John Williams: Stoner

[Hamlet]

That was my attempt at mock-irreverent, or is that irreverence?

But seriously, it sounds like a masterclass in prose construction and writing. That aspect alone drew me in and the article I read couldn't praise it highly enough. It seems to be steadily, but still slowly gaining a reputation in the wider reading public. I know that readers like yourself Stevie will be onto these things quickly, even making a very good investment, but it's interesting when these gems get picked up by everyone. A little bit like, perhaps, the whole Parade's End debacle we've witnessed over here, that book now has a new life, snazzy cover design and is in every high street bookshop now.

The covers, hmmm, I quite like the American design, plain and simple, but it's nice to see a variety of designs, Stoner has many if my brief search was anything to go by?

Stevie, btw, I think that edition may one day rise in value to buy you a second house, or perhaps a little houseboat, what say you?

 

[Stevie B]

Stevie, btw, I think that edition may one day rise in value to buy you a second house, or perhaps a little houseboat, what say you?

Literary reputations, it seems, heat up and flame out in equal measure. Perhaps I should strike while Williams is hot. Houseboat no, but $600 would go a long toward the purchase of a nice canoe.

 

[Hamlet]

I gave my old canoe away, bizarrely, to a school.

Yes, if you sold it and purchased books with the dosh, that may be a fitting nucleosynthesis of sorts, cash into pleasure.

It's weather people want to fork out that kind of money on a kind of B-Lister. Great author, but it's unlikely, perhaps, to ever become a Grapes of Wrath?

 

[Liam]

Just saw that it's being turned into a movie by the same guy who directed Atonement and Darkest Hour.

 

[Stevie B]

Just saw that it's being turned into a movie by the same guy who directed Atonement and Darkest Hour.

Tough role to cast since the novel covers many years. They'll need someone who is young enough that he could reasonably pass as a college student early on in the story. Jake Gyllenhall, perhaps?

 

[DouglasM]

Finished it recently. What a great book, Williams was ideed a splendid writer. It was my first time reading any of his novels, but I'll surely try Butcher's Crossing or Augustus at some point later this year.

Stoner's a delicate yet brutal portrait of life as lived by many, devoid of any remarkable events. It's easy to relate to its central character, despite its overly melancholic nature, as most people do know a defeat or two. I expected happiness, something more than I fleeting glimpse, but John Williams gave me none.

I still think about Katherine Driscoll.

 

[Liam]

Jake Gyllenhall?

I think Casey Affleck and Tommy Lee Jones have "preliminarily" committed to the project, so far.