What are some books that actually tapped into your emotions? Whether it be disturbing you, making you sad, making you happy and ect. For me some books that actually disturbed me were American Psycho, Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk and also Survivor by Chuck Palahniuk. A novel that made me sad and almost to the point of tears was Blaze by Stephen King. And finally one that really made me self reflect as a person was the classic, To Kill a Mockingbird. How about you guys?
Book that i learned about life much, was Alice in Wonderland and Through looking glass by lewiss caroll. Some books like: Narnia, unfortunate event and golden compass are something drive me to write fan-fict can't you belive it?
John Steinbeck's East of Eden and Of Mice and Men both moved me. The end of Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities had me crying back when I was in high school. Some of Rudyard Kipling's stories, especially those in The Jungle Books, moved me a great deal. And always, the shorter poems of Robinson Jeffers shake me, especially "Night", "Hurt Hawks", "Continent's End", and a few others. Walt Whitman's poetry blows my mind with its originality and vigor. "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" amazes me. "I Sing the Body Electric" is stunning. It's harder for a book to really move me now that I'm as old as I am. That might be because I read more like a writer these days, examining style, technique, and so on, and so not really letting the story take me wherever it's going. That's sad for me, and I wish I could read like I did when I was young, but I might not be able to any more, because I find myself paying so much attention to the workmanship the writer has.
Yeah I know exactly how you feel! I feel that way about movies. I've seen so many and know so much about them that I pay too much attention to the writing style/techniques and the directing style/techniques that it takes away from my enjoyment of the actual story. And I'm still young and I'm that way
I'm too sensitive, so most of the time I try to avoid those sort of books unless they're nonfiction or essentially nonfiction, like One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Ivan D is really great to me, because it makes me think about how I would act if I had to live in a Russian gulag. And it always makes me so hungry when I read it. Especially for soup or ramen. But I also felt similarly about the Chronicles of Narnia as a kid, and also 1984. Other than that, I get so critical about reading, like you guys were saying. It takes a really great book to get me to stop.
I would say the Book Thief by Marcus Zusak that I had to read for school. I started sobbing when I read the ending. Thankfully, we got to read that part at home! But overall, the events that happened in the book and everything (it was about the Holocaust/WWII) was just incredibly moving.
This! I've also read the Book Thief, and it's probably one of the most emotional books that I've come across. It remains one of my favorites. A few other books that really moved me are: Apocalypse by Tim Bowler, Mercy Among the Children by David Richards, and The House of the Scorpion by Nancy Farmer. The first two for their incredible sense of loss and sadness at the end, and the last one for that bit of 'melancholy' happiness, for the lack of a better word.
the last one was "One Day", by David Nicholls, which actually made me cry, something not many books have done in the last years. But it was more tears of disappointment of the book rather than sadness.
Taking a quick peek at my profile gives the obvious answer of Alice in Wonderland and its sequel. Quite possibly the most important book I've read. Though, as far as my reading goes, only two have really shaken me to my core. The first was the Walt Disney biography written by Neal Gabler. Walt Disney is one of my heroes, so while reading about his life was very empowering, reading about his last hours was heartbreaking. I tried reading it at work and couldn't! My tear ducts usually don't flow heavy, but when reading the last portions of his life, I started tearing up every few sentences. Man oh man. The second book I've recently read that really knocked me on my ass was The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein. Holy cow, I was an emotional train wreck after that read too. But damn it all, it was fantastic! Definitely reading that one again! Goodness, there's probably more, but that's all I can recall now.
The book that moved me recently was The Giver. Not easy to forget how powerful that was. I love that book, it's got such a strong message.
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand The Shack (even though I am not religious) The Road by Cormac McCarthy or however you spell his name Lord of the Flies (Angry) There are so many more
Within the last year or so: One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich - this made me angry at politicial oppression Metamorphosis, Franz Kafka - this made me sad. Nineteen Eighty-Four - this made me afriad. Not for the first time this novel has done so. Norwegian Wood - this novel had a strange effect on me. It made me nostalgic for a period of live I've not even stopped living, it made me laugh, it made me cry, it fulled me with images of beauty and mystery. It's an amazing book. La Vita Nuova - this made be insanely happy. Invisible Cities - this, again, made me insanely happy. Sons and Lovers - this again had a strange effect on me. I didn't care for it when I first read it but I'm beginning to appreciate it more. There are more, these are off the top of my head.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Filled with insight and just a good ending for Eddie, a man who thought his life had been a waste. Of Mice and Men (for a classic). Pretty sad at the end.
The last book that moved me to a blubbering mess was Where the Red Fern Grows back in the sixth grade. The answer should be blindingly obvious. And yes, I finished it in class and started crying right then and there. No, I did not care what others thought.
Sentence of Marriage and it's subsequent books (there are 4 total). The plight of this young girl in the abusive relationship she found herself thrust into had me sobbing hysterically more than once.
Isle of the Dead by Zelazny The Forever War by Haldeman Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott Count of Monte Cristo by Dumas 1984 by Orwell Lord of Light by Zelazny The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester
As I mentioned recently, I read "Gilgamesh the King" by Robert Silverberg. It was a 1st person re-telling of the Mesopotamian epic. I have to say that I found the relationship between Gilgamesh, the king of Uruk, and Enkidu, the wild man to be touching and Gilgamesh's quest for immortality to be poignant. We already know the story, but I found the re-telling actually made me feel for Gilgamesh.
"Lucky" by Alice Sebold. Even though the book is a memoir about her brutal sexual assault, I was actually more saddened by the parts about how her best friend in the world drifted apart from her in college. She wrote about it EXTREMELY poignantly. "The Book Thief" was another great one. "I am haunted by humans" - best last line ever, especially in the context.
That book still reduces me to tears, thirty-some years after I first read it. But I have to say The Sarantine Mosaic by Guy Gavriel Kay (a two book series) was one of the most intense reads I've ever had.
Earth Abides by George Stewart. Tied for 2nd would be between For Whom the Bell Tolls and A Farewell to Arms both by Hemingway.
I am David by Anne Holm. I almost cried when I read the last sentence, one of my favorite books and very emotional.
Scared me: Woman in Black and Agatha Christie's Hound of Death Made me cry: The first I remember was Jane Eyre - there have been many since Laugh: Without a doubt Gervase Phinn's Dale Series wins there I can't 'read' the paperbacks and need to get them on audiobooks. My ribs have ached and it was a painful experience reading them lol
Rains Fairy Tale by A K Williams It's a new book by a new author from what I understand but the content will be something I guarantee will stick with you for a while.
