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Stoner

A Novel

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Stoner

By: John Williams
Narrated by: Alfred Molina
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This is the story of a quiet man, destined to be a farmer but who becomes an academic. It is book in which nothing and everything happens and is possibly the greatest novel you've never read.

William Stoner enters the University of Missouri at nineteen to study agriculture. A seminar on English literature changes his life, and he never returns to work on his father's farm. Stoner becomes a teacher. He marries the wrong woman. His life is quiet, and after his death, his colleagues remember him rarely.

Yet with truthfulness, compassion and intense power, this novel uncovers a story of universal value - of the conflicts, defeats and victories of the human race that pass unrecorded by history - and in doing so reclaims the significance of an individual life.

'It's simply a novel about a guy who goes to college and becomes a teacher. But its one of the most fascinating things that you've ever come across' Tom Hanks, Time

'A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing account of an entire life' Ian McEwan

'A brilliant, beautiful, inexorably sad, wise and elegant novel' Nick Hornby

© John Williams 1965 (P) Penguin Audio 2016

 Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Psychological World Literature Heartfelt Thought-Provoking Inspiring
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Critic reviews

A terrific novel of echoing sadness (Julian Barnes)
It's simply a novel about a guy who goes to college and becomes a teacher. But its one of the most fascinating things that you've ever come across (Tom Hanks)
I was stunned by it... beautifully written in simple but brilliant prose, a novel of an ordinary life, an examination of a quiet tragedy, the work of a great but little-known writer
One of the great unheralded 20th century American novels...Almost perfect (Bret Easton Ellis)
One of the great forgotten novels of the past century. I have bought at least 50 copies of it in the past few years, using it as a gift for friends. It is universally adored by writers and readers alike...so beautifully paced and cadenced that it deserves the status of classic
A beautiful, sad, utterly convincing account of an entire life… I’m amazed a novel this good escaped general attention for so long (Ian McEwan)
A brilliant, beautiful, inexorably sad, wise, and elegant novel
Something rarer than a great novel -- it is a perfect novel, so well told and beautifully written, so deeply moving, that it takes your breath away...few stories this sad could be so secretly triumphant, or so exhilarating.
A beautiful and moving novel, as sweeping, intimate and mysterious as life itself (Geoff Dyer)
The most extraordinary work of fiction I've read in a long time... If you're looking for a book that's simple and subtle, warmly human and at the same time utterly pitiless in his rendition of the vicissitudes of an ordinary existence, here's one you will read again and again
All stars
Most relevant
Very much enjoyed listening to this. To say not much happens would be true. But it is a compelling story beautifully told and very well read.

Excellent Novel

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This is a marvel. An economic prose yet the fullest, most complete characterisation I've read for many years. I couldn't stop listening to this and have since bought the book which I treasure. The narration is perfect; mellifluous yet Stoners quiet strength is present in every word. Alfred Molina is an exceptional narrator. Here is a book for life

Masterpiece

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A book, once savoured, that makes you want to greet the author, shake his hand, and thank him heartily. A captivating book which captures the heroism of a common teacher by rendering the common unique, and therefore uncommon, by edifying the anonymous struggles of an unassuming man, perceived by most of his peers as a failure, and in so doing immortalising the seemingly mundane details and events that make up an ordinary life. Therein resides the true genius of this work: the author as teacher, a Seneca-like sage, teaching the reader to recognise the extraordinary in the ordinary, the heroic character of defeat, the sublime joy in disappointment, the very beauty of what it means to be alive, to live a simple life. A classic portrait of a humble hero, a quiet rebel, a man of inaction as a model of action.
Molina’s narration is faultless, endearing, and to say it does justice to Stoner, and Stoner’s story, is, I think, the best homage I can pay his performance.

A humble, and humbling, masterpiece - A Must-Read!

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This book really shook me to the core. It is gripping, and written in a way I have never read before. Beautiful!

Amazing

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A beautifully written book....enjoyed it very much...would thoroughly recommend to you all....naration was also very good

great read

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