel a sense of pathos even in his small moments of success. The story begins with Stoner's birth and ends with his death. The insight and emotion that all the shining and special moments of life can be contained within the life of an ordinary person suddenly, all at once, come to the reader after closing the book. It was a 'lonely life,' but it is the emotion conveyed by the quiet struggle of someone who achieved something brilliant in their solitude, despite the truth of life that we are all utterly alone. This approach and narration, in contrast to most classical literature that tells the essence of life through extraordinary protagonists and dramatic successes and spectacular downfalls, conveys no less emotion; rather, it is deeper and more secret. Could this be the extraordinariness created by the accumulation of ordinariness, and the driving force that brought the novel "Stoner" attention 50 years later?

A story that resembles yours, walking your own path while enduring sorrow and solitude.
Though our lives may differ, we are all Stoner.

First published in 1965, the novel "Stoner" was well-received by critics and literary circles but failed to gain widespread appeal and was forgotten for a long time. It was a book that only discerning writers and professors sought out with difficulty. Fifty years later, it is passionately read by many people around the world, thanks to the efforts of insightful writers and publishers. It began to gain recognition in Europe when French author Anna Gavalda, beloved in Korea, translated the work into French. Vintage Classics, an imprint of Random House, one of the largest publishers in the English-speaking world, promoted "Stoner" by including its first chapter in the e-book of F. Scott Fitzgerald's "The Great Gatsby." The story, delicately described with calm, seemingly indifferent yet rich sentences, and the quiet, introverted character 'Stoner,' surprisingly captivated readers with a charm diametrically opposed to Gatsby, a protagonist full of a desire for a glamorous life, immense wealth, and success.

Actor Tom Hanks said, "This is just a story about a guy who went to college and became a professor. But it's also, above all else, a fascinating story." Why does the portrayal of protagonist Stoner by author John Williams resonate so deeply with us, here and now? Perhaps it's because in this so-called 'fatigue society,' where the possibility of failure is greater than success, modern people, who have relatively less time to care for themselves, find Stoner's frustrations, sorrows, and loneliness to be more profound and urgent. Nevertheless, William Stoner loved and forgave people in his own unwavering way, living his own life. Why not open your heart to the comfort and courage his existence conveys?