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The Stone Angel

Margaret Laurence,

Adele Wiseman (Afterword)

Discussion: Gentle Subjects

Why we're reading this: This classic of my province is for "Gentle Subjects" #4: 'Stones'.…more
[close] This classic of my province is for "Gentle Subjects" #4: 'Stones'.

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Gentle Subjects

Gentle Subjects Titles
By C. (Comment,… · 13 posts · 17 views

last updated May 19, 2014 08:34AM

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Mar 01, 2014 C. (Comment, never msg). rated it it was amazing

Shelves: riedel-titles-2014

Many of us bristle over ‘school textbook’ and ‘award-winner’. If you imagined “The Stone Angel” would make a good show of refinement but isn’t a five-star page-turner: think again! I’m a gothic mystery, paranormal fan; seldom enthusiastic without a ghost. My marvel at this impressively-crafted book is absolute, which became a 2007 film. I didn’t care for it as a pupil. At 14, we find no adventure in hardship; although those aspects are minor. This time, my eye caught stunningly astute, absorbing ...more

64 likes · Like · see review

May 19, 2021 Kerri rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: most-loved, canadian

This book was a gift from my friend Carolyn and I am pleased to say that I loved it just as much as I had hoped I would. It is a truly special book, one that beautifully examines an entire life. It's almost hard to believe that it is relatively short -- 308 pages in my edition, yet it covers so much without ever feeling hurried or cramped. Hagar Shipley is quite the character, a woman who feels so vivid and real as soon as she is introduced. Throughout the book she looks back on her past, while This book was a gift from my friend Carolyn and I am pleased to say that I loved it just as much as I had hoped I would. It is a truly special book, one that beautifully examines an entire life. It's almost hard to believe that it is relatively short -- 308 pages in my edition, yet it covers so much without ever feeling hurried or cramped. Hagar Shipley is quite the character, a woman who feels so vivid and real as soon as she is introduced. Throughout the book she looks back on her past, while also dealing with her present situation. Elderly, feeling pushed to the side, often treated in a condescending manner by those around her. She especially struggles in her relationship with her daughter-in-law, a woman I found understandably irritating, though I could also appreciate that she was the one dedicating all her time to caring for Hagar, which would be difficult at the best of times let alone with some whose personality clashes with your own.

Hagar's frustration at her treatment is wonderfully captured and also serves as a good reminder of how easy it can be to unintentionally undermine someone, and how people often end up treating the elderly like small children and not people who have lived full and interesting lives, people who have their own valid thoughts and opinions who still have things to offer the world.

The difference between the relationship Hagar has with each of her sons was also an aspect of the book I found particularly well done. I don't suppose a parent ever intends to love one child more than another, but the reasons why we love people don't always make sense, and it isn't always fair. I did have sympathy for Marvin here -- the faults she finds in him are ones I understand not being drawn to, but he is her child and she treats him quite poorly. Even in this though she feels relatable, wonderfully human in all her many flaws. There were moments when I was so deeply frustrated her, but I also understand that we can't help the way we feel.

I am very grateful to Carolyn for sending this to me all the way from Canada. It has become an instant favourite and Margaret Laurence has become an author I would like to read more of. ...more

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Feb 05, 2022 Alan (The Lone Librarian) Teder rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2022-re-reads, family-fiction, 2022-reading-challenges, canadian-author, aging-and-elder-issues, 2022-library

Angel from Neepawa
Review of the McLelland & Stewart paperback edition (1988) of the McLelland & Stewart hardcover original (1964)

I don't exactly remember when I first read The Stone Angel, but I had it in my book database when I rolled it all over into Goodreads back in 2010 and my home library copy dates from 1988. I probably didn't get that much out of it over 30 years ago though. The passing of time, of parents and relatives, having to place senior relatives in a nursing home etc. make it all ...more

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Apr 19, 2024 Leeanne G rated it liked it · review of another edition

I’m a long way from Hagar, about 7 decades away. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this more if I was closer to her. Being closer wouldn’t make me like her, of that I’m certain. She is a nasty woman, and while I can understand why, that doesn’t make everything she does and says excusable.

“I’ve always been definite about people. Right from the start, I either like a person or I don’t. The only people I’ve ever been uncertain about were those closest to me. Maybe one looks at them too much. Strangers I’m a long way from Hagar, about 7 decades away. Perhaps I would have enjoyed this more if I was closer to her. Being closer wouldn’t make me like her, of that I’m certain. She is a nasty woman, and while I can understand why, that doesn’t make everything she does and says excusable.

“I’ve always been definite about people. Right from the start, I either like a person or I don’t. The only people I’ve ever been uncertain about were those closest to me. Maybe one looks at them too much. Strangers are easier to assess.”

As she nears the end of her life, Hagar Shipley is reflecting on her past. To be more accurate, it’s beginning to blend with her present. As her illness progresses, much of this reads like a fever dream. She’s obviously losing her memory and her ability to focus. I do sympathize with Hagar in her frustration with herself, how others are treating her, and with the actions of herself and others in the past. Her complicated relationship with her sons, Marvin and John continue to haunt her.

As difficult of a life as Hagar has had, my sympathy only goes so far. She gets exhausting very quickly. I have more sympathy for those who have to deal with her. Anything anyone says to her is an attack. Her response to everyone is mean and hard. Even when she acknowledges to herself that she was mean she is too proud to admit it. She gets a little better at this as she ages, but barely. She realizes too late how much she yearned to rejoice in life. Her family tries to please her but she can never let them win. I found it rather depressing actually. She could have made a better life for herself but instead she wallowed in her suffering and dragged everyone else with her.

As I’m writing this review, I’ve recently started Margaret Laurence’s The Diviners. I think I like the style of writing in this book far more than in Diviners. There’s quite a drastic difference between the two. It’s much easier to follow this story, even in the fever dreams.

I didn’t really like any of the characters in this novel but I did enjoy following John’s story. I also enjoyed Hagar’s early years. Manawaka is an interesting little town and I look forward to exploring it in the other novels. I believe Hagar to be an unreliable narrator of what the town would really have been like. She was far too obsessed with everyone judging her. If she’d been remotely nice to any of them I think she would have discovered they weren’t really judging her as harshly as she thought.

“The air is cool and stagnant, and I feel I have been kept in storage here too long. Perhaps when I’m let out, launched into the wind and sun, I may disintegrate entirely, like the flowers found on ancient young Tutankhamen’s tomb, which crumbled when time flooded in through the broken door.”

Thanks to my friend Carolyn for sending me the entire Manawaka Sequence series to me from her home in Manitoba. I hope to enjoy the rest more than this one.

2.5 stars ...more

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Jul 03, 2020 Lorraine marked it as to-read · review of another edition

1 like · Like

Feb 04, 2022 S. ≽^•⩊•^≼ I'm not here yet marked it as to-read

Shelves: historical-fiction, l-canada

1 like · Like

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