What an incredible novel! Yes Stoner has this great awakening early in the book, right? Doesn't he go there originally to study agriculture or something? And then he falls in love with English, and he spends his life doing this very careful, unheralded work. It's so fantastic
I lent Stoner from the library on a whim last summer, and it is one of the best books i’ve read. Higher education has, through my life, been an important ambition for me, and this book made that ambition both stronger and more nuanced. I was emotionally invested, maybe even personally invested, in the plot and characters. Every time I see it at the bookstore I contemplate picking up a copy to add to my collection, seeing as I couldn’t keep the one from the library haha.
Your article unfolds gracefully,prompting me to rethink the significance of higher education in our lives. It is not just about preparing for future careers,but about continuing to grow spiritually .
I just finished Stoner last night and I was pleasantly surprised to find your article this morning while looking to compare my experience with others. Thank you for drawing my attention to Stoner's love of learning and teaching as more than just a coping mechanism. You have helped me understand why I felt drawn to Stoner and articulate why he resonated as more than just a sad sack living a life of toil and lost opportunities. I regained a similar love of learning when I made a mid-life career change into education. Working on my Masters while seeking to upgrade my provisional teaching license was exhilarating. What started as path to licensure and career advancement became a rediscovery of learning for learning's sake. There is really nothing like it.
This joy of reading and learning—this joy of Stoner!—feels so encapsulated in our interaction right here. Thank you for reading my article and for engaging so thoughtfully with me. I’m glad I could help and share in this feeling with you!
I was lucky to study at LSE in the 1980s, where we still had personal tutors, fortnightly essays with sessions one on one for feedback, invitations to the bar, to coffee, even to some tutors' homes. By the time I became an academic, an undergrad anthroplogy cohort had swelled from 25 to 100, making personalized tuition and relationships impossible. We delivered lectures, but seminar groups were run by teaching assistants, (PhD students). I did my best, still, especially with the ones that the system was not set up for; and am warmed when, every so often, an ex student is in touch with life news. The novel I'm writing records some of the tough situations faced by staff and students in the current underfunded and over-homogenised set-up. Stoner is a beautiful and nostalgic novel and utterly unrecognisable as an environment. Yes, everyone has lost out.
Wow, that sounds like a special undergrad experience! I wish we still had programs like that in the US. Better yet, I wish it was something universities saw as vital and invested in. I think that would draw students back into academia more than anything else. Let me know how your novel goes!
Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts about my Dear Stanford letter, Ellen. I miss those days, too. Very excited to dive into Stoner after your thoughtful analysis!
I re-read Stoner on a regular basis. Thank you for applying its lessons to today's academic world.
I’m glad the book has found a place on your shelf. My hope is that it will find a place on other’s, too.
What an incredible novel! Yes Stoner has this great awakening early in the book, right? Doesn't he go there originally to study agriculture or something? And then he falls in love with English, and he spends his life doing this very careful, unheralded work. It's so fantastic
I lent Stoner from the library on a whim last summer, and it is one of the best books i’ve read. Higher education has, through my life, been an important ambition for me, and this book made that ambition both stronger and more nuanced. I was emotionally invested, maybe even personally invested, in the plot and characters. Every time I see it at the bookstore I contemplate picking up a copy to add to my collection, seeing as I couldn’t keep the one from the library haha.
A Stoner collection sounds beautiful and immensely gratifying!
Your article unfolds gracefully,prompting me to rethink the significance of higher education in our lives. It is not just about preparing for future careers,but about continuing to grow spiritually .
I just finished Stoner last night and I was pleasantly surprised to find your article this morning while looking to compare my experience with others. Thank you for drawing my attention to Stoner's love of learning and teaching as more than just a coping mechanism. You have helped me understand why I felt drawn to Stoner and articulate why he resonated as more than just a sad sack living a life of toil and lost opportunities. I regained a similar love of learning when I made a mid-life career change into education. Working on my Masters while seeking to upgrade my provisional teaching license was exhilarating. What started as path to licensure and career advancement became a rediscovery of learning for learning's sake. There is really nothing like it.
This joy of reading and learning—this joy of Stoner!—feels so encapsulated in our interaction right here. Thank you for reading my article and for engaging so thoughtfully with me. I’m glad I could help and share in this feeling with you!
Excited to read this soon—I loved Stoner!
I was lucky to study at LSE in the 1980s, where we still had personal tutors, fortnightly essays with sessions one on one for feedback, invitations to the bar, to coffee, even to some tutors' homes. By the time I became an academic, an undergrad anthroplogy cohort had swelled from 25 to 100, making personalized tuition and relationships impossible. We delivered lectures, but seminar groups were run by teaching assistants, (PhD students). I did my best, still, especially with the ones that the system was not set up for; and am warmed when, every so often, an ex student is in touch with life news. The novel I'm writing records some of the tough situations faced by staff and students in the current underfunded and over-homogenised set-up. Stoner is a beautiful and nostalgic novel and utterly unrecognisable as an environment. Yes, everyone has lost out.
Wow, that sounds like a special undergrad experience! I wish we still had programs like that in the US. Better yet, I wish it was something universities saw as vital and invested in. I think that would draw students back into academia more than anything else. Let me know how your novel goes!
Great piece Ellen! Stoner might be the single best novel ever written. Lovely that you’ve found it!
It captures the form of the novel so well. I agree with that take.
Wow aren't you a Stanford student? You worked 20-30 hours? That seems so rare for a Stanford undergrad
Thank you so much for reading and sharing your thoughts about my Dear Stanford letter, Ellen. I miss those days, too. Very excited to dive into Stoner after your thoughtful analysis!