A ‘Perfect’ American Novel Strikes Gold Overseas

[getting old in mke]

2. Just finished _Stoner_ last night

It really is quite a beautiful book.

It seems to move slowly, but before you know it, years and pages have passed with a clear, measured, yet ultimately affectionate prose. What I especially like is that in the first third it seems like the history of a sort of gentle sad sack, but as the book progresses you realize that there is an essential, everyday strength in the man. And understand that that strength in pursuit of a rather ordinary life is a triumph in itself.

I'm primarily a genre reader--mysteries, thrillers, science fiction, fantasy, historical. Maybe an "adventure" reader is better description, description, looking for the swash and buckle that are so not a part of a quiet 57-year old Midwestern computer consultant's life. But as I read _Stoner_ I felt like it was reading me, too, and I recognized large swathes of common experience. I can only hope that someday as I lie dying that I can see my life through as clearly and accepting as Stoner does at the end.