Victorians! discussion
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QQ: What was the last book that made you cry?
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It was 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens! This book did not also make me cry but also laugh, smile and be more in love with literature. I do not usually cry but Dickens manages to make me feel what I cannot feel with my ordinary life.
I have to say that modern fiction generally has more power to make me cry than most Victorian lit; I think, as Deb says, it's to do with feeling a very close connection with a character and - although so very many of them are wonderful - Victorian characters tend to be somewhat predictable (hopefully that will provoke some outraged responses!). Having said that, considering Victorian books which I read in the not-too-distant past, I think my eyes might have watered slightly at a couple of tenderly-written moments in Armadale and also at the unexpected departure of a character in Dombey and Son. Gosh, this question's a tricky one to answer without mentioning spoilers!
Pip wrote: "I have to say that modern fiction generally has more power to make me cry than most Victorian lit; I think, as Deb says, it's to do with feeling a very close connection with a character and - altho..."I usually feel very connected to the Victorian characters. I know I've read quite a bit this last year that I didn't really enjoy, and just couldn't get into.
Deborah wrote: "I usually feel very connected to the Victorian characters. I know I've read quite a bit this last year that I didn't really enjoy, and just couldn't get into. "Yes, I do feel connected with them... That's not it exactly. I think maybe I mean that very often it's clear who we're supposed to sympathise with and who we're supposed to be booing and hissing. The obvious example is Little Nell (cue the famous Oscar Wilde quote!) and many of Dickens' "good" characters in particular. Maybe it is specifically a Dickens thing with me; I love his writing and his characters, and he does make me feel for them, but his sob stories are too manipulated for me. Dombey and Son was a rare exception, which is why I mentioned it.
All of the above was me thinking aloud - I'll probably go back on everything I've just said later ;-)
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For a full-blown, cry-til-your-face-swells cry, it was John Green's The Fault in Our Stars. The man is just evil.
The Fault in our Stars made me cry my eyes out too. I don't think a book has ever made me cry like that before. Many has brought a tear to my eye, but, man, TFIOS... That one pulled my teeth out, as we say in Danish
The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy.
Deborah wrote: "Pip wrote: "I have to say that modern fiction generally has more power to make me cry than most Victorian lit; I think, as Deb says, it's to do with feeling a very close connection with a character..."Which ones?
I cry easily. So all of the books that have been mentioned, have made me cry. For a more recent one though, it was a memoir "When breath becomes air".
This is going to sound weird, but the last book that made me actually cry was "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty. The tension kept building up more and more, and I had grown so fond of and concerned for the characters, that when everything broke loose at the end...tears.
Carolina wrote: "Which ones?"Crumbs, it's such a long time since I've read something non Victorian...! The few that spring immediately to mind are probably fairly obvious tear-jerkers: The Kite Runner, One Day, Atonement... I read them all a long time ago but the sense of tragedy was strong in all of them.
Carolina wrote: "The Mayor of Casterbridge, by Thomas Hardy."This is the one Hardy I actually fancy reading ;-)
Kari wrote: "This is going to sound weird, but the last book that made me actually cry was "The Exorcist" by William Peter Blatty. The tension kept building up more and more, and I had grown so fond of and conc..."I agree about the tension. I read it thru in one night
Had to think about this. I don't cry easily although reading does make me feel the whole spectrum of emotions. I've often burst out laughing or exclaimed in shock (for instance The moment in The Piano) while reading in the train, winning me odd looks from fellow travellers :0)The character Pip refers to in Dombey was a sad event (I think the readers of the time didn't react well to this either). Oh there is a chapter in North and South that is super charged in emotion (heart-wrenching and beautiful - sigh - looking forward to re-experiencing it). Actually The Fault in Our Stars pretty much succeeded in breaking me (throat constricting and eyes watering) and was life affirming at the same time, which now reminds me of one of my favourite feel-good ones The Blue Castle
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Well, I just read
by John Steinbeck and I was sobbing uncontrollably at the end. Now I am heartbroken and hate the world. :(
Leni wrote: "Well, I just read by John Steinbeck and I was sobbing uncontrollably at the end. Now I am heartbroken and hate the world. :("Oh Leni. Time to pick up a new book
I'm searching desperately for something cheerful. Jane Austen's early work?
Leni wrote: "I'm searching desperately for something cheerful. Jane Austen's early work?"Austen is quite cheerful. Pickwick Papers is comical.
Leni wrote: "I'm searching desperately for something cheerful. Jane Austen's early work?"Wodehouse. Always Wodehouse if you need cheerfulness. Nothing better.
Everyman wrote: "Leni wrote: "I'm searching desperately for something cheerful. Jane Austen's early work?"Wodehouse. Always Wodehouse if you need cheerfulness. Nothing better."
Oh yes! I shall download some Wodehouse for future emergencies!
The end of A Tale of Two Cities... Pretty epic, powerful stuff.
I cry at books more than TV or cinema. I am new to this group and have joined as I have for the past few years been reading mostly modern novels and want to get back to my first love. However, the book that I read recently was 'a little life' I have never cried at a book so much before in my life. I sat in the end of my bed and howled as if one of my own family members had died, I still feel lost without the characters and that was a month ago.
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Cgardneruk1 wrote: "...However, the book that I read recently was 'a little life' I have never cried at a book so much before in my life. ..."That's a tough, tough book. I can deeply understand crying over it.
My review, which probably verges on spoilers, is here:
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
(It is clean, I think, if you don't open and read all the reviews I cite. I didn't reread them tonight.)
Poetry makes me cry more often than prose. The early poems of Yeats move me deeply as does Matthew Arnold’s Dover Beach. Though I am not a religious person, some of the Psalms affect me powerfully.
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I agree! Villette also made me cry- I’m an introvert by nature, but too often it’s assumed introverts are anti social when they aren’t,or at least I’m not.Lucy’s emotional journey is a wonderful one to follow.
The last book that made me cry, and maybe the first one? is the one I just finished A Woman by Sibilla AleramoPlease all of you, dear Victorians readers should read this book!
I don’t remember if I literally cried from a book ever, but one that might have or made me come close is the Red Pony by Steinbeck. I’m more attached to and get emotional over animals than humans.
Oh man....it was Little Dorrit by Dickens. By the end of the book I was trying hard not to be sentimental....and failed miserably. *Sniff*
The endings to George MacDonald's Robert Falconer and Donal Grant both made me weep (DG was the most recent.) The rest of the time I just weep that so few people read him! :)The last chapter of Jane Eyre can make the tears flow as well, and few more of MacDonald's: Malcolm, and two of his children's books, At the Back of the North Wind and A Rough Shaking.
I never thought this would happen but Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was absolutely emotional for me. I couldn't stop the tears towards the end.The entire portrayal of a battle between humanity and divinity was written charismatically and the way Mary Shelley wrote emotions was exceptional!
Renee wrote: "Definitely adding The Blue Castle to my TBR."Oh do. I love this book. I enjoyed all LM Montgomery when I was young and have dipped into them every so often since. I was fortunate enough to travel to Prince Edward Island (one of my dream destinations) in the 1990s. Yes, there were petrol stations and lots of things that were just not my LM Montgomery - but there were plenty that took me back to the books. .
I think the last book that made me cry was Little Women by Louisa May Alcott. The whole story is so heart-warming. I'm currently reading it :)
Elizabeth Gaskell stated that ‘Silvia’s Lovers’ was the saddest story she had ever written. The novel is an emotional roller coaster and left me feeling drained at the end.
Hmmm- it's been a while. Louise Penny's "The Long Way Home" and Elizabeth Gaskell's short story "Lois the Witch."
anna wrote: "Charlotte Bronte's Villette took me on an emotional ride. I felt connection with Lucy Snowe, i love her. I was rooting for her happiness throughout the book. The part when she loses the letter in t..."Me too. I love Jane Eyre, but I had a much more emotional reaction to Villette.
I've just finished An Unchoreographed Life , and thought of this topic. It is very poignant.
The book that made me cry the most was
.Set in the last days of Victoria's reign, and beyond, it is based on a true story, which makes even more heart breaking. I have never cried so much as I did when I finished this. Not even when Dobby and Snape died, and those were dark days!
Victorians!
Books mentioned in this topic
Jessica (other topics)Atonement (other topics)
Dombey and Son (other topics)
The Kite Runner (other topics)
The Blue Castle (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
John Steinbeck (other topics)Sibilla Aleramo (other topics)
I cry easily, and thought this would be an easy question. For the life of me, I can't remember crying over a book in a long time. Usually I cry because of a close connection with a character. It certainly is making me think about my most recent reading.