I just speedread the last 250 pages of John Williams'-Stoner and holy fuck. I made a thread a week ago asking why people liked this shit and now that I took the time to sit down and read through the whole thing, I get it. Thank you guys.
>pic related, my edition of stoner + next book im gonna start today
Williams, John. A writer of some talent with two or three stories or novels which are memorable.
Matthew King
Why would you speed read it? I'm reading it right now and Stoner is so stunningly relatable that its giving me an existential crisis
James Gutierrez
ha, yeah. Enjoy that man. You'll find more and more novels will evoke despondent feeling until you miss it.
Julian Peterson
I want to die. Shit hits way too close to home at parts and even the parts that dont still hurt. Edith is a massive cuntasaurus
Justin Bailey
You are supposed to sympathize with Edith you retard. Did you just ignore her entire backstory because "she hurt Stoners feelings wah"
Mason Taylor
I have no sympathy for her. I get the backstory and all but my grandma has very similar symptoms to Edith in the book so I can relate her actions easier to real life. Still no excuse to do all that narcissistic shit you twat
Christian Smith
My resent for Edith didn't come from her hatred for Stoner, but rather for her exclusive ownership of Grace, removing her from the relationship she had with Stoner. The imagery of Grace in the office while Stoner was working was some of my favorite in the novel
Nathaniel Gray
You are missing the point of the book. Read it again
Gavin Parker
Wish sage worked on this board. Kill yourself degenerate.
Samuel Gomez
Yes, this exactly. That stuff was so heart warming and genuinely nice but he couldn't even have that. Wtf are you on my dude? Explain why Edith is amazing then? Shes a narcissist who is manipulative. She cant express her unhappiness boo hoo. Kill yourself
Parker Gomez
You are supposed to look for the reasons that made her like that
David Nelson
everyone does everything for reasons. Dahmer killed people for reasons, muzzies rape people for reasons. Everyone has reasons
Daniel Miller
yikes dude
Tyler Ortiz
The art of bait.
Angel Perez
Just finished this one, boys, and I found myself weeping openly for the last twenty pages.
Nothing in a book has pierced my heart like this:
> He turned the first few pages and found the dedication. "To W.S."
Yep I fucking cried when I read that. Shit broke me inside. I feel empty
Levi Fisher
I think he had something against Stoner due to being embarrassed of telling him about his childhood (during stoners party) and held it against him and let it fester all those years. It obviously got worst after the whole Walker debacle.
Brandon Williams
It may be unexcusable but that doesn't mean it's unrelatable. Forgive me for going full Yea Forums here, but Janice was one of the best characters in The Sopranos for the same reason. Everyone knows a mean, vindictive cunt like her.
Josiah Foster
Oh yeah for sure I agree with that. She's well written and adds to the story but I still have no sympathy for her
Josiah Martinez
that stoner cover looks like a default book cover of an ereader
Hudson Lopez
>yikes yikes
Justin Hughes
>I just speedread the last 250 pages of John Williams'-Stoner and holy fuck. I made a thread a week ago asking why people liked this shit and now that I took the time to sit down and read through the whole thing, I get it. Thank you guys. I wasn't joking when I told you that the first 50 pages can be tough. I wouldn't say that it's because it sucks but rather that it's hard for a novel to be a banger right from the get-go like The Sun Also Rises or 100 Years of Solitude. Rather, if it doesn't pick up after 50-100 pages, then there's probably nothing to the book once you've been immersed in its world.
Henry Rogers
Yeah man for sure. Im still new to actual artistic books but what you said about the first 100 pages makes sense for sure. Do you have any recommendations for what I should read next?
Oliver Hughes
I'm reading Growth of the Soil right now.
Angel Torres
not this fucking meme theory again
Gabriel Wood
Added on my list. Thanks. I started Lolita today and its pretty interesting so far, I still have to get to grips with the writing style though as its quite unique.
Really? It felt sooo boring Should i give it another try?
Anthony Hernandez
Now go read Williams' other books, like Augustus.
Jonathan Phillips
>He just made her a character so that everyone could go like "man fuck her what a terrible person"
No way
Ian Green
>I raped my wife too!
Cooper Myers
does he blaze it?
Eli Hill
Just want to say that's the worst, most inappropriate cover for that book I've seen yet
Jordan Roberts
Why? >he doesn't like a book with pictures of books on it
Oliver Foster
Is it good?
Blake Long
No but there is a part he gets looped up in opiates. The drugs in the 40s we're fucking legit.
I just finished Stoner today after reading your thread. What a great book dude. Just wanted to say thank you.
Cooper Garcia
Same here, user
Angel Diaz
I love it!
Chase Johnson
The first chapter of Stoner is one of my favorites. I was almost immediately hooked. Though I suppose that could be because my own path has been so similar to Stoner's, having left the family farm to pursue an academic career.
Camden Stewart
you reminding me of that shit made me tear up
Cooper Bell
Victimhood neither saints a person nor excuses their behavior. She may have needed help, but it does not make her a good person or worthy of sympathy, though empathy is correct. Ruined people are sometimes just bad, vicious influences on life.
Wyatt Ortiz
He raped his wife
Jayden Hall
I bought this book like 8 years ago when lit first recommended it and still haven't read it
Thomas Myers
Young Thug's Stoner is a better bildungsroman
Levi Johnson
is right. If you hate anybody by the end of the novel you've missed the entire spiritual point of the novel. You've just identified with then novel and used it as emotional masturbation.
Pay attention to both the early Lomax and Edith upbringing sections and you'll come to understand what's happening to both of those characters.
Jack Clark
There's a parallel between Edith's reaction to Katherine and Lomax's reaction to Walker
Liam Harris
I understand those characters and why they do what they do but I still dont like them but they are good, well written characters.
Nathan Gray
but the author wasn't into leftist sociology
Colton Murphy
So you marathoned it, huh? Nice.
Luis Hall
The beginning is one of the best parts wtf
Luis Williams
My point has nothing to do with leftism.
If you still have visceral hatred for the characters at the end of the novel then you haven't learned anything from it. You don't have to like them but the whole process of the novel should extinguish this hatred.
Camden Carter
Edith was raped by both her farther and Stoner, she thought Stoner would do the same to Grace.
Juan Anderson
Finally, somebody who's read it
John Ramirez
Just curious, but what about this thread specifically made you read it? This book has been heavily recommended on this board for years now.
Evan Cooper
The end of chapter 15 made me cry when Edward died in the Pacific. Then immediatly hit with this: >"In June of 1942 Grace's child was born; it was a boy, and she named it after the father it had never seen and would not love."
Easton Lee
It was a combination of whimsy, timing, and the fact that I wanted to be distracted from my work, i.e., procrastination.
I think it has the best ending of any book I've read, excluding the Bible.