The Stone Angel, first published in 1964

1964 in literature

The year 1964 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*Jean-Paul Sartre becomes head of the Organization to Defend Iranian Political Prisoners....

 by McClelland and Stewart

McClelland and Stewart

McClelland & Stewart Limited is a Canadian publishing company. It is partially owned by Random House of Canada, now a subsidiary of Bertelsmann....

, is perhaps the best-known of Margaret Laurence

Margaret Laurence

Jean Margaret Laurence, CC was a Canadian novelist and short story writer, one of the major figures in Canadian literature.- Early years :...

's series of novels set in the fictitious town of Manawaka

Manawaka

Manawaka is a fictional town in the Canadian province of Manitoba, frequently used as a setting in novels and short stories by Margaret Laurence...

, Manitoba

Manitoba

Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of . The province has over 110,000 lakes and has a largely continental climate because of its flat topography. Agriculture, mostly concentrated in the fertile southern and western parts of the province, is vital to the province's economy; other...

. In parallel narratives set in the past and the present-day (early 1960s), The Stone Angel tells the story of Hagar Currie Shipley. In the present-day narrative, 94-year-old Hagar is struggling against being put in a nursing home

Nursing home

A nursing home, convalescent home, skilled nursing unit , care home, rest home, or old people's home provides a type of care of residents: it is a place of residence for people who require constant nursing care and have significant deficiencies with activities of daily living...

, which she sees as a symbol of death. The present-day narrative alternates with Hagar's looking back at her life.

Plot summary

In a series of vignettes, The Stone Angel tells the story of Hagar Shipley, a 90-year old woman struggling to come to grips with a life of intransigence and loss. "Pride was my wilderness, the demon that led me there was fear."

Literary significance and criticism

Amongst other titles by Laurence, The Stone Angel is consistently listed as one of the greatest Canadian novels ever written. It has also been banned by some school boards and high school

High school

High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....

s, usually following complaints from fundamentalist Christian

Fundamentalist Christianity

Christian fundamentalism, also known as Fundamentalist Christianity, or Fundamentalism, arose out of British and American Protestantism in the late 19th century and early 20th century among evangelical Christians...

 groups labeling the book blasphemous

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...

 and obscene

Obscenity

An obscenity is any statement or act which strongly offends the prevalent morality of the time, is a profanity, or is otherwise taboo, indecent, abhorrent, or disgusting, or is especially inauspicious...

. Although The Stone Angel has been banned from some schools and public libraries; it is studied at the grade 12 university level in other schools.

Awards and recognition

• The Stone Angel was one of the selected books in the 2002
  2002 in literature
  The year 2002 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*March 16: Authorities in Saudi Arabia arrested and jailed poet Abdul Mohsen Musalam and fired a newspaper editor following the publication of Musalam's poem The Corrupt on Earth that criticized the state's Islamic...
  
   edition of Canada Reads
  Canada Reads
  Canada Reads is an annual "battle of the books" competition organized and broadcast by Canada's public broadcaster, the CBC.-Overview:During Canada Reads, five personalities champion five different books, each champion extolling the merits of one of the titles. The debate is broadcast over a series...
  
  , where it was championed by Leon Rooke
  Leon Rooke
  Leon Rooke, CM is a Canadian novelist. He was born in Roanoke Rapids, North Carolina in the United States. Educated at the University of North Carolina, he moved to Canada in 1969. He now lives in Toronto, Ontario....
  
  .
• Made into movie The Stone Angel, filmed in Winnipeg
  Winnipeg
  Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of Manitoba, Canada, and is the primary municipality of the Winnipeg Capital Region, with more than half of Manitoba's population. It is located near the longitudinal centre of North America, at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine Rivers .The name...
  
   and Hartney
  Hartney, Manitoba
  Hartney, established as a town in 1882 in Cameron municipality along the Souris River, is a small town in the South-Western portion of the Canadian province of Manitoba, population 400 . It is named after the legendary Mr...
  
  , Manitoba. Stars Ellen Burstyn
  Ellen Burstyn
  Ellen Burstyn is a leading American actress of film, stage, and television. Burstyn's career began in theatre during the late 1950s, and over the next ten years she appeared in several films and television series before joining the Actors Studio in 1967...
  
  .

External links

• http://www.thestoneangelmovie.com
• http://www.buffalogalpictures.com/production/film_production/the_stone_angel/
• List of challenged books in Canada
• Archived CBC coverage regarding the banning of the book