What's the saddest novel about love that you have read while being heartbroken? Any recommendations.

[Denise]

I think when I'm heartbroken I lean more towards the other kind of fantasy novel that involves wizards and elves and sword swingers. I stay away from real pain stories during those times.

[Carol]

Hmmmm! I must think on that one for a while.

[Suzanne]

I cannot read...

[Ken]

It's... it's... oh, God... OK, NE, make like Mozart and compose yourself!... ... it's Dan Willingham's potboiler, Why Don't Students Like School?

[Suzanne]

You are adorable♥

[Yulia]

I remember reading Middlemarch the summer I was (or believed I was) heartbroken, but it was hardly a love story. But the book that most recently made me feel heart-broken (because I fell in love with a character in the novel) was Surrendered by Chang-rae lee.

[Marian]

Not a novel exactly, but a story written as a poem is Henry W. Longfellows "Evangeline" based on a true incident.

[Al]

I think escaping into someone else's tragic love story is a good cure - plus you have an excuse for all the crying and red eyes :)

[Suzanne]

I understand where you're at... I was there once, myself.

I thought there would never be a heart as broken as mine...
... and then, last Tuesday, I lost my beautiful, strong, zany, impetuous Mother, while I held her in my arms.

And now I know what it REALLY means to have a broken heart.

[Kat]

Gone with the Wind or I Capture the Castle. But really music is better than reading. Like Elton John says, Turn on those sad songs...

[Kat]

Suzanne, I tried to send you a message but apparently you don't accept them. But my heart is aching for you.

[Marian]

#13 Why do you think "I Capture the Castle" is heartbreaking. It is funny. There are a few slightly chipped hearts but everything comes out all right in the end.

[Melissa]

As I was saying to a friend last night, I tend to turn to music or poetry when feeling low emotionally. Still, novels can sometimes bring buried feelings to the surface quite powerfully.

I found the final scenes of Edith Wharton's The Age of Innocence quite heartbreaking, but also somehow oddly comforting in that heartbreak. I could definitely fathom the reasons Archer chooses not to go upstairs and see Olenska one more time. On other grounds entirely, I found the story of Fos and Opal in Marianne Wiggins' Evidence of Things Unseen deeply moving -- very sad and yet also quite beautiful in its own way.

[Elizabeth]

Marina wrote: "Suzanne wrote: "I cannot read..."

Like it happens to Suzanne, I cannot read and I have actually been blocked for almost two years now, blocked from reading. Now that it's all over and I'm heartbr..."

This is such a moving response. I have a dear one going through this right now and her comments fit right with yours.

I also cannot read in the throes of breakup or grief re death. Thank you.

[Suzanne]

Kat wrote: "Suzanne, I tried to send you a message but apparently you don't accept them. But my heart is aching for you."

I do accept messages, so I'll check on my profile... maybe something happened

[Janet]

Philip wrote: "On other grounds entirely, I found the story of Fos and Opal in Marianne Wiggins' Evidence of Things Unseen deeply moving -- very sad and yet also quite beautiful in its own way."

I think that book is one of my favorites from CR discussions in my three years of reading along with the group.

[Melissa]

I'm so glad, Janet. I remember your reaction from previous comments you've made about Evidence.

I've had a bit of history with the book, I guess. It's the only one I've nominated that actually got selected, if I remember correctly. I first read it when a friend sent it to me as a surprise gift -- a gift that made me appreciate her even more, I must say! And realize that she knew me even better than I already thought she did.

Then by the time we discussed it here on CR a close family member had developed leukemia, which definitely made me question my choice to lead that particular discussion. Way too personal. Still, I found the process of interacting with CR friends and commenters affirming in many ways.

[Janet]

Phillip, I can see how the personal connection may have made the book all the more poignant.

Despite some of my other posts, you might think I don't care for eloquent writing, but I do. I think one of the reasons I enjoyed Evidence of Things Unseen so much is that the beautifully written prose never seemed to get in the way of a compelling plot; they complemented each other.

I probably wouldn't have read that book if CR hadn't chosen to read it together. It is one of the many reasons I'm glad to be a part of CR. (Even though I should be spending more of the time I'm here marketing my own book instead. I am definitely not a good business woman!)

[Carol]

Marina each person's unhappiness is theirs only. It is not a question of recalling unhappy experiences, it is sometimes just to personal for a public discussion board. Now if you want to discuss how certain books evoke a feeling of sadness, I am sure we will as we have in previous posts accommodate you.

:)

[Ken]

Channeling Tolstoy, Kitty?

Anyway, I'm waiting for the "What's the happiest novel about hate you have read while being slap-happy?" thread, though I suspect it won't get many hits (unless folks print it and tack it to the dartboard).

[Carol]

Yea, I did well didn't I? Just call me Leo the Kitty.

[Ken]

You're a classic in my book!

[Carol]

I am between a classic and an antiquarian in age. LOL

Thank you for the vote.

[Scout]

Marina, can you read when you're heartbroken?

Personally, no matter what's going on in my life, I read. If there's a problem, I may read for information so that I can get a handle on things. I also read to escape for a while before having to come back to reality. I don't know how many others do this, but I make sure that, wherever I am, there's something to read. I keep a book on my pillow, a book in my car, a book in my bathroom -- and I always take books when I travel. Otherwise, I'd find myself reading cereal boxes and shampoo ingredients:)

I'd say that if you're heartbroken, you should keep a book handy.

[Charles]

I'm always heartbroken. I try not to read novels about love. The saddest book along these lines I know is Hemingway's The Sun Also Rises. It appears to be about something else, and then at the end Brett says "Oh Jake, we could have had such a damned good time together" and Jake replies "Yes. Isn't it pretty to think so?" Devastating.

[Suzanne]

Wow