Fiona Posted June 15, 2007 Share Posted June 15, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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? 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kell Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathofkublakhan Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jean Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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. Jean Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyB Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
clockwork frog Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inver Posted June 16, 2007 Share Posted June 16, 2007 Tuesday's with Morrie did it for me. Probably because I read it not long after mum died. 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. (Reaches for the tissues) Sure there have been others but can't remember. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
madcow Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 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!). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilgrim Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lilywhite Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 I cry all the time, I'm a big softie 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angerball Posted June 17, 2007 Share Posted June 17, 2007 Well, I've struggled to think of a book that has made me cry, and I can't think of any. 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleLijah Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Polka Dot Rock Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 I don't give in to many, but Jane Eyre always makes me cry and Incredibly Loud & Extremely Close made me sob. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Weave Posted June 18, 2007 Share Posted June 18, 2007 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' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathofkublakhan Posted June 19, 2007 Share Posted June 19, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted June 19, 2007 Author Share Posted June 19, 2007 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oblomov Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
samgrosser Posted June 21, 2007 Share Posted June 21, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laramie Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wrathofkublakhan Posted June 22, 2007 Share Posted June 22, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiona Posted June 22, 2007 Author Share Posted June 22, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icecream Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 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.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Janet Posted June 23, 2007 Share Posted June 23, 2007 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. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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