Books that made you cry

[Fiona]

I just finished a book and I'm still a bit weepy over it. Actually, I think it was just too sad actually... but I still enjoyed it although in a way a little disappointed. Not cos it was sad but for other reasons. Anyway...

Do you like happy or sad endings in books? Or do you go out of your way to avoid books you know are sad?

I like bittersweet endings really. I guess this ending I read was bittersweet in a way but I found it so so so sad.

I hate reading sad endings in public places because I hate crying in public. And people think you're a freak, I'm sure.

[Kylie]

I don't think I've ever cried during a happy ending, but I've certainly cried often enough at sad endings.

I wouldn't go out of my way to avoid a sad book. I like a book that stirs up powerful emotions, and even though it might make me miserable, I think it's still a wonderful thing to be able to be moved that much by a book. Does that sound weird? :blush:

Usually I'm at home when I read a sad ending, but I think that's usually a coincidence. If I'm in public and I sense a sad ending coming up, I would probably stop reading until I got home.

[Janet]

I tend to cry at films more than books, but one which did make me cry at the end was The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas which was so moving.

[Kell]

I cry at books all the time - I get so involved with the characters that I end up feeling whatever they're feeling and when something particularly sad or happy happens, I end up in floods. If I'm reading at lunchtime at work, I sit in a corner and have to make sure I'm facing a wall so nobody sees! Dale thinks I'm mad when I cry at books, but then, he's not a reader, so he doesn't really understand how powerfully you can be affected by the printed word.

[wrathofkublakhan]

If a book can make me cry (and it happens) I embrace it and just love each and every word that got me there.
We, as world-weary readers, tend to be rather cynical - if an author can strike that chord, bless us all.

[Jean]

I never would have dreamed that Stephen King could make me cry, but I cried buckets over The Green Mile, which I consider his masterpiece.
Another favorite tearjerker is The Horse Whisperer, by Nicholas Evans. Cry every time I read it, which is often. :readingtwo:

Jean

[JudyB]

I never would have dreamed that Stephen King could make me cry, but I cried buckets over The Green Mile, which I consider his masterpiece.
Jean


Saw the film - was warned by the person that lent me the DVD that I'd cry - they were right!

[clockwork frog]

I must admit to getting a wobbly lip every time I read Tony Parson's 'Man and Boy'.
The main character's relationship with his father strikes me deeply, it makes me feel very nostalgic and I often, self indulgently, re-read the book to lose myself in the empathy I have for this character.

[Inver]

Tuesday's with Morrie did it for me. Probably because I read it not long after mum died.:blush:

Emotional Geology too (Transita book) not because it was overly sad but just the story itself and again it touched a sad part of my life too when my Uncle died.:blush:

(Reaches for the tissues) Sure there have been others but can't remember.

[madcow]

I have been known to shed a tear or three at books, if i know a sad part is coming up i will wait till i'm at home and alone (only cos the kids laugh at me!).

[Pilgrim]

Don't remember if this one made me cry but it tore my heart out - twice. A Day No Pigs Will Die by Robert Newton Peck. My daughter was reading it in middle school and we finished it together. They like kids to go through heavy things - we had a "survival unit" with short stories and books like Bamboo Trap, Run Boy Run (that made me pass out) Red Badge of Courage and Leiningen Versus the Ants.

[Lilywhite]

I cry all the time, I'm a big softie :D

Last few books that made me cry, Marley and Me, which I still haven't read the last chapter because I got so upset. The Five People You Meet In Heaven, that was crying in a happy but emotional way.

I don 't go out of my way to avoid sad books, I think it's all part of the reading experience, although it does make you feel a bit of a numpty explaining it to others. :lol:

[angerball]

Well, I've struggled to think of a book that has made me cry, and I can't think of any. :blush: I don't generally cry over books, but I do over movies.

Having said that, I do recall getting upset over several books - The Lovely Bones, Watership Down and The Kite Runner spring to mind.

[LittleLijah]

I always cry at To Hear a Nightingale by Phillipa Gregory! It's just one of those books that gets to me! I don't think I've cried at any others I've read though.

[Polka Dot Rock]

I don't give in to many, but Jane Eyre always makes me cry and Incredibly Loud & Extremely Close made me sob.

[Gyre]

I cried at the end of 'The Boy In The Striped Pyjamas' too, it was so sad and unfair, but then the whole nature of the book was about unfairness.
I also cried at the end of 'The Book Thief' :cry2:

[wrathofkublakhan]

I started reading the Dragon Riders of Pern when they came out. So, I think I may have read the first one back in 1976? - and then each book as it was published. Through the first trilogy (flight, quest, ruth), then the complementary trilogy (song, singer, drums), the side stories (moreta, nerilka, some short stories) ....

Throughout all the books, one of the characters was Robinton - Master Harper plays a big role in keeping everyone together. One of my favorite characters, he finally dies as they solve the big questions of their roots back to Earth.

In 1994, twenty years after following these characters, Dolphins of Pern is published with the funeral of Robinton - with a dazzling display and homage by the dragons and the fire lizards.
Wow, I could barely read with the tears on my bookmark - it was a good cry.

[Fiona]

I cry in quite a few books, although not too many...

I cried at the end of Harry Potter book 5 and threw the book on the ground in bad temper, sulked for five minutes and read on. I still cry like a baby when I read that, actually. End of book 6 made me tearful, but more shocked then anything even though I was expecting it. I was ish expecting something to happen end of book 5 to that person, but wasn't expecting that.

The Bronze Horseman by Paulina Simons made me cry like stupid. It was 3am and I was reading it and it was being so sad. I was right towards the end, Mum came in to have a go at me for still being up and go to bed. I was so distraught and emotional I completely over-reacted and yelled at her to get out and leave me alone because she was ruining the ending of my book! I was in a flood of tears by the end.

... and then the flaming author wrote a sequel and ruined a perfectly good depressing ending!

[Oblomov]

Only one book made me cry. That was back in 1972 when I joined Medical School and found out the size of Gray's Anatomy.

[samgrosser]

Books don't often make me cry, which is strange, because I'm absolutely useless with films and cry at the drop of a hat.

But one book that did have me in tears was Melvyn Bragg's The Soldier's Return. It's absolutely the most moving book I've read in ages.

[Laramie]

I didn't actually cry at this, but I did feel a few tears in my eyes and certainly made me feel really rather depressed - it's that bit about halfway through.....I think it's the Subtle Knife, but it could be the Amber Spyglass, when Lyra has to leave Pantalaimon behind when she goes into the land of the dead. It's descibed so well you can practically feel the pain and you just know how much it's hurting her. I had to stop reading just after that point cuz the lesson ended, so I read it the moment I got home!

[wrathofkublakhan]

Books don't often make me cry, which is strange, because I'm absolutely useless with films and cry at the drop of a hat.


Ditto that: amazing, huh? "Cue the music, cue the tears!"

There is a great moment just at the end of Romancing the Stone; he shows up in Manhattan with his croc-boots, she climbs in with the flowers, cue the music (cue the tears) as the credits begin to roll while the boat begins to roll up the street. BUT, if you watch it on television you get totally and completely and horribly ripped off because those bastids minimize the screen and put an advertisement in there! Grrrrr -- we all recognize the right "moment to cry" in a movie, when they take it away it's so ....




...evil.

[Fiona]

That was sad, I felt the pain but I cried myself stupid at the very end of The Amber Spyglass more then I did when that happened.

I love bittersweet endings like that. I gotta read that series again, but I'm too afraid now I know what's coming.

[Icecream]

The spoiler is a big one so don't read it if you haven't read the book.

I was deeply cut up when I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (where she had the baby taken from her). I think I managed not to cry, just. I did have a newborn at the time though.


The last two Harry Potters also had me almost in tears, the sixth more than the fifth, so the last one is probably going to actually make it..

[Janet]

The spoiler is a big one so don't read it if you haven't read the book.

I was deeply cut up when I read The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox (where she had the baby taken from her). I think I managed not to cry, just. I did have a newborn at the time though.
That bit upset me too. :( Such a great book - I bought another Maggie O'Farrell yesterday because I enjoyed this so much.

[Echo]

One book that always makes me cry is "And the Band Played On" by Randy Shilts. For those who haven't read it, it's a non-fiction account of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic in the U.S., and it has heart-wrenching descriptions of horrible deaths.

[Leona]

very few books have made me cry, but i bawled at 'the book thief', 'the boy in the striped pajamas' almost did it but not quite. i think i cried years ago when i read 'little women', but that was probably teenage angst, oh and how could i forget 'the time travellers wife'?fantastic stuff, sobbed and sobbed....... wasn't the better of that one for a week

[carm]

eleberth- i read and the band played on and i cried my eyes out too- i work with people who have HIV/AIDS and the book just begins to cover what my clients have gone through and continue to go through- so much has changed since that book was written -new meds, increased life expectancy- it really is a great book overall- carm

[jenmck]

Um, you guys are going to laugh at me. I don't like sad books that much and tend to avoid them. But I got caught off guard when I read "The Elfstones Of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. The end of the book was NOT expected and I cried.
Most books that are sad (like Barbara Kingsolver's "The Poisonwood Bible" don't make me cry. They just depress me.

[moussecake]

:cry::cry:

Damaged by Cathy Glass was the last book to make me cry. Very touching...........

[Echo]

Now this is something new...I was reading Lady Chatterley's Lover two nights ago, for our July group, and there was a long passage in which Connie's desperation and depression are described, and I found myself actually weeping. :weeping:And then it happened again last night!! What's going on with me?? I've read this book before, and I didn't cry the first time. Who knows....:dunno:

[Sofia]

no book has made me actually cry, but I came close with The Time Traveller's Wife-Audrey Niffenegger

[Hazeltree]

I've cried over tons of books! As a teenager at times I picked a book to read that I knew would make me cry! One of my 'favourites' for crying was Devil Water by Anya Seton. In recent years I've tended to avoid them, but then I've been struggling against depression for a while.

Several books have brought a tear to my eye in recent years - the last two HP ones for starters.

I get very involved with the characters when I read the book, so if anything bad happens to them I feel it!

[Colin Jacobs]

No time for goodbyes did and so did Mr Pip I wondered what had moved other readers to tears

[Tiger]

I've never cried over a book, though I've come close to it on two particular books. Waves by Sharon Dogar because it was so touching; and Black Beauty by Anna Sewell because I couldn't imagine horses being treated so badly.

[supergran71]

Marley and me made me cry buckets. Anything to do with animals will usually start the tears rolling. Jodi Picoult's "Plain Truth" brought me near.

[Tiresias]

I never cry while reading, though I did have a very hard time fighting them back while reading The Bridge at No Gun Ri (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bridge_at_No_Gun_Ri), a non-ficitonal account of the massacre of Korean civilians by American troops during the Korean War.

[Jules2]

I know there have been books that have made me cry but nothing springs to mind at the moment other than the time I read Sara Payne's account of her daughters death and the way it affected her family. I sobbed while my husband slept, completely oblivious to my distress.

[robson65]

For me it was 'Goodnight Mr Tom' by
Michelle Magorian. Cried at the TV film too.

Robson

[Gamgee]

John Steinbeck's 'Of Mice and Men'. :readingtwo:

[princessponti]

I'm a definate cryer... the last book to really touch me was The Book Theif, I had to phone Johnny at 2 in the morning as I was sobbing so much - really moving.

[Lukeozade100]

I think 'Of Mice & Men' is definatley a book to set people off, apart from that I don't think i've ever cried at a book, frankly i'm much to repressed to cry at most anything so Of Mice & Men is definatley somethin special.

[Gyre]

The Girls by Lori Lansen
http://bestsmileys.com/crying/2.gif

[kb.marsh]

The Book Thief and My Sister's Keeper have moved me to tears recently

[Inver]

'Tuesday's With Morrie' by Mitch Albom
'Five People You Meet In Heaven' by Mitch Albom
both of these read not long after my mum dad, but actually found them kinda comforting in a way.

'Plain Truth' by Jodi Picoult
'Gang of Four' by Liz Byrski
'Before I Die' by Jenny Downham (recently read and definitely one for the tissue box
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

Sure there are others. I am a bit of a sentimental/emotional wee soul. :blush:

[tbain]

The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas moved me to tears.

[Inver]

The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas moved me to tears.
Haven't read that one yet. See there is a film coming out of it.

[Louiseog]

I often have a lump in my throat but not many make me weep, apart from:
My Sister's Keeper
Read this in the car on the way to a party, hmmm not great preparation really
'Before I Die' by Jenny Downham (recently read and definitely one for the tissue box
I blubbed at this one, really cried saw someone on holiday reading it by the pool, could not have done that, people would have had to counsel me.

[frankie]

I'm not much of a crier with books, so if a book makes me cry, it must be a really good one.
The ones that did it for me:

Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (but not until second time around to it)
Stephen King: Cujo
Alice Sebold: Lovely Bones
Michael Cunningham: A Home at the End of the World
Carlos Ruiz Zafón: The Shadow of the Wind
J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Augusten Burroughs: Dry

Those are the ones I remember, there may be others.

[Echo]

I cried several times while reading The Face of Death by Cody McFadyen. It was just so tragic, I could hardly stand it.

[Smint]

Oooh, my first post!

The only book that's evermade me cry was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

It follows the lives of a number of people in Bombay, and their ups and downs. Just when you think they're getting on their feet, there's another knockback, but you're willing them to overcome it

One of my all time favourite books

[Maureen]

The time Traveller's wife had me in tears - I remember going to pick up my son from school, stopping at the traffic lights, thinking about the story with tears streaming down my face. The kite runner had me glassy eyed too.

[boo]

It doesn't take much these days to make me blub!!
'Tuesday's with Morrie' and 'Five people you meet in heaven' were both amazing and I cried because I loved them so.
'Hannah's Gift' because it was such a heartbreaking mother's story.
I loved being moved to that extent by a book, although I love films, i think it's so much more powerfull to be moved by someones words and your own imagination.

[Jo-Bridge]

Hangover Square by Patrick Hamilton- I read this for the first time years ago and had the verve on repeat- now "Lucky Man" reminds me of the book and makes me a bit sad! More recently- The Tenderness Of Wolves by Stef Penney made me cry at the end. Unspoken love -ahhhhh.

[Tiger]

The end of The Crossing Of Ingo brought me near to tears... it was so tragic.

[Icecream]

J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

I cried in that too.

[Gyre]

I just finished reading 'The Road' by Cormac McCarthy, which made me cry, especially the end.

[frankie]

I have to add The Book Thief by Markus Zusak.

[Nellie]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows made me cry when Dobby died

[kb.marsh]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows made me cry when Dobby died

I cried at that too

[frankie]

Augusten Burroughs's A Wolf at the Table, which isn't surprising given that it is his darkest novel.

[Tiger]

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows made me cry when Dobby died

This made me cry too :(

[tbain]

Oooh, my first post!

The only book that's evermade me cry was A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry

It follows the lives of a number of people in Bombay, and their ups and downs. Just when you think they're getting on their feet, there's another knockback, but you're willing them to overcome it

One of my all time favourite books

A Fine Balance is a brilliant novel, very sad.

Welcome to the forum by the way!:)

[Ceinwenn]

There are a couple books which have made me cry, for different reasons. A place to call home, by Deborah Smith made me cry the first time I read it because it is a great story & made me a bit homesick. Chicken Soup for the Canadian Soul - there are various stories in there that always make me cry.

[million2b]

The only book that made me teared would be when Dumbledoredied in the Harry Potter's 6th Series. Pretty amazing how I got entangled into that series when I wrongly assumed it to be too childish initially.

[FishAndChips]

You can spoiler it yourself using spoiler tag - highlight the word and click S, though not sure if you have enough posts to be able to edit your posts.

[Utopiste]

Only one book made my cry - Wrongful Deaths by William Wharton. When I read about parents emotions, their mood when they had to call all family members to tell them about the accident I just couldn't hold my tears. I sympathized them so much.

[KW]

The last few moments of Fighting Reuben Wolfe by Markus Zusak...my-oh-my...human choices, love, loyalty...the stuff Kleenex boxes are made for!

[Kylie]

Have you read The Book Thief, KW? Another tear-jerker. I'll definitely be on the look-out for Zusak's other works.

[KW]

Kylie, I STARTED the Book Thief, but didn't finish. Though I've heard it's great. Try GETTING THE GIRL after FRW, if you can find them on amazon.

[LG1976]

The Lovely Bones and The Green Mile both made me cry.

[bookwormmum]

The Knitting Circle - Ann Hood was the last one to start me off. Its about a knitting group who use knitting to counteract their grief.

The Time Traveller Wife was the worst. It took me ages to get through it as I'd just turned into a sobbing wreck. My OH kept coming home to find me in bits. Its one of my favourites, but it just tore me apart reading it. I just don't know how the film will do it justice.

[pipread]

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, had to keep the tissues handy!

[Charm]

I've never actually cried althoug i hav come close and that was to PS I Love you - but then I was laughing the next minute!

[Mia]

The Lovely Bones and The Green Mile both made me cry.

The Green Mile really upset me too. Even now, I haven't been able to re-read it or watch the film. :(

[paige turner]

The ending to The Grapes Of Wrath. Didn't really cry, but was close to it.:cry2:

[Stephanie2008]

The Green Mile really upset me too. Even now, I haven't been able to re-read it or watch the film. :(

I'm reading this now. I'm not even half way through and I have cried. This is the only book I have ever cried at.

[paige turner]

On the flip side. I have cried with laughter. A few by Spike Milligan and The Crow Road by Iain Banks, have had me lol.:lol:

[Crow]

Jayne Eyre..when Helen Burns dies at Lowood school...very moving..

[bev]

Marley & Me so sad, I hate it when a dog dies. :cry2:

[knitnat]

I haven't had time to read all the posts so it may already be here....April Fool's Day by Bryce Courtney. It tells his son's story from a childhood lived with haemophilia until his untimely death through contracting HIV from an (ironically) life-saving blood transfusion.

I couldn't read it in the train, I would have run out of tissues. A brilliantly written account though.

And Dead Man Walking...the barbarity of capital punishment.

[Stephanie2008]

Marley & Me so sad, I hate it when a dog dies. :cry2:

I haven't read that yet. My mum read it and cried because we have a labrador and had another which we went through similar circumstances.

[grammyva]

The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks remains the saddest book I've ever read. I read it in bed and tried not to wake up my husband as I had tears running down my cheeks!

Grammyva

[Wonders disciple]

Can't quite remember if i have actually cried whilst reading a book, although i do remember that certain parts of The Grapes Of Wrath and Birdsong left me with a lump in my throat.

[SaraPepparkaka]

Someone reminded me of this book today, I hadn't thought about this one in a long time. I cried when I read Love story, Eric Segal. All I really remember is that it was all so tragic. :cry2: Maybe I should re-read.

[Chimera]

Can't quite remember if i have actually cried whilst reading a book, although i do remember that certain parts of The Grapes Of Wrath and Birdsong left me with a lump in my throat.

Same here. I cant remember actually crying while reading a book but I can get very upset... The Kite runner, which I just finished had me with a lump in my throat all week!

Actually the books (and films) which bring me closest to tears are usually the lower quality, overdone dramas. One of them was Ou es tu? by Marc Levy: one of those books I cant put down eventhough I reason that its not so good and which carries far more emotion than I can bear :lol:

[bonnie banks]

I`ve cried at loads of books but the ones I`ve sobbed at are

black beauty /anna sewell
plague dogs/ richard adams
lord of the rings/ tolkien
of mice and men and
grapes of wrath/ steinbeck

There`s probably more but I can`t remember,I can cry for Scotland :lol:

Oh and Hi to eveyone I`ve just discovered your great forum :)

[kb.marsh]

The last book that made me cry was A Season of Eden

[frankie]

I started Marley and Me by John Grogan yesterday and I was well into page 3 when I started crying already.... :roll:

[bev]

I cried throughout Marley & Me !! Stock up on the kleenex, it's going to be a film too !!!! ;)

[frankie]

I cried throughout Marley & Me !! Stock up on the kleenex, it's going to be a film too !!!! ;)

I don't know if I could ever survive the film! :blush:

[bev]

I don't know if I could ever survive the film! :blush:
That's what I think ! I'm going to wait until it comes out on dvd so I can weep in the privacy of my own home !! :)

[frankie]

That's what I think ! I'm going to wait until it comes out on dvd so I can weep in the privacy of my own home !! :)

Har har I was planning on that too! :lol:

[Purple Princess]

I cried loads when I read The Time Traveller's Wife - it isn't even a particularly sad book - must have just been feeling emotional when I read that one :blush:

[Child.of.God.1989]

I couldn't think of any until reading some of your posts... I realized there were quite a few where I was glassy-eyed, but I must have shoved the "embarrassing" memories deep down.:blush: No piece of media has made me weep except for something about a third-world country on the news when I was little; and The Passion of the Christ a couple of Decembers ago.

As for making me glassy-eyed in spite of myself:

- The Atonement Child by Francine Rivers ~ do look it up, ladies especially! It wasn't so much the traumatic things that the main character goes through as when she said to another, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has God removed your transgressions from you." (Psalm 103:12) Ahh, what a balm to my guilty heart!:)
- Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling ~ I accidentally spoiled a huge part for myself by losing my place, but when I knew it was coming up, it felt just as shocking and sad. It was when Sirius died; I'm a sucker for when someone you're not sure loves you so much makes some huge sacrifice, and then you KNOW.
- Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers - uhh, I would have to read it again to see what specific spot broke my heart's walls, but I know the whole story was touching.
- The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks ~ I hope my future husband and I will have the same enduring love as a couple of the characters in the book.:smile2:
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis ~ Ohh, dear Edmund! Oh, wonderful Aslan, with the power and gentleness to transform whoever lets him! I was sixteen or seventeen when I read this.

Almost all of these are romantic books:roll:. I wish I could say some gripping non-fiction book made me cry from some deep, shocking fact... but it usually comes down to a boy and a girl. Mush, mush, mush.

[Badenoch]

A book which took me on an emotional journey like practically no other ever did was "A Soldier of the Great War" by Mark Helprin.

At various points in the story I laughed out loud [rare enough] and at others I blubbered like a wee baby!

When it was finished I wanted to cry again - simply because it was finished..

READ IT - YOU WON'T REGRET IT :readingtwo:

[Ruth]

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. It made me sob, but it was worth it - it's a wonderful book.

[frankie]

The Art of Racing in the Rain, by Garth Stein. It made me sob, but it was worth it - it's a wonderful book.

This one's on my TBR, I've been trying to find a cheapish copy of it somewhere for some time now!