Stoner

A quiet and rather uneventful life of an English professor at a small university in the midwestern USA, during the first half of the 20th century. The language is light-weight and straight-forward; the events are simple and ordinary, and all together there's immense beauty in Williams' prose and story.

Stoner's life is a life lived quite passively, he stoically accepts the misfortunes life presents him. He is happiest when consumed by his passion for learning and teaching. Yet even this passion is not consistent and he never rises above mediocrity. He's not a hero, as he passively takes every work-related attack and even doesn't react when his wife estranges his daughter from him. Yet you cheer for him when life gives him a few wins.

A couple of paragraphs I had to reread because their quiet beauty resonated.