The Stone Diaries

by Carol Shields | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0394223802 Global Overview for this book
Registered by goatgrrl of New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on 6/5/2004
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, June 5, 2004
I read this book shortly after it was first published in 1993, and liked it very much. That was before Shields was awarded the Governor General's Literary Award and the Pulitzer Prize for the book (she was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize that year, but lost to Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha).

I re-read The Stone Diaries this spring, from the different perspective that comes with another ten years of lived life, and awareness of the international acclaim received by the book after '93. (In fact, in the decade that followed, Shields became a household name in the world of literature, not just in Canada but internationally.) If anything, I enjoyed it more the second time.

Carol Shields' death last year was mourned around the world. You can view the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's commemorative piece on Carol Shields here.

Journal Entry 2 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, June 6, 2004
INTERNATIONAL BOOKRING
I'm sending this book around on a bookring, which I'll limit to ten members for the time being, though in truth, I'll be happy to leave it open for as long as the book lasts.

Rules of this bookring:
1. This is an international bookring -- if you join, you must be willing to ship anywhere.
2. Please journal the book when you receive it, and again when you mail it out -- that way, everyone will know the book's approximate location.
3. If you don't think you'll be able to read this book within a reasonable time of receipt, please let me know before it's sent to you by the previous reader, and I'll be happy to move your name down the list.
4. Whether you have read the book or not, please do not keep it longer than eight weeks.

Participants:
1. CaptainJack - Scottsdale, Arizona, USA - rec'd June 15, 04; mailed June 18, 04.
2. Brujula - Belfort, Franche-Comté, France - rec'd August 15, 04; mailed September 27, 04.
3. Auglaise - Cardiff, Wales, UK - rec'd September 29, 04; mailed November 30, 04.
4. maupi - Utrecht, Netherlands - rec'd December 27, 04.
5. Bleary-eyes - Ypsilanti, Michigan, USA
6. Ramya - Plainsboro, New Jersey, USA
7. gretchenboyd - Christchurch, Canterbury, New Zealand
8. lily43 - Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
9. honey1982 - Ottawa, Ontario, Canada

Journal Entry 3 by goatgrrl from New Westminster, British Columbia Canada on Sunday, June 6, 2004
I'll be mailing this book to CaptainJack in Scottsdale, Arizona tomorrow -- June 7, 04. Happy trails, Stone Diaries!

Journal Entry 4 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Tuesday, June 15, 2004
I've just received this today and will start reading it as soon as I finish one bookring that arrived ahead of this one. I am so excited to be able to read this! I've had it on my wish list for a while. Thank you, goatgrrl, for thinking of me!

Journal Entry 5 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Friday, June 18, 2004
I have just received another copy of this book in the mail. Since I still have not finished the book ahead of this one AND since I am about to move across the country, I will go ahead and send this copy to the next person on the list. Thank you very much for including me!!!

Journal Entry 6 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Friday, June 18, 2004
Mailed to Brujula this morning.

Journal Entry 7 by CaptainJack from Brunswick, Georgia USA on Sunday, July 4, 2004
Although I mailed this copy off a while back, I just finished reading my personal copy and had to add a journal entry to say how much I enjoyed this book!!! Carol Shields has written a masterpiece, really. I'm so glad I had the chance to read this!

Journal Entry 8 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Monday, August 16, 2004
Found in my mail yesterday!

Goes to the to be read pile....

Thank you!

Journal Entry 9 by Brujula from Valenciennes, Nord-Pas-de-Calais France on Sunday, September 26, 2004
I've enjoyed this book very much. Carol Shields has a very nice style, and a nice way of telling Daisy Goodwill story, with many diversions to tell us about the people around her too!
The only part I did not enjoy was the last two chapters, about disease and death. All the other characters in the book die peacefully or suddendly, but with Daisy we are put up through pages and more pages of decadence!
I will keep a nice memory of this book anyway! I didn't know this author at all, and I think I will try to read more of her books!

Thank you goatgrrl for letting me discover this book!
I will mail it to Auglaise first thing tomorrow!

Journal Entry 10 by Auglaise from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, September 30, 2004
Received yesterday, but didn't get a chance to journal it. Thank you!

Journal Entry 11 by Auglaise from -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom on Wednesday, October 6, 2004
I really enjoyed this book. I liked how occasionally Shields used letters and newspaper articles or such to tell the story, I thought it was an interesting way to hold the reader's interest. I was a bit shocked at the end when we're abruptly told that 'Fraidy and Beans died, with almost no preperation. I'm really glad that I got a chance to read this, and I'm definately going to keep an eye out for the other books she's written. Thanks for sharing goatgrrl!

Journal Entry 12 by rem_HHX-328595 on Monday, December 27, 2004
Received it! Thank you.
It came with another one.

Journal Entry 13 by rem_HHX-328595 on Monday, February 7, 2005
Depressing. I found it depressing. Not while I was reading The Stone Diaries, but later, after I had finished and Daisy Goodwill lingered in my mind. She is somehow incomplete, has an incomplete start in life, motherless and more like an orphan, like her mother before her. Has an education, more or less neglects this asset, benefits somewhat from it during her brief spell as member of the workforce (the part I liked best, the part in which she actually shows some backbone and individuality). Life's a bitch and then she dies.
The good thing is that she manages to give others what she herself lacked. Her children have the benefit of siblings, a complete family. Her grandniece Victoria is especially favoured, unconsciously, by Daisy and returns the favour by adding most to Daisy's life.
Depressing but beautiful, this novel set against virtually the whole 20th century.

Bleary-eyes (who apparently just passed through Amsterdam, book is travelling on its own, though) already sent me an address.

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.