Customer Reviews

The Stone Diaries

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(52)
3 star:		(39)
2 star:		(16)
1 star:		(26)

 

 

How can one define a life lived? If we had a chance to have our life story written, and then told through the eyes of those who were closest to us, what would they say about us, and more interestingly, how accurate would they be in truly understanding the inner nuances that make each of us tick?

In "The Stone Diaries," Carol Shields attempts to chronicle the life of Daisy Goodwill. It is a life first told through the eyes of Daisy, and then through the eyes of those who presumably knew her best: her friends, children and relatives.

What is extraordinary about this book, is that one can look at a life lived in so many ways. Was Daisy Goodwill's life uneventful, lacking the excitement and freedom of her more worldly friends? Or was it a full, rich life? Only the reader can make this determination. But what is fascinating about "The Stone Diaries" is how the determination of the value of Daisy's life is so different, depending on the perspective that is taken. How much do we really know those people who we love the most? How well do we really know each other? I found this book to be a fascinating read, particularly for women who are living their life in full; however unfascinating and uneventful that may seem.

Carol Shields The Stone Diaries [Pulitzer Prize and National Book Critics Circle Award 1995] is the story of Daisy Stone Goodwill, a Canadian woman whose mother died in childbirth, was raised by her neighbor's relatives, was widowed twice (the first time on her honeymoon), raised children, worked in a job she loved until she was fired, moved to Florida, and died. Daisy is, in one sense, an absolutely "ordinary" woman, who lives much of her life in the shadow of men. I think that it was for this reason, and the fact that she ends her life separated from her children, that my wife (and other women I know who have read this book) found the novel very depressing. I was not so struck. What came across to me was Daisy's resilience in the face of very difficult circumstances, finding some satisfaction on the world's terms. Undeniably, Daisy was not a "success" as we now view women's lives. However, she formed some successful relationships, and always seemed to put the pieces together to move from one part of her life to the next. The best example of this for me was her Florida bridge group, "The Flowers" (Daisy, Lilly, Myrtle and Glad), who became her final community after she was long widowed, and her childhood friends dead. One can regret that life has brought her to this final community, a circle of old widows in a retirement home, or note how Daisy stays on her feet and moving, from one chapter of life to the end.

One cannot read The Stone Diaries without being struck by the style -- or rather styles -- in which it is written. While clearly fiction, Shields gives the appearance of journalism by including photographs purporting to be of the various characters. The photographs give one pause -- am I reading a novel trying to be non-fiction, or a fictionalized "real life" biography? Shields also changes style, form, and voice as she goes from chapter to chapter. For example, the chapter captioned "work" takes the form of a series of letters by and about Daisy's work as a newspaper writer. There is no "narrator" or chronicler; the story is told by one letter following the next. The chapter "Sorrow" takes the form of first-person opinions, by various persons in Daisy's life, as to why she is depressed. Again, Shields has no omniscient narrator. Other chapters are told by the more conventional, omniscient third-person narrator.

I found this a wonderful book, and recommend it highly. My wife, Carol, disagrees: "I wouldn't say that this is a "bad" book and not worth reading. It just seems to capture in a very stark way the extreme ordinariness of the lives of so many women. Admittedly, not all women are destined to great things, but somehow, even the most mundane of us--provided we have a jot of self awareness--hope (and pray) that our lives have some deeper meaning and that somehow our being alive has made a positive difference. Upon reflection, may be that's what this book is about. But I can't say that I finished it with the impression that the life of Daisy Stone was really that important in the grand scheme of things. For a reader whose life isn't really any more exciting than Daisy's--that was a frightening and frankly unpleasant conclusion."

It's sad when it takes the death of an author to bring her work to my attention. Carol Shields recent passing, and the accolades by some of my favorite authors about her writing inspired me to select one book of hers to read. Fortunately, I picked the Stone Diaries, and simply could not put it down until the last memorable word.

Shields picks the most unlikely person to feature in a fictional book, Daisy Stone, whose life is mundane if not predictable. After an incredible birth and beginning, we travel with her through different years of her life, somewhat seemingly picked randomly. As we read each chapter, and witness the unveiling of her life, we begin to appreciate and realize that Daisy's life isn't extraordinary, but plain and common.

What is extraordinary is that Shields chooses to give a character like Daisy this incredible voice. Underrepresented in literature, women like these exist, they exist yesterday and will exist tomorrow. Sure, they have moments of brightness in their lives, in which we see in Daisy, but it never goes over the top.

What amazed me about this book was Shields extremely fluid writing style allows you to flow through this story as if it were unfolding before your very eyes. She allows different characters to pick up the story line, and share their viewpoints. Sometimes we hear Daisy, sometimes we hear a third person narrator. Sometimes we aren't even privy to who is speaking. Shields takes amazing leaps in her writing, trusting her reader to make those connections.

I'm saddened by the loss of Carol Shields, but gladdened to know that she's left gifts of literature to discover. In the meantime, if you want a broad, amazing story, pick up Stone Diaries.

Several years ago, one of my professors recommended that I read The Stone Diaries. I finally got around to reading it last summer. From the first page, I was struck by the beautiful, evocative, almost tangible writing. Carol Shields creates distinct images with her words--I can still see Mercy in her kitchen the day Daisy was born. But the true beauty of the novel is its exploration of the role of the fiction writer. Carol Shields' novel, with its combination of autobiographical and fictive elements, becomes an important study of the way any fiction writer writes. Every writer uses elements of her or his own life, yet every writer also uses "artistic license" in order to add depth and continuity to the story--even the person writing an autobiography. Like Joseph Conrad in Heart of Darkness, Carol Shields, by relating Daisy's "autobiography" from birth to death, is forcing us to look at the role of the story-teller. Although Daisy is present at all the events in the novel, she isn't witness to them in the way the author describes the scenes. But Daisy possesses an imagination, and, like a writer, she creates these moments. Really, she is rewriting her life, much like any successful fiction author rewrites a life into a book. And are these fictive elements any less important than the autobiographical elements? When The Stone Diaries is declared an autobiography, readers want truth, veracity, realism. But the life Daisy imagines for herself is as real as any "true" life she would relate to the audience. An exploration of the whole of a person's life--birth to death, hard facts to imagined ones--The Stone Diaries is by far the most stunning book I have read this year. If you would like to read a beautiful display of the process of the written word and the process of one's life, read this book.

Just because a book has won a Pulitzer (like this one) is no guarantee that I'll like it. In fact, I often steer clear of books that have won major awards; it seems that they rarely live up to the hype.
The Stone Diaries is an exception. THis book is worth reading just to experience Shields' prose style. Her voice is like no one else's: incredibly self-assured and intelligent without ever seeming pretentious. She uses words many writers have probably never even heard of (keep your dictionary handy) while managing to keep her work lively and readable.
This is "experimental" fiction (another thing I usually avoid, but again, The Stone Diaries is an exception). At first, the novel seems to have a conventional plot, but as you read, you'll find your expectations are constantly subverted-- one of the great pleasures of this book. In the end, you'll find the book has challenged more than your views about fiction. You may find yourself questioning much deeper beliefs, perhaps asking, along with the protagonist, Daisy Goodwill: "What is the story of a life?".
Like all great novels, this one deals in existential topics. What is life really about? Why are we here? What does an individual life --that seemingly random sequence of events-- really amount to? And, like the masterpiece it is, this book will disturb your mind with questions, without offering easy answers.
If you're looking for a quick read at the airport or the beauty salon, this is not the book for you. But if you appreciate exquisite writing that makes you ponder deeper truths, try the Stone Diaries.

If one were to rate this book for its imaginative usages of stone-based imagery, metaphors, similes, and geography, this book would be clearly a five-star effort. If a reader is looking for an imaginative variety of writing styles all in one book, this is also a five-star effort, using wonderfully easy phrases. On the other hand, if you want to feel deeply connected to a story and its characters, this may not the book for you.

The book's format is a pseudo-biography of a Canadian woman told through a series of vignettes about her life. These start with her birth in 1905, continue with her childhood in 1916, describe her first marriage in 1927, falling in love at 31 in 1936, raising her children in 1947, pursuing a career as a gardening columnist from 1955-1964, experiencing a set-back in 1965, living into retirement in 1977, having health reversals in 1985, and eventually passing on. The book comes equipped with a family tree and family photographs to complete the biographical feel.

You can think of this book also like a series of short stories. In fact, many will enjoy the book more that way than as a fictionalized biography. For example, the birth is very compelling. The section about her writing career is quite amusing and fun to read as you follow through a series of letters.

As much as I loved the stone references, to me they turned the book into self-satire so much at times that it created too much emotional distance from the book. If the references had been cut back by about 60 percent, I think they would have been brilliant. As it was, I was looking for one such reference on every page (almost like Where's Waldo?) and would break out into giggles when I found the next one even if the material was supposed to be sad.

Toward the book's end, the references abated but the story still didn't move me. Perhaps it was just that the writer's craft was so well done that its sparkling jewels outshone the content of the story by too wide a margin. There was a similar gap between the story (often far-fetched well beyond kidding around) and the characters, with the story being more interesting than the characters. Even though you often get internal dialogue, the book remains like something that you are watching from a disinterested distance rather than living within and feeling connected to.

My great grandmother, Edith Foster, was a lot like Daisy, and also was born in rural, central Canada. She lived until I was about 19, and I well remember her stories about life on the plains of Canada and immigrating to the United States. The Stone Diaries, even with its exaggerated elements, seemed pale compared to the real challenges of those days . . . which this book often omits.

The best part of Daisy's development as a character is the evolution of her confusion of fact and fantasy. At several points, you will feel like you can no longer trust your own mind and have a good sense of what that situation must be like. Nicely done!

After you enjoy the aspects of The Stone Diaries that appeal to you, I suggest that you assemble a brief autobiography that you can share with your children and grandchildren. They will probably enjoy the kinds of details this book focuses on, because they will reflect on their own origins in compelling ways.

See the past and present clearly!

Carol Shields does an excellent job of unlocking the mind, heart, and soul of the female with her book "The Stone Diaries." I believe that every woman will be able to relate to a character in the novel at least once. Shields focuses on the milestones of life (birth, childhood, love, marriage, motherhood, and death) and dissects them wonderfully.
In an amazingly accurate portrayal of the culture of the mid to late 1900s, Carol Shields takes you on an incredible journey of the life of Daisy Goodwill Flett, even allowing us the luxury of seeing her through the eyes of not only herself, but those around her. Her heartbreaking birth, contemporary childhood, tragic love life, typical "retirement," and uncertain death takes you on a constant roller coaster ride. It keeps you reading to see exactly how the next part of her life will unfold.
A truly believable story line and plot, complete with a family tree and pictures, made me very aware of the Stone legacy. I had to remind myself it was actually fiction. It successfully travels through four generations of women, each strugling with their own image, children, husbands, and life, facing obstacles of that time. It is a complete family history, and true to it's name, a "diary" following Mercy Stone Goodwill, her daughter (Daisy Goodwill Flett), granddaughters (Joan and Anne), and even the birth of her great grandchildren.
Although, I will admit that there are certain parts of the book that are questionable (like her adventures with Fraidy and Beans), ironic (such as her entire love life), and just plain laughable (the Flower Girls, for example), it was a good read overall. Something that must have taken time, patience, thought, and insight on the part of the author. I recommend it to anyone wanting to take a look inside a woman.

This is the best contemporary novel that I have read in years. Many of those who indicate here that they did not enjoy The Stone Diaries are critical of what they perceive as the author's failure to thoroughly explore the protagonist's character and the greater meaning behind her life and death. To the contrary, the brilliance of this novel lies precisely in Shields' insistence on telling the truest story she can imagine, a story unencumbered by traditional literary devices such as fate and redemption, a story of the unsatisfying life of a most devastatingly unremarkable woman. With stunning detail and profoundly emotional deliberation, Shields delves into a very basic yet disturbingly unsatisfying aspect of human experience: that often in life, love goes unfelt or unexpressed, meaning is elusive and resolution is not achieved.

The Stone Diaries by Carol Shields Vintage Books 1993

Carol Shields has won several prizes for this book including the Governors General's Award for Fiction in 1993. This beautifully written story follows Daisy Goodwill throughout her life, her birth, her marriages, her death. It is a simple story but filled with wonderful characters who lead complex but mostly unfulfilled lives. Daisy's mother dies within minutes of her birth and while this fact is never faced directly by Daisy, it seems to be an essential aspect of her longing for fulfillment. Each member of the four generations of Daisy's family is treated with compassion and sensitivity. Even her spiteful and miserly father-in-law, Magnus Flett, manages to redeem himself by living to be115 years old and memorizing the whole of Jayne Ayre.

Men do not come of well in this story but then neither do the women. A major theme throughout the story is the conflict between interior life and exterior life. The often rich interior life is never quite matched by reality and prevents any real happiness from bursting through the plodding heavy duty of their lives. In the end, sorting through Daisy's possessions we see the inconsequential nature of most of what we bring with us.

The book is filled with beautiful language and striking images. I enjoyed the book immensely.

I made a huge mistake when I was reading this novel. I dismissed it because of the simple vernacular Shields employed. After all, it is a diary about a very ordinary woman who tells her story in a very structured manner: Birth, Marriage, Love, Sorrow etc..

Daisy Goodwill lived a life demarcated by these significant events. Given a chance to tell her story, most women would adopt this familiar structure. The punchline that Shields is able to deliver so unobtrusively is that in hindsight, all these women, like the wonderful Daisy, will wonder whether she had existed at all, to have touched earth, and transform it beyond her very mortal and very chronologically ordered life.

Half-way through this novel, I started to recognise Shields' cunning brilliance. She has created this intricate fictional biography that includes photos of the fictional characters (some she lifted from her real family, with permission). Despite these details, Daisy seems to have disappeared from the narrative, even though she is officially the narrator. Much of what we know about Daisy are from newspaper clippings (announcements of marriage, deaths), letters of correspondence or perspectives given by her children and close friends, but Daisy, she never truly fades as we wondered whether she existed at all. Daisy is an intangible woman who is trying to make herself real by telling her story but is defeated at the end. Shields' brilliance as a writer is that she is able to occlude the narrator from us while we are reading her life story.

All through it, I had assumed that Daisy Goodwill's autobiography was called Stone Diaries because her mother was called Mercy Stone. There is a section in the novel that tells the building of a monument, a memorial built in grief for a beloved, that is made up of stones, but without any cement. It is created to rest upon itself and to hold itself together without adhesion. This is a monument of Daisy's life - built from fragments but with structural and emotional gaps in the narrative. We are never really privy of Daisy's inner life, this character does not adhere to our memories as she never really comes to life.

I read this novel when my grandmother fell into a deep depression. She went to bed and relinquished herself to sorrow. She reminded me of Daisy's section on sorrow. I realised then that I didn't really know my grandmother and that the source of her sadness will only be speculation to us. Finally, I wondered whether she felt like Daisy and so many women of her generation (and even mine) - that she has disappeared from her own life, her own story. Perhaps that is why she is grieving.

I recommend this novel because it is a fantastic study in writing. We often get fooled by aesthetic. That is, to write a critically acclaimed novel, one must have an epic scope and a mastery of poetry. Misconceptions! Shields is a fine example of how to say something profound by articulating it with simplicity. She is a philosopher-writer, an everywoman, and my admiration of her writing grows with every novel.