Which Books Made You Cry?
Oh dear, I'm having another book slump. After finishing the terrific One Day by David Nicholls, I've picked up several books which I abandoned after just a few pages or chapters. Nothing can satisfy me right now. I want a book that moves me, a book that makes me cry, a book that gets me emotionally involved with the characters like One Day did. Oh where, oh where, can I find another book like that? Dear readers, help me please. I trust your recommendations so tell me which books moved you to tears? Which ones got you so emotionally attached to the characters that you just didn't want it to end?
Parts of Harry Potter-when Dumbledore died-hope you get over your slump soon
ReplyDeletePLEASE do yourself a favor and read The Bells; Richard Harvell - amazing and emotional.
ReplyDelete@mel - I love most of the Harry Potter books and though it was a sad moment, I didn't cry when Dumbledore died. Actually, the last few in the series weren't very good.
ReplyDelete@Bibliophile by the Sea - I've never heard of The Bells. I've just checked it out in Amazon. It does sound wonderful and it's new...only available in hardcover. I'll definitely look out for this one!
I cried reading Gone with the Wind and Brideshead Revisited.
ReplyDeleteBooks rarely make me cry, but these are the few that have succeeded. Funnily, a lot of them are children's books or YA. Love You Forever, The Hundred Dresses, The God of Small Things, and The Knife of Never Letting Go.
ReplyDeleteMarkus Zusak's I Am the Messenger made me cry, in a good way. And Jonathan Safran Foer's Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close made me cry, but in a sad way.
ReplyDeleteI cried reading Anne of Green Gables. There's something so moving about children.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I find that non-fiction books on a subject close to my heart almost always make me cry. You could try if that works for you :)
The History of Love by Nicole Krauss is one of the most beautiful novels I've ever read, so I highly recommend it.
ReplyDeleteAnother tear-jerker is surely Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, though if you're looking for an epic novel, then East of Eden is also a wonderful read.
I also LOVE All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren. It is so sweeping in its scope that it's really a novel that completely engrosses you. And of course, One Hundred Years of Solitude does the same for me as well. Neither of these books made me cry, but they are so absorbing!
The only books to actually make me cry recently (versus the sort of welled up feeling you're able to push down after a moment) were both written for young adults: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. Might not be what you are looking for, but both emotional for sure.
ReplyDeleteHmm. I am sure somewhere in my reading past there is a more nuanced answer to this, but the one book I can think of that made me sob was On the Beach by Nevil Shute. However it really doesn't get emotionally engaging until the end as they all wait for their fate. Then again I was 16 and it was the 1980s and we were all worried about nuclear annihilation.
ReplyDeleteI know you didn't ask about films, but there is a film (based on a play I think)called "Wit" with Emma Thompson. It is absolutely devastating. A John Donne scholar dying of cancer. I could barely breathe I was crying so hard.
ReplyDeleteThere have been two books that have made me cry.
ReplyDeleteThe Alphabet Sisters by Monica McInerney and the non fiction book Dewey, the Library Cat had me weeping for days!
Time Travelers Wife gets me every time. This year, the only book that made me cry was Zeitoun - Dave Eggers
ReplyDeleteI cried with The Book Thief and The Housekeeper and The Professor - both books are brilliant! Oh and of course, I cried with Jean Rhys', Good Morning, Midnight. Hope you find something good and cry-worthy soon!
ReplyDeleteLove is a Mix-Tape by Rob Sheffield.
ReplyDeletePeter
(The guy who runs Flashlight Worthy)
http://www.flashlightworthybooks.com
Recommending books so good, they'll keep you up past your bedtime. ;-)
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.
ReplyDeleteFor Those Who Hunt the Wounded Down by David Adams Richards tore me up pretty good.
ReplyDeleteAs did The Road by Cormac McCarthy
There have been a few but the mist recent was Still Misssing by Beth Gutcheon.
ReplyDelete@Paperback Reader - Still Missing is on my Persephone wishlist. I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteI wish blogger would make it possible to reply to individual comments. Thanks for all your recommendations. There are so many books here that I haven't even heard of.
ReplyDelete@verity - I love Brideshead, both the book and the beautiful mini-series.
@fantighiro23- Thanks for ideas. I haven't heard of the first two.
@Charley - Zusak seems to be a highly recommended writer. I should start with The Book Thief though but it's good to hear his second book is just as good.
@Kals - Anne of Green Gables is on my nightstand. I missed it in my childhood so I should read it one of these days.
@Steph - I loved the film East of Eden and also enjoyed the movie version Of Mice and Men. I keep meaning to pick up one of these novels.
@Sara C- I really have to read The Book Thief, even Mr.B has already read it.
@Thomas at My Porch - I love films that make me cry and I think Emma Thompson is such a good actress. Surprisingly, I haven't heard of this film. I have yet to read Shute but I'm not sure where to start.
@Vivienne - These sound good! Thanks.
@Brenna - I was one of those that just couldn't get into The Time Travelers Wife. I've heard good things about Zeitoun and have yet to read Eggers.
@Nadia - I keep getting recommendations for The Book Thief. I hope I haven't lost my copy. The Housekeeper and the Professor is on my list for the Japanese Challenge. I'm looking forward to it.
@Peter - Just looked up Love is a Mix-Tape. It sounds good though unbearably sad too.
@theliterarylollipop - I enjoyed The Tenant of Wildfell Hall but it didn't make me cry.
@Harry Tournemille - I haven't heard of the first book you mentioned. I saw the film The Road and found it so depressing.
Oh dear, let's see!
ReplyDeleteThe Book Thief by Markus Zusak, Harry Potter #7, The Painted Veil by Maugham, Flowers for Algernon by Keyes, The Knight of Maison-Rouge by Dumas, A Thousand Splendid Suns by Hosseini, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Foer
:D
I see the Book Thief has been mentioned several times and it also makes my list. Little Women, Anne of Green Gables, Remains of the Day (it is the final chapter that does it for me every time) by Ishigura, A Little Princess by Frances Hodgsohn Burnett.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a book that will not make you cry but will pin you to the sofa for a week try Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susannah Clarke. Hugh, engrossing and magical, not my usual book at all but was totally incommunicado while I read this often until the middle of the night.
@She - I keep getting recommendations for The Book Thief. I'm going to try to get my book club to choose that book next. I love Somerset Maugham but haven't read The Painted Veil. I'll definitely look for it.
ReplyDelete@Elaine- I love Remains of the Day and Little Women though I don't think they made me cry. I've read Jonathan Strange. It was engaging but I was left unsatisfied somehow in the end.
Beside the Sea by Veronique Olmi was the most emotional book I've ever read. I can start crying if I even start to think about it. I warn you that it is so powerful some people can't even bring themselves to finish it, but if you really want a book that will make you cry then I guarentee this one will move you.
ReplyDeleteI cry so easily that I'm not one to give recommendations such as these. But I'm writing all the books that have been mentioned down.
ReplyDeleteFor emotionally engaging characters you will not want to leave I highly recommend Rock Island Line by David Rhodes. I am positively evangelical about this book and its sequel, Driftless, which did indeed make me cry. So did Crime and Punishment....
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post as I've so enjoyed reading all the responses. Glad there are others out there who enjoy a good cry over a book. The last book I read which made me well up was 'We need to talk about Kevin.' The emotion of the ending is still with me.
ReplyDeleteHi, Mrs. B! All right, I'll read One Day soon. My Vintage trade paperback is slowly gathering dust, so I might as well move this novel to my next-to-read list.
ReplyDeleteAs for books that made me cry... Hmmmm... It takes a lot for me to be teary eyed, although I did like The Schwa Was Here by Neal Shusterman. You have to read it!
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Ralls--wonderful book.
ReplyDeleteB.
I was going to suggest The Remains of the Day but I see Elaine got there before me.
ReplyDeleteHave you read Little Boy Lost by Laski (I'm sure you have), Possession by A S Byatt, Goodnight Mr Tom by Michelle Magorian? The last one especially is such a tear jerker...it gives me a crying headache every time!
I ton of books have at one point in time made me cry.
ReplyDeleteBut I always sob when I read The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper. It's a good read when you need a good cry.
Movies make me cry more often than books but Goodnight Mister Tom did have me in tears. Family by Susan Hill also had me in tears. It's the story of her struggle to have children but it's about much more than that. It's about her childhood in Scarborough, her student days, marriage & the births of her daughters.
ReplyDeleteStiltsville was the last book to make me cry, but it was an odd book read, as I kept TRYing to get get emotionally invested and only succeeded in the very end.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all the comments (great topic, btw) I wasn't going to bother mentioning The Book Thief, but how can I NOT mention The Book Thief. Such an amazing and important little book.
Love your blog!
Hey stumbled on your blog today and am having glorious time wasting time :) This post made me laugh because I often get stuck in slumps. But to answer your question, John Grisham's "The Street Lawer" had me sobbing when the hopeless homeless man killed himself; and more recently Levin's Conversion in Anna Karenin had me crying my way through to the end at a wee hour in the morning.
ReplyDeleteThanks,
jfeldt
try The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
ReplyDelete