The Stone Diaries (Penguin Audiobooks)

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Summary: The defining beauty of ordinariness
Review: A North American woman's life is chronicled and given meaning by the beautiful gift of Carol Shields written prose. The collection of family and friends that fill Daisy Flett's life allow us to understand her rich identity. Although this book is extremely well-written I still find SWANN and the REPUBLIC OF LOVE to be more enjoyable. Carol Shields fills her writing with things she worries may become of non-permanence such as writing letters and even the existence of plants and juxtapotizes them with what has been here forever in the form of stone and death. She even has Daisy talking from the grave at the end of the book. Ah,well.....life and death are the ultimate physical realities and to be truly human we must learn how to do both.

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Summary: A piece of tripe
Review: I don't mind complex, experimental books; I don't even particularly mind rather pretentious books. However, when a book is complex, experimental, pretentious AND boring, it's a piece of tripe. I can't quite believe I finished it; my teeth were tightly gritted all the way. That's a few hours of my life I'll never get back....

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Summary: An extremely slow, boring, confusing book!
Review: This was an extremely dull, uninteresting book to me. I kept on reading it thinking I would surely come to the reason this book was recomended to me---but I did not. I was not able to finish the book either. I would rather be doing anything than reading a dull pointles book.

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Summary: books on tape are good
Review: It wasn't the best book in the world and it wasn't the worst, but it kept my attention as a book on tape while I filed papers at work. The one thing I didn't understand was that at the begining of the book, Daisy was speaking in first person. After that, the narrator refered to Daisy in 3rd person. If anyone could comment on that for me, please email me at [e-mail]

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Summary: A well written novel
Review: The Stone Diaries is one of the best novels I have read. It is a novel about one woman's struggle throughout her childhood, marriage, remarriage, and old age to understand her destiny. At her birth, Daisy Goodwill's mother dies and she is adapted by her father's neighbours as he leaves her, too depressed and heart-broken to except his daughter that reminds him of his wife's death. Daisy Goodwill tries to cope being alone, without her parents and their love to support her and as a result, her life becomes emotionless. Carol Shields has written more than just a novel, more of a historical view on women in the 20th century and how their lives revolved around its changes and progress.

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Summary: Interesting
Review: The Stone Diaries is a depressing story of a woman whose mother dies at her birth, her first husband dies on their honeymoon and loses the job she finds joy in doing. These experiences makes her a lonely and emotionless. What is really interesting about the novel is the contrast between the two symbols 'flower' and 'stone'. Here is a woman who is named after a delicate flower, full of life and the 'stone' has no emotions. She has no feelings whatsoever for her husband, father, or children. She wants to desire but doesn't know what to desire for or what she is allowed to. Carol Shields also included some pictures in the book as well as recipes and letters. These help the reader understand the novel more and really get into the story.

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Summary: Unique Yet Boring...
Review: The Stone Diaries is a well written novel which explores the many events that take place in the lives of women and the effect it has on others around them. Daisy Goodwill Flett is a mother, a daughter, a wife, a lover, a cultivator, a woman, a Flower. This novel, which has a habit of avoiding deep descriptions of this and other characters, gives insight into what it means to be a woman; the ups and downs and the joys and depressions of it. With its vast range of diverse women, the novel will severely TRY to keep you entertained. This may be because of the fact that no two women in the novel are the same. The characters vary from Daisy's mother, Mercy Stone Goodwill, a quiet, shy woman who is raised in an orphanage, with the high point of her life being a housewife, to Clarentine Flett (Mercy's neighbour ), a friendly woman with the courage to leave her husband in a time where such an act was unexpected from women. Another character would be Daisy herself, a calm, strong, confident young woman. She lives quite an eventful life, yet as she reflects over it towards the end of her life, she realizes it wasn't all that it could have been. This was a disappointment, since there is absolutely no indication that Daisy may be unhappy or unfulfilled by the way her life is, but seems to enjoy and accept the way things are going. This made me feel somewhat cheated, since it seems I never really got to know her. I guess you can't expect to know the characters much, since they hardly know much about themselves, in terms of what they're feeling, what they want and so on. One would think that after following these women throughout their lives to their deaths, you would know them in great detail, but that isn't the case. Shields has this way of only allowing the reader to know the characters to a certain extent. This is unfortunate, since it disables the readers from allowing themselves to identify with or feel empathy for any of them. If you look past the misconception of the characters, the plot is quite interesting. It is unique the way it follows through on the life events of the main character. We are there when Daisy enters the world and shadow her through childhood, marriage, love, motherhood, sorrow, illness and then, sadly, death. Daisy's life certainly challenges how we perceive a woman's life to be. It could quite easily have been a great book with a few minor changes, but overall, it was worth the time.

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Summary: The Stone Diaries is a remarkable display of insight!
Review: Carol Shields displays her talent as a great writer in her novel, The Stone Diaries. This remarkable tale of Daisy Goodwill entrances the reader. The trials and tribulations Daisy experiences throughout her life are illustrated with such detailed accuracy that one may forget that The Stone Diaries is a work of fiction. I'll admit that I almost did. Separating each section of Daisy's life into a chapter, Shields guides us through all of Daisy's experiences from the miracle of her birth to the tragedy of her death. I found it very difficult to tear myself away from this novel for the most part - it can be very captivating. Every novel, however, does have its weak areas. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying and confusing. It was unclear as to what happens to Daisy at the time of her death. The final chapter is very vague and left me with one thought... "huh?" Though the final chapter dampened my excitement over The Stone Diaries, I still believe this is a novel that everyone should experience. It gives insight into the world of conscience and thought, and Shields' ability to do this is not something to be ignored.

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Summary: I click on Mara, Daughter of the Nile and I get The Stone Di
Review: II click on Mara, Daughter of the Nile and I get The Stone Diary. There's a mistake in your system.

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Summary: A Captivating Odyssey
Review: THE STONE DIARIES is a captivating odyssey through the life of Daisy Goodwill. While the characters may be underdeveloped and overused, it still remains as a thouroughly enjoyable read. It is filled with unexpected bits of humor that delight and mysteriously seduce the audience. One example of this is an excerpt from a conversation that Mrs. Hoad has with Daisy before her marriage to Mrs. Hoad's son, Harold Hoad. "Harold always takes Grape-Nuts for breakfast. A question of digestion and general health. I feel I should make myself clear on this point. I'm speaking of b.m.'s. Bowel movements." The novel can become a tad tiring at times and the point of view can become strewed. A reader may anticipate that Daisy holds the main point-of-view, but many other character's point-of view come in at various random points in the novel. The novel spans the lifetime of Daisy, so a particular incident cannot occur without the author inserting a long history of something that may have happened fifty years earlier. This contributes to the "wholeness" of the story, but it is somewhat of a hassle. Another interesting quote comes from the end of Daisy's life. "When we say a thing or an event is real, never mind how suspect it sounds, we honor it. But when a thing is made up-regardless of how true and just ut seems-we turn up our noses. That's the age we live in. The documentary age. As if we can nevern never get enough facts. We put on the television set and what we hear is the life cycles of birds." This is a bit of truth that a reader may find in this novel that can give some perspective on life. Overall, this novel is definetely worth reading. It provides a real sense of history. Life was going on in an everyday sense even when major events were happing around the world. It is enjoyable, fascinating, and very well written.