Customer Reviews

THE STONE ANGEL

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(20)

 

 

This is essential CanLit 101.

Iconic!

For the longest time I have intended to read Margaret Laurence, and this is where I have started. I now know that I will continue on and read more of her work, especially the other Manawaka books in the series.

I think we are looking at some essential Canadian literature here, and yet, nearly every high school student from St John's to Victoria would rise up and say "What? Are you nuts?" As much as this book is inflicted upon the high-schoolers of Canada, it sure has not gained a welcome reception by that age group! For the Canadian teenager, seeing The Stone Angel on the English syllabus has become the equivalent of.... hmmm what would one say? Having a radio that is locked on the CBC station?

I believe this is because The Stone Angel is a book that is all about the "interior" and to truly love the book the reader must have an appreciation of the life processes involved in becoming an elderly person. From start to finish we are on the inside of this character Hagar Shipley. It is not the realm of the exciting pace and involved plotline. This book is rather a very somber, brooding, introspective look at a proud and uncompromising woman in her nineties. She is a woman who does not (in the slightest) want to succumb to the realities, adjustments, and inconveniences of aging and dying. As she faces the combined trauma of diminished health and loss of meaningful relationships, she has to come to terms with who she really is.

How far will her incessant pride and irritable crankiness get her in this last year of her life? How can she escape from those who try to make it all easier for her? Will she confess her unmitigated (and inevitable) need of others... of those who truly, and undauntingly, care for her well-being? Will she break down or remain haughty?

Laurence is simply brilliant in that she weaves a seamless web between the present and the past, between Hagar's current experience and her memories.

It is not easy, the transition[s] that we who will live on into old age will have to make if we are to succeed at being old. This book pulls no punches with how difficult the process can be, especially for the type "A" personality.

It is no accident that the book begins with the lines from Dylan Thomas:

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

It is a story about a woman who raged. And yet (in my opinion)there is not one real angry tirade in it! It is (I think) a different sort of "raging" that is being dealt with here in the story, as with the poem by Thomas. It is not the kind of raging that is with gritted teeth and defiance, [denial] it is the kind of raging that is mingled with profound sadness and regret... yes, anger too I suppose, but anger only because one has to leave behind so much of what one loves.

Here is the realistic journey of a woman who has to come to terms with the fact that "what's going to happen can't be delayed indefinitely."

I think the book is somewhat of a masterpiece. Voraciously, I read it.

As you can probably tell by some of the other reviews, this book will NOT be for everyone. If you're looking for a quick escape, lots of action or a strong romance, this is not the book you want. However, if you enjoy books that aren't your usual fare and are strong on psychological tension, this is an excellent choice. I absolutely loved this story of an elderly woman, a rather judgmental, cantankerous person. I like novels that show how a person grows and changes and I find slow change to be most believable and true to life, as it is in this book. Many readers may have found Hagar Shipley's life to be rather mundane, even dull. But I didn't - her marriage to a man she eventually saw as inferior and coarse, her relationship with her children, her desire to make a proper home and better herself - were all quite realistic to me. As she becomes increasingly frail and dependent on her son and daughter-in-law, she also comes to see her life in a different way. I won't reveal more but I do urge you to read this one and stick with it. Odds are, you'll want to read more by the gifted author, Margaret Laurence.

Most of the negative reviews seem to come from those who are forced to read this for their OAC requirements. I too had to read this book and I too could not, at the time, see WHY. In retrospect though I learned to appreciate what Hagar taught.....that space and the ability and right to choose for one's self is EVERYTHING. It's all we have.

Hagar's right to choices was fading and she felt trapped - hence the reason she ran from her present and retreated to the days where she faced a future full of decisions.......

Read this again when you are out of highschool and it all makes sense. Better yet, visit your relatives in a nursing home and think of Hagar.

Hagar Shipley is a repressed woman, simply put, and one who is nearing the end of her long life. Realising she hasn't many years left, and watching her body and mind fall apart, Hagar comes to understand the chances she has missed and the mistakes she has made. Looking into the mirror she can still see the eyes of the young girl she once was, and through her memories works through the issues left unresolved from her life. By the end of the book you will understand this woman through and through and hopefully come to empathise more with the elderly. This is a beautiful work, written in lovely, flowing prose. Those who enjoy this book should also try Vita Sackville-West's 'All Passion Spent,' which is similar in theme. Two better works about coming to the end of life I've never read.

The Stone Angel is a book that I felt compelled to read--it is one of the most prestigious titles in the CanLit canon. Unlike many of the "great works of literature" I've read lately, this one didn't disappoint.

The Stone Angel is the story of Hagar Shipley's life, told in her own voice. Hagar is a ninety year old woman living with her son and daughter-in-law. She is rampant with memory. Her struggles for independence are interspliced with vivid recollections of her past.

The narrative voice of The Stone Angel is astounding. Laurence is a master of the simile and provides the reader with beautiful descriptions on nearly every page. At the same time, the narration, from Hagar's lips, constantly provides insight into Hagar and the people that surround her. At times, Laurence is able to tell you more about characters by their grammar than many writers are able to tell you in entire novels. Laurence has a particularly keen sense of diction. Her dialogue reveals mountains of insight about generations gaps, economic divides, and the walls that pride builds.

Overall, this is technically one of the best books I've ever read, and one of the most pleasing.

I want to respond to all those who object to this novel because it is 'depressing.' While it is true that The Stone Angel is not a light-hearted, comic-book romp through the life of Hagar Shipley, it is an accurate portrayal of a dissatisfied woman at the end of her life, wrestling with phantoms of the past and realities of the present. Laurence's brilliant use of the unreliable narrator, as well as her effective manipulation of time and place, make this novel resonate with me. If the novel is upsetting, it's not Margaret Laurence's fault, after all. She gives a justified portrayal of a woman's life, and if we get upset because of it, at least her work has accomplished some form of communication. If you don't want to get upset by literature (being upset triggers active thought about how you relate to the novel!), then I suggest a lifetime subscription to O! magazine.

I read "The Stone Angel" back in high school as required reading for my senior year English class, so naturally I despised it. A Canadian novel about old age had nothing to do with me, a teenager in Tampa Bay; so apart from helping me earn an "A," I had no particularly good feelings toward the book. However, after revisiting it later as a student at the University of Florida, I had a change of opinion.

Margaret Laurence's independent voice and candid description of the physical and psychological battle of growing old deserve special attention. In Hagar Shipley, she has created a character worthy of contempt, pity, and eventually admiration. Though I wish she had done more with the book's other characters, Laurence's mastery of the protagonist and her ability to mold the reader's reactions to her stand out nonetheless. Before you reach ninety yourself, I recommend that you read this novel.

I saw a lot of negative remarks about this book and was a little aprehensive about spending time reading it but you know, it's really very good. I think it's the type of book that you really have to be over 40 to appreciate. How a high-school teacher would expect a young person to relate to this book is incomprehensible. I can see why the negative remarks are mostly from this generation. But being 46, with stubborn elderly parents who refuse to move to an assisted living community - even though they are physically incapable of caring for themselves - I could see where all the characters were coming from. I also volunteer at a nursing home and the conversations she has the residents of the home involved in are right on the mark. For the younger people who hated this book, come back in about 20 years! This is really quite good.

In Margaret Laurence's novel, The Stone Angel, we are thrown into the life of Hagar. Seen through the eyes of a ninety year old women, we experience her old age along side her and see how her independence is continuously being stolen. As a reader you feel pity for her, while at the same time recognizing and accepting Hagar's faults.
As in all of Laurence's writings, the reader is introduced to a character that is ordinary in many ways. What I have learned from Laurence's writings is that even the most ordinary of us have a thrilling story to tell. Hagar's life is arguably Laurence's best novel and everyone should read The Stone Angel at least once.
Through her life, Hagar deals with pride and the loss of her independence in a way that is not always admirable; and as a result she gains both humanity and the readers respect. Through flashbacks from her life we see where Hagar has been and understand why she is the way she is. From a father with high expectations to a hasty marriage and lifestyle change, Hagar's life is considerably altered. She finds herself wondering how so much went wrong.
I believe everyone will be able to relate to this novel in some way. It is a novel that is enjoyable to read, but also one that becomes a part of you. Everyone should own a copy and keep it close at hand to remind us about life, holding on, and sometimes letting go.

The first time I read The Stone Angel was in high school as part of the reading curriculum. Despite my English teacher's best efforts to ruin the book for us, I managed to enjoy it. I was surprised that a book with adult content (mild) had survived the censor's cut, but I was pleased it did.

A year ago I decided to reread the book and found it was even better than I my memory served me. Now that I have some life experience under my belt, I discovered the book to be far more moving and poignant. Margaret Lawrence brings out a true to life character in Hagar, the book's protagonist. Hagar could be your mother, your aunt, or your grandmother.

This is a beautiful, touching, compelling, and powerful book. Hagar's struggle with her own painful life memories as she tries to protect her independence and maintain her pride is quite heartrending. I found myself glued to page after page in this story.

The Stone Angel is the first book of the five-volume Manawaka series. Each book in the series stands alone quite well and is enjoyable on its own. I don't believe Lawrence had intended a series when she first wrote The Stone Angel, however, the books were there to be written, and write them she did.