Books that actually emotionally moved you?

Discussion in 'Discussion of Published Works' started by Fifth Business, Feb 28, 2012.

  1. Leakler

    Leakler New Member

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    The last book I read that really moved me was What dreams may come by Richard Matheson. A truly good book in my opinion that really got me thinking on an emotional level and left me thinking about it for days.
     
  2. Jamie Senopole

    Jamie Senopole Member

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    You all have created a long list of books to read!! :)
     
  3. emines

    emines New Member

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    Metamorphosis by Franz Kafka. Man.
     
  4. nomadpenguin

    nomadpenguin Member

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    The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury. Not what you think of when you say 'emotional book', but it worked for me.
     
  5. J♥Star

    J♥Star New Member

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    I have never been that emotionally impacted by a book. the only time i have really felt emotional about something is when i read something from my own book. maybe i'm reading the wrong stuff!
     
  6. AutumnBarlow

    AutumnBarlow New Member

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    As a kid, "Children of the Dust" by Louise Lawrence about the aftermath of nuclear war. Absolutely terrified me and still makes me shiver. More recently, "The Reader" by Bernard Schlink had me weeping (in public - on a train) from about 2/3 in, right to the end.
     
  7. Feivel

    Feivel New Member

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    As a child I read a lot, and I was very sensitive, so if a character was upset I would get upset too very quickly. The list is therefore probably too long to mention! I do remember getting upset at an apparently hopeless situation in Rebecca's World.

    A book that did upset me several times was Z for Zachariah which we read at school. I never got actually upset (except at the death of an animal.. which still do upset me!) but I felt very disturbed by it indeed. I try to avoid post-apocalyptic books since, although I read and enjoyed The Road.
     
  8. Holo

    Holo New Member

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    I still remember bawling my eyes out in the Lords of Discipline by Pat Conroy when I was in the 7th grade. The death scene of a major character and the feeling of emptiness that it left me with still somewhat sticks with me.

    Of course Harry Potter as well. So many wonderful people died in that series.
     
  9. Quinn T. Senchel

    Quinn T. Senchel New Member

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    Martin the Warrior by Brian Jacques when I was a child. The death of prominent characters in fantasy never happened in other books so it was shocking when it did, and it clearly devastated the main protagonist. The Giver and Crank by Ellen Hopkins left an impact on me too. I almost forgot My Sister's Keeper, which makes me also want to read John Green's A Fault in Our Stars (plus I just love John Green). I was upset when Sirius died in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the hands of Bellatrix. Now that I'm older I'm basically a rock, I don't know the last time I've been moved by a book. You guys keep saying the Book Thief was moving. I always wanted to read it as a child but my parents couldn't afford it and my library didn't have it :( I feel like I missed out on something special.
     
  10. Link the Writer

    Link the Writer Flipping Out For A Good Story. Contributor

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    The fifth Harry Potter book. Dolores Umbridge.

    I once had a teacher like her, so reading about Umbridge? The things I imagined myself doing to Umbridge if I were able would likely have made even Voldemort blush. Evil, despicable <beep>!!
     
  11. Corgz

    Corgz New Member

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    Endal. Its such a heartwarming story of true friendship... And the main character dies one year after it's published </3
     
  12. Nightchaser

    Nightchaser New Member

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    Actually two of the most emotionally moving books I've ever read were projects back when I was first in high school ... one called Z for Zachariah which was about nuclear winter and the other was called Little Brother which was about the Khumar Rouge
     
  13. jakomocha

    jakomocha New Member

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    Some of the books that moved me which I read *recently* are Divergent (currently reading Insurgent) and especially The House of the Scorpion. I've read many more books which have moved me... but these are the most recent ones I can think of. The House of the Scorpion is an excellent read and I recommend it to anyone into that kind of stuff.
     
  14. jkell88

    jkell88 New Member

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    I'm not sure if it counts considering that it is a play, but one of the most moving of works I have read is "The Pillowman" by Martin McDonagh. There is a real lesson to be learned about the beauty and innocence of life within the outward gore and tragedy of the play. I was lucky enough to be cast in this show in college and the character I played was deeply disturbed and my monologue was gruesome but it truly moved me.
     
  15. Pheonix

    Pheonix A Singer of Space Operas and The Fourth Mod of RP Contributor

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    I loved Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski. It gave me such a mix of emotions. I was disturbed deeply by the actions of the Main character. I had pity for him and what the guilt did to him. I was sad for the poor prostitute who gave everything she had to her mother with tuberculosis. I felt the despair with the poor of St. Petersburg. It was just a great book all around. I recommend it to anyone who wants to write. Also The Kite Runner by Hosied Kahlini had a big impact on me, I had to stop reading it a few times, but it always sucked me back in!
     
  16. EdFromNY

    EdFromNY Hope to improve with age Supporter Contributor

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    The very first book that made me cry was "Death Be Not Proud" by John Gunther. The second was Hemingway's "The Old Man and the Sea". I read both the summer I turned 14. I have read Hemingway's stories many times since.

    Others that have had a profound emotional impact on me as an adult:

    "A Canticle for Leibowitz" - Walter M. Miller (a chilling tale of history repeating itself in the worst way)
    "Fahrenheit 451" - Ray Bradbury
    "The Novel" - James A. Michener (read it in one sitting, staying up all night; I didn't cry, but because it is about the publishing industry, I was riveted)
    "Have a Little Faith" - Mitch Albom (yes, I loved "The Five People..." but this had a more profound impact on me).
    "Night" - Elie Weisel
    "The Alchemist" - Paulo Coelho (a wonderful little book)
     
  17. fwc577

    fwc577 New Member

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    I know someone here will laugh at this.

    I am reading the Vampire Academy series. I found myself, several times, reading this book and shouting, "JUST F--- ALREADY!"

    I just finished book one and I was curious to find out if the two main characters ever actually do it so I looked ahead in some spoilers and it happens in book three. I have a feeling I'm going to be just as frustrated through the entirety of book 2 with the same emotion.

    I did sit down and read the book in one sitting and when I got to the FINAL THREE pages my screen went dim at which point I shouted, "WHAT THE F---?" then a message popped on screen saying, "Low Battery -- Powering Off" and I let out a Darth Vaderesque, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"

    Damn technology!
     
  18. Solar

    Solar Banned Contributor

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    The dictionary.
     
  19. simina

    simina Active Member

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    I remember lying in bed and crying for two hours after finishing the audiobook version of Augusten Burroughs' A Wolf at the Table

    I also had to deal with a horrible sense of emptiness and dread after reading Nevil Shute's On the Beach. I even had nightmares. The feelings continued for about a week after having finished the book.

    Franz Kafka's short story "A County Doctor" disturbed me profoundly. The idea of "reading a nightmare" is not something I'd ever experienced before, or since. I read it multiple times. Sometimes I still feel its atmosphere.

    A passage from William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying has stuck to me over the years. The passage that ends with the memorable quote: "How often have I lain beneath rain on a strange roof, thinking of home," and which, before it, has ramblings about the nature of what is and is-not. I read it over and over again and felt incredible happy and sad simultaneously.

    Jean-Paul Sartre's short story "The Childhood of a Leader" is another one. It just left me feeling incredible dirty and horrible. I think it kind of made me realize that I'm not invulnerable to becoming an "immoral" person. In fact, I think I'm somewhat susceptible. And that's frightening. Although I guess it shouldn't be, rationally.

    Sylvia Plath's poem "The Tulips" is probably the piece of writing that I've read more often than anything else ever. I've done numerous essays and projects on it, voluntarily. It just. . . completely described my life at one point in time:

    I've also cried often while studying literature in school. It first happened when we we're studying Shakespeare's "Sonnet 65" in high school, particularly at the verse: "Shall Time's best jewel from Time's chest lie hid?"
    And I think that's the first time that I just cried at the language of a piece of writing, not its content. It just struck me as overwhelmingly perfect.

    When I started university, the crying during classes became more frequent lol. Especially in a poetry class I took second semester, where we were taught greats such as Keats, whose "Ode on Melancholy" is one of the most moving and influential writings I've ever read.

    But to be honest, the vast majority of what I read moves me emotionally, or at least intellectually. And usually if something moves me intellectually, it leads to strong emotions. I really don't read a lot. . . I actually read very little. So if something is not satisfying me emotionally, I usually don't finish it. Books are a big time investment, after all, and I'm not very ambitious.
     
  20. moscowwoah

    moscowwoah New Member

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    William Styron's Sophie's choice
     
  21. Vision Maker

    Vision Maker New Member

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    The Biggest Monster with the littlest Heart, or "Ashes Mi = 666 = Messiha" This book moved me, here is the video cover for the book https://vimeo.com/47425361 It is trippy, listen to it cranked volume and on HI!, here is the book as well. http://ashesmi.yolasite.com/ It is free to read.
     
  22. Warp Zone

    Warp Zone New Member

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    "Flowers for Algernon" - messed up story
    Lord of the Flies - more messed up story

    I'm easily disturbed.
     
  23. Andrae Smith

    Andrae Smith Bestselling Author|Editor|Writing Coach Contributor

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    Hmmm Books that moved me emotionally huh? Well there are:
    Lord of the Flies-- Poor Piggy :(
    Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka -- made me sad by the end.
    Inheritance, Christopher Paolini-- made me sad by the end.
    HP7 The deathly Hallows, JK Rowling-- made me feel happy and at peace finally.
    Frankenstein, Mary Shelly-- made me hate Victor Frankenstein.
    The Hunger Games trilogy, Suzanne Collins-- made me sad for the characters.

    There are so many great books out there, I can't wait to read some that I've seen here listed on the forum.
     
  24. dlaiden

    dlaiden New Member

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    I pride myself on not being a very emotional person, but Miriam's death in A Thousand Splendid Suns really moved me. And while the book itself made me sad, the scene in the film of The Boy With The Striped Pyjamas where the boys go into the chamber and later the camera pans out to that sad music, I found very poignant and moving.
     
  25. wardwolf

    wardwolf New Member

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    I'm always interested in finding books that conjure emotion, but I find they are hard to come by. I suppose that's what makes those rare few books that do leave their mark that much more special.

    The Road shook me to the core; the way that book ended had me in tears. Don DeLillo's White Noise also affected me greatly...the whole existential angst thing, and the disillusionment with modernity...the book is timeless in that way; it left a definite impression on me.

    The Old Man and the Sea at first blush seemed so innocuous and simple, yet it too found its way under my skin; to the point where once I'd reached the end I felt such an overwhelming sadness, and sense of loss. That interpretation is probably all wrong, and not what Hemingway intended at all...lol. Still, that story is stark, beautiful, and crushingly sad - in my opinion. 1984 brought about some of those same feelings...I recognize it might be the cliched choice, oh well.
     

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