Might be I Am Legend, since it's the only story I know of that captures complete and utter human isolation.
I generally don't read sad things. I don't like feeling sad. Although I'm quite good at writing them, apparantly...
I'll also nominate Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck... Flowers for Algernon had me crying, too. Almost all the tragedies by Shakespeare are upsetting to me, but after a while it gets old. I remember openly weeping when I read Where the Red Fern Grows, and The Memory Keeper's Daughter had me crying several times too. Honestly though, I dont think it gets any sadder than Of Mice and Men. Not much of a Steinbeck fan, but that book had me upset for the entire week following. In contrast to Xeno, I love to read (and write) sad stories; it makes me feel so much better about my own situation.
Sophie's Choice. I think it should come with a coupon for emotional therapy in the back flap. I saw the movie when I was in the service, mainly because there was a lot of German and Polish language scenes. I was training to be a Russian/Polish interpreter at the time and the movie was big with the students in my program. I still love the movie, but the book is a whole other thing. It can be a soul rendering experience if one is not prepared.
I just finished Saint Iggy by K.L. Going...I feel gyped somehow....and mad at Iggy...and like I'd be crying if I was that kind of girl.....
I'm a crier. I usually cry at least once during every book I read! haha Not even necessarily because it's sad, I'm just easily moved to tears. I read The Kite Runner last month and I thought it was really sad.
Holy sh-t, totally forgot about this book. Along with feeling extremely heavy-hearted after finishing it, I'm pretty sure I felt quite queasy, and even a bit furious.
I know this is ridiculous, but Walk Two Moons. I always cry when the grandmother dies, even though I have read it five times already.
I remember reading that book. I also remember reading Fat Kid Rules the World by the same author as well; she's pretty good! Saint Iggy left me feeling pretty upset too, but I did really enjoy it.
I really feel the saddest book I've ever read was 1984. An author can weave a web of intricate characters, and have me feel for them as if they were my own children. Then they're ruthlessly slaughtered in some horrible fasion or another before my eyes... ... and it still won't be as utterly depressing as, "He loved Big Brother."
Night by Elie Wiesel. The way Wiesel writes the memoir really provokes a lot of emotion, primarily sadness.
Really? Night? Huh. But Wiesel writes particularly without emotion. I imagine it's sad because of the subject matter, not the writing.
Agreed. I dont particularly like the way Wisel writes because of his very plain style of writing, but it didnt stop me from cringing and audbily gasping because of just how awful the events were in the memoir.
It's been a long time since I read Night so I don't remember his writing at all. But of course the subject matter should be enough to make anyone sad.
Message In A Bottle by Nicholas Sparks. But that was before I'd read his other books, and while beautiful, they all kinda have the same plot lol.
Suprised no one has mentioned "The Things They Carried" by Tim O'Brien. The final chapter did have me in tears. "Of Mice and Men" left me teary-eyed. "1984" left me in awe, it wasn't sad at all to me. I was just dumbfounded by the sheer brilliance Orwell put forth in hitting the reader with one of the definitive moral concepts of human nature.
Same here! I cry at books, movies...anything, really. Most of the books I was thinking of have already been mentioned-Where the Red Fern Grows, Kite Runner, A Child Called It... I also think that Gone With the Wind is sad. First off, because so many people die, but also because Scarlett doesn't really appreciate anyone or anything she has until it's gone and she realizes what she was taking for granted.
Hm, I'd like to read that. I cried so bad, at Where the Red Fern Grows. I love that book so much. Also, I got teared up a bit at um, Jacob Have I Loved, oh but I love that book. Also, yeah, A Child Called It. And, A Dog's Life. But I think that Where the Red Fern Grows, I cried the most.
The Motel Life by Willy Vlautin. The only book thats made me cry. Left me quite shell shocked actually.
The Little Match Girl by Hans Christian Andersen. Seriously. I read it when I was little and got so sad I never read it again. Nor will I read it to my kids,ever.:redface:
