A Book Review for The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields
A Book Review
The Stone Diaries is a life story of a fictional character named Daisy Goodwill Flett. This novel by Carol Shields won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Its ten chapters were birth, childhood, marriage, love, motherhood, work, sorrow, ease, illness and decline, and death. The book’s plot started in 1905 with birth. Daisy’s mom, Mercy, dies of eclampsia after giving birth. Daisy is then raised by Clarentine Flett for a large portion of her childhood. The second chapter, childhood, talks about her young life in Winnipeg, Manitoba with Clarentine and Uncle Barker. Daisy later marries Harold, an alcoholic. He even comes to the wedding drunk! Harold ends up dying by falling out of a building. An odd turn of events occurred when Daisy married Barker in Ottawa. This is the same Uncle Barker who helped raise her. Daisy has three children with Barker. A couple years later, at the age of seventy two, Barker dies. Many other unfortunate events cause Daisy to go into depression. She then suffers multiple strokes and after a second heart attack, Daisy passes away. We do not know when Daisy dies, but we do know that it happened sometime in the 1990s. I took a risk by picking up this book, And after reading half of it, I realized that I had made a mistake. Despite winning one of the most prestigious awards in literature, I could not appreciate the book. It was not for me.
This book was extremely slow. Sometimes, the book repeated information over and over again. It was clearly not written for the newer generation. At times, I found myself on the verge of a deep sleep with this book in my hands. It also didn’t help when the book continuously went between first and third person. It tended to be very confusing. Finishing this book was relieving and it felt like an accomplishment. The best factor of the book for me was that much of the plot occurred before 1950 and it was interesting to see the world from that historical context. This included WWI and WWII. The novel also touched on women’s roles in society, but since the novel was written in 1993, Daisy mainly followed the rules of ‘how women should act’ that were common during those times. There was nothing gripping about the book, and it seemed bland. When I saw the bold silver circle with the words Pulitzer Prize on the cover, I had high expectations. After reading the book, I was disappointed to say the least. I am not sure whether the book was bad or I just was really excited and it didn’t come through as I expected. Either way, it was anything but a good experience reading this book.
I would not recommend this book to most people. Even if you are interested in historical fiction, it is hard to get over the changing of narration style and the less than compelling plot. This book clearly caters to an elderly demographic, one with more patience. Even though the book was approximately only three hundred and fifty pages long, it felt unending. I had a difficult time connecting with the main character, and I think most people would have the same issues as what I had with this book. So if you see this novel on your local library shelf, don’t be fooled by that shiny and tempting medallion in the top left corner. Be careful, and beware.
Great Job Rishabh!
ReplyDeleteAs I started reading your post, I was immediately thrown into this strange story. I have read a couple books like this one that are very slow and repetitive and somehow still win many great awards. I think you were correct in saying that this book is more for older generations. I can imagine reading this book is easier if you lived back in the times that this book is set in.
Overall, really great job and thank you for letting us know about the risks of picking up this book.
Excellent review, Rishabh! I enjoyed reading this summary and review. You explained the plot in a concise manner, and it's pretty refreshing to hear an opinion that opposes the same. Exact. Repetitive. Praising opinions that other critiques have. Like Pieter said, there are books out there that feel slow and dragging but are constantly praised by critiques of the same demographic. I feel like we need two sides of the story and need younger critiques that might have dissenting opinions.
ReplyDeleteThat was quite the informative review, Rishabh! I appreciate the advice to stay away from this book, as sometimes I have a hard time finding books that seem interesting to read and whether it has an award or not is usually one of the deciding factors. I also don't like slow paced books, even if they're supposedly more thorough or detailed. I can also relate to the relief of finishing a book that isn't particularly enjoyed, along with the sleepiness that comes with a boring book. I'll be sure to stay away from this book.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the first paragraph, I was extremely shocked to discover that you most definitely did not enjoy this book. To me, it sounded quite interesting, but for others, such as yourself, I can understand how this may not be the case. Either way, I liked how you left your criticism for the end and how you clearly stated why the book was not for you. Nice job!
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