Stoner.

I would like to clarify that “Stoner” is a book. Don’t let your imaginations run wild because the topic of the plot is far from your personal associations of the title. Stoner is fictional memoir of William Stoner; A simple man from Missouri that sets off to study agronomy in university. I find it difficult to call the book a memoir; memoirs are written for the likes of Hemingway, Steve Jobs and explorers of Atlantis. Stoner is memoir of a different kind, an allegory of the book “Stoner” is a minimalist painting. The simplicity of the painting is almost satirical; however its abstract candor conceals great depth, a depth that few can understand. Stoner is not your traditional hero, he led his life through his devotion to the university, his marriage was a suffocating failure and even his supposedly arousing affair could be called placid.

So what is so enticing about the book? Personally I related to the numbness, an anesthetic detachment from reality. Only in a few distinctive moments, did Stoner show any indication of true feeling. Moments of anger, pain or happiness were quickly subdued to a catechizing oblivion. Stoner’s scrim cloaked feelings provoked many questions: How much of life do we really apperceive? Does the awareness of our inexorable attrition cause us to numb our feelings? Can divulgement of all our feelings deteriorate our health?

To conclude this short review, I would like to share a quote that stood out for me:

“So we are the world, after all; we should have known that. We did know it, I believe; but we had to withdraw a little, pretend a little, so that we could-"  

-         - Little Frames

P.S I would like to thank my good friend Liri for recommending “Stoner” to me. :)