# Ever cry at a passage in a novel or short story? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 24, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262 "2008-11-24T16:26:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Delly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/85f322/32.png) [@Delly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Delly)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/81 "2008-11-29T02:11:55Z")
> [@Queen of Town](#): > > I’m definitely a weeper. I bawled during Order of the Phoenix and the Deathly Hallows, I sobbed during The Host, I cry EVERY single time I read The Outsiders, and I’m know there’s more that I’ve blocked out. I actually like it when books make me feel something that powerfully, same as I like books that make me laugh out loud. Slight hijack, but do you mean the stephanie meyer book? is that good? Back to the topic at hand, last book I cried over was The Lovely Bones - scenes already been mentioned - when the father smashes his bottle/boats collection. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/82 "2008-11-29T03:15:09Z")
> [@Mrs.Cake](#): > > Great - now I’m getting misty-eyed just reading this thread. > > All the time. The one I used to go back to as a teen when I needed an outlet was _Little Women_ - Beth’s death scene, of course. More recently, various passages in various _Discworld_ books can reliably tear me up. The Grey Havens in _ROTK_ gets me every time as well. Smokey’s fate at the end of _Little, Big_ is a huge tearjerker for me. Oh, yeah. Remind me about Smokey. Thaaanks. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/83 "2008-11-29T04:29:38Z")
Honestly? The first book that came to mind: **Dog Heaven** by Cynthia Rylant. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/84 "2008-11-29T04:41:18Z")
The sequence with Juliek’s last concert in **Night**. Absolutely heartwrenching, the way he holds on to humanity in such a hellish environment. Gets me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Mississippienne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d2c977/32.png) [@Mississippienne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mississippienne)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/85 "2008-11-29T05:50:35Z")
All of Oscar Wilde’s short stories, but especially _The Happy Prince_. _The Last Unicorn_, when Amalthea transforms back into a unicorn and leaves, but is forever changed. ---
**Author:** ![Yookeroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yookeroo/32/323_2.png) [@Yookeroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yookeroo)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2008, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/86 "2008-11-29T06:32:25Z")
_Owen Meaney_. Every time. Many others, but nothing gets be bawling like OM. ---
**Author:** ![Arglefraster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3bc359/32.png) [@Arglefraster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arglefraster)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/87 "2008-12-02T20:03:04Z")
> [@Bosstone](#): > > The first book that ever made me break down crying was _Where The Red Fern Grows_ when I was 10 or so. This was my first, too, at about the same age. The Deathly Hallows - Snape’s patronus broke my heart. A Game of Thrones When Bran and Rickon and the maester get the raven about Ned’s death. When Daenarys realizes the Drogo she knew is gone forever, so she smothers him to death out of mercy (his mind is gone but his body is technically alive). ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2008, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/88 "2008-12-02T20:17:12Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Oh heck yeah. > > The end of ‘When the Legends Die’, ‘Flowers for Algernon’ and the climax of ‘The Girl who Loved Tom Gordon’ all make me break down. I came in to mention “Algernon” as well. ---
**Author:** ![vison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/e47774/32.png) [@vison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vison)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2008, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/89 "2008-12-04T02:49:04Z")
> [@Cartooniverse](#): > > There are a few passages in this, my favorite novel, that move me to tears. One in particular involves a description of the young artist using nothing but cigarette ashes to create shadow and depth in a drawing. > > Being held in the grasp of a gift beyond one’s ability to fully control it is quite compelling. That story just wrecks me. > > What else? Cried like a baby at the end of “The Notebook”. 🙂 > > E.T.A. Time Traveller’s Wife? Yeah. Sniffly in the end. For sure. > > Cartooniverse Asher Lev, yes. Wonderful story, wonderful, wonderful writing. The Time Traveller’s Wife didn’t do it for me. Neat book, but not tearjerking material for me. ---
**Author:** ![Rocketeer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rocketeer/32/4437_2.png) [@Rocketeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rocketeer)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/90 "2008-12-05T16:05:25Z")
> [@Tess\_of\_the\_Derbyville](#): > > I’m not a weepy person and think many love stories are just plain sappy, but the last paragraph of _The Dogs of Babel_ destroyed me. Not just tears and sniffles but racking sobs for several minutes. Re-reading it still kills me, “I remember my wife in white.” That was the gol-darned strangest book. I loved how he finally managed to communicate with the dog, and I remember tearing up at the end,too. The scene with the group that performed surgeries on dogs to make them “intelligible” was creepy as heck. ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/91 "2008-12-05T17:35:40Z")
The ending of “The End of FIRPO in the World,” a short story by George Saunders, absolutely wrecks me. I re-read it recently, having only remembered that it was sad. By the end I was sobbing. Holy cow. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/92 "2008-12-05T19:09:30Z")
> [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > I bawl, complete with big ugly noises, towards the end of Charlotte’s Web. > > No one was with her when she died. Same here DB. I was… maybe in the 3rd grade when I read that. My Mom laughed at me when she found out what was making me cry. We haven’t got along much since then. ---
**Author:** ![cedman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/93 "2008-12-05T19:20:30Z")
Another two places from a short story. _I Am Nothing_ by Eric Frank Russell (I think.) The “letter” that the little girl wrote and the ending… “Victory over self is always full.” ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/94 "2008-12-05T19:30:24Z")
Owen Meany: Damn you John Irving…I was reading it on a plane! ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/95 "2008-12-05T19:36:08Z")
“O happy dagger! This is thy sheath; there rust, and let me die.” Wm Shakespeare ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/96 "2008-12-05T19:38:42Z")
The end of Umberto Eco’s The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana was a tear-jerker too, especially in the light of it of it being his final novel. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/97 "2008-12-05T19:56:50Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > The sequence with Juliek’s last concert in **Night**. Absolutely heartwrenching, the way he holds on to humanity in such a hellish environment. Gets me every time. Also in **Night** , the scene where a child is hanged by the Nazis and those watching see the death of God. > [@](#): > > “The SS hanged two Jewish men and a youth in front of the whole camp. The men died quickly, but the death throes of the youth lasted for half an hour. ‘Where is God? Where is he?’ someone asked behind me. As the youth still hung in torment in the noose after a long time, I heard the man call again, ‘Where is God now?’ And I heard a voice in myself answer, ‘Where is he? He is here. He is hanging there on the gallows. . . I weep every time. ---
**Author:** ![rivulus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@rivulus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rivulus)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2008, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/98 "2008-12-05T21:14:49Z")
_Sarah’s Key._ What’s worse than being Jewish in Paris on July 16th, 1942? Worse than being rounded up, held for days without food and water, and then taken to a concentration camp? Worse than having your mother forceably dragged from you and sent to Auschwitz? Locking your little brother in the secret closet when the police came, in an attempt to hide him, and keep him safe… only to realize that you would never get back home to unlock the closet and let him out. After finishing that book, I was so horrified that I had to retreat to a hot shower where I could fall to my knees and bawl so that my family wouldn’t hear me falling apart over a story in a book. I nearly threw up, I was crying so hard. Damn. My mother in law needs to stop sending me these sorts of books. _The Nanny Diaries_ was bad enough. Comedy, my ass. I cried for that little boy, too. ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/99 "2008-12-06T02:22:18Z")
“Miss Jean Louise, stand up, your fathers passing” ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2008, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/100 "2008-12-06T04:06:20Z")
Another vote here for _Little Women_ – when Beth dies, of course, and Jo’s poem about the four chests in the attic, and the very end, when she and the professor finally get together. (I read that passage at my sister’s wedding, and I could barely get through it.) \*To Dance with the White Dog \* – Yikes. I’m a weepy reader, too. My son always zeroed in on it when I was reading to him. “Mom – you sound like you’re going to cry!” One that really caught me by surprise was when Akela dies in _The Jungle Book._ **Alice the Goon** , I checked _I Love You Forever_ out of the library exactly once, about 10 years ago. Never again. I couldn’t take it. A couple of months ago, our minister read the book as the “children’s moment” in the service. From my vantage point in the choir, I look out at the congregation, and I saw, as I expected, lots of Kleenex. I was touched by the number of men I saw furtively wiping their eyes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262.md?page=6)