# 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:** 6
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/101 "2011-08-14T21:53:51Z")
Zombie thread, I know, but there’s a passage in one of the Flashman books that never fails to set me bawling. Flashman has returned from an outing to find that his host’s entire family, women and children, has been chopped to pieces by the mutinous sepoys; later he has to hide in a ditch while an entire regiment of mutineers marches past, blowing horns, ringing bells and shouting in triumph. For all he knows at this point, he might be the only English person left alive in the whole length and breadth of India. ---
**Author:** ![mac\_bolan00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b3f665/32.png) [@mac\_bolan00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mac_bolan00)\ **Post date:** [August 14, 2011, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/102 "2011-08-14T23:33:38Z")
the sydney carton execution in “tale of two cities,” death of theoden in “the return of the king,” death of paul dupre’s wife in “the covenant,” end line in “flowers for algernon.” ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/103 "2011-08-15T02:07:19Z")
_My Antonia_ does it to me every time. ---
**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/104 "2011-08-15T03:30:17Z")
Never cried at a book. (Movies on the other hand I seem particularly vulnerable too. It’s kind of embarrassing to be honest.) Came close twice: Enders Game–the big “it wasn’t a game after all” reveal. Storm of Swords–Daenarys riding back and forth in front of the Unsullied declaring their freedom–then unleashing them. ---
**Author:** ![shellofmyformerself](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5f8ce5/32.png) [@shellofmyformerself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shellofmyformerself)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/105 "2011-08-15T03:45:30Z")
When I was in fifth grade we had to read _There Are Two Kinds of Terrible_. I missed a day of school because I was so upset! (My mom was also sick at the time, which explains part of it.) ---
**Author:** ![YaraMateo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/58f4c7/32.png) [@YaraMateo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaraMateo)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/106 "2011-08-15T03:55:26Z")
I cried all through out Cry To Heaven. _ **SPOILERS** _ Sorry, I don’t know how to do the spoiler tags. This is really disturbing. You’ve been warned! :eek: It’s basically about a guy who’s castrated and raped, because his father ordered it. :eek: It’s told in really graphic details. It’s so sad as he has fleeting erections, because he eventually he won’t have any ever again. I don’t know what’s worse the gross brutual stuff (castrations and a lot of murders) or the emotion stuff. It’s been FOREVER since I’ve read it, but I think it was told in first person. Another thing is the way his capture and castration is told, it really makes the reader think it’s not going to happen. That he’s going escape, but he doesn’t. There are other books that made me cry, but not as much as this one. ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/107 "2011-08-15T06:01:55Z")
Count me in as a victim of _Where the Red Fern Grows_ and _Harry Potter_ (though I’m surprised that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of mention of Half Blood Prince…I bawled through the entirety of the final two chapters of that one). I also cried at the children’s book _The Faithful Elephants_, a true story about a zoo in WWII Japan that ends up having to poison all of its animals for the safety of the public (because bombing might result in their escape). The elephants know they’re being poisoned, and refuse to eat. The zookeepers end up having no other option but to watch the elephants slowly starve to death. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![JuliaSqueezer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/82dd89/32.png) [@JuliaSqueezer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JuliaSqueezer)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/108 "2011-08-15T14:49:42Z")
I became a Big Blubbering Mess reading the last pages of _The Art of Racing in the Rain_. Never been so happy I was reading alone. ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/109 "2011-08-15T15:28:01Z")
The cart horse scene in _Crime and Punishment_. It’s been years and I still wish I could unread it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![DigitalC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ebca7d/32.png) [@DigitalC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DigitalC)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/110 "2011-08-15T15:50:47Z")
The motherfucking Red Wedding. Damn you Martin. ---
**Author:** ![expectopatronum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/expectopatronum/32/173_2.png) [@expectopatronum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/expectopatronum)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/111 "2011-08-15T16:52:45Z")
> [@Maiira](#): > > and _Harry Potter_ (though I’m surprised that there doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of mention of Half Blood Prince…I bawled through the entirety of the final two chapters of that one). you’re not alone. i guess i’ll spoil this just in case: the cave scene, when harry is force feeding dumbledore the potion. dumbledore’s death and funeral. harry’s realization at the funeral that he couldn’t take shelter in the arms of a parent or parental figure (dumbledore, sirius) and that the last and greatest of his protectors was gone for good. yeah. i bawled. also many points in deathly hallows: the resurrection stone scene mentioned on page 1, except my breakdown comes when harry turns to his mother and says “stay close to me”. i’m already on edge from his walk through the woods to his death, when he reflects on how much time people had to waste, years of time, and he was clinging to every second, every beat of his heart…yeah. this one is kind of embarassing, but i always cry when i read a walk to remember. the titular walk is jamie’s walk down the aisle when she marries landon, and her body is so weak from leukemia that she barely makes it. i don’t usually get all blubbery with romances, i’m more into lord of the rings-type defiant last stands, but that one did it. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/112 "2011-08-15T17:18:43Z")
I tend to cry more at movies than books, but here are a few that do it: Various things in _Harry Potter_: Dumbledore’s eulogy for Cedric Diggory When Hedwig dies (I was a mess for that one) When his parents join him at the Forbidden Forest: “You’ll stay with me?” “Till the end.” Snape’s patronus: “Always.” (that scene just turned me into a puddle during the movie, as did the one where Snape was holding Lily’s body) Also add me to the list of _Charlotte’s Web_ blubberers. Every time I read that book I cry at the end and for the next couple of months I’m much more charitable toward spiders. Kind of an obscure one, but my first contact with the “Warriors” series (the YA series about cats) was one of the manga, called “The Last Warrior.” One of the characters in that one was the ghost of the main character’s former mate, a gray female named “Silverstream.” For whatever reason, when I read the description of Silverstream and how she went to join “StarClan” (the series’ name for where you go when you die) I just went to pieces. I think it was giving me flashbacks to when I lost my own little gray kitty a few years back. I’ve read the manga again recently and not had the same reaction–I think it was just the state of mind I was in the day I first read it (and my complete lack of knowledge of anything else about the series). ---
**Author:** ![Maiira](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Maiira](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maiira)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/113 "2011-08-15T18:37:44Z")
In _Order of the Phoenix_, I cried more when Harry saw Neville’s parents in St. Mungos than when Sirius died. He was an interesting character and all, but I didn’t really form that big an emotional attachment to him. Neville, on the other hand, I love to bits and pieces. ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/114 "2011-08-17T15:08:25Z")
[quote=“LawMonkey, post:50, topic:474262”] Oh sure. Watership Down: I’ve read it many times, and every time I get all choked up when Hazel dies at the end. Same for when the Captain of the Sandleford warren (whose name eludes me, grr) tells about the destruction of the warren. I’m getting chills from thinking about both scenes. It’s possible that there may be a few more tearjerkers in there, but those are the big two. [QUOTE] Interesting. I always thought Hazel’s death was really nicely handled, with the line that goes something like, “_He left his body in a ditch, as he didn’t seem to need it any longer_” as he goes to up to Bunny Valhala. The bit that got me in Watership Down was in Bigwig’s last stand against General Woundwort when he tells him that his Chief Rabbit has ordered him to defend the run and so that 's what he has to do and the rabbit behind the General goes, “His Chief Rabbit?” as the penny drops and he infers there is a bigger harder rabbit they have still to meet. :eek: {with rabbit ears}. By the way, the Captain’s name was Holly. My personal blub moment must be the last paragraph in Solzhenitsyn’s \*\*One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich \*\*that goes: "\*There were three thousand six hundred and fifty-three days like that in his stretch. From the first clang of the rail to the last clang on the rail. The three extra days were for leap years\*." The final line just imparts the enormity of the time served and the tragedy of it all in a way that overwhelmed me the first time I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/115 "2011-08-17T17:35:11Z")
The ending to Gilbert Grape, when the family is sitting on the front lawn with all their possessions around them, watching their house, with their mother’s dead body, burning up in the fire they started. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/116 "2011-08-19T19:20:01Z")
The first book to ever make me cry was the last few pages of The Grapes of Wrath. I was surprised at myself but I couldn’t help it. Just recently finished The Road by Cormac McCarthy. That ending made me cry, too. ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2011, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/117 "2011-08-19T20:27:59Z")
Like **Sampiro** , I’m a sucker for Capote’s “A Christmas Memory,” with an odd twist I often read this to my literature class, in the final class of the fall term, just before Christmas. I tell them before I start that I have a bet with myself that I’ll tell them about later. If my voice begins to break, or a tear starts to form, then I’ve lost my bet: I’ve tried to read this story out loud without crying for years now, and I never make it all the way through. ---
**Author:** ![Lissla\_Lissar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8491ac/32.png) [@Lissla\_Lissar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissla_Lissar)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/118 "2011-08-20T00:26:10Z")
One can read books without crying? I cry a lot when I re-read the _Anne_ books, especially when anyone dies, notably Matthew, Ruby Gillis (whose death scene is lovely) and Anne’s first baby, Joyce I literally couldn’t see for a few minutes at the very end of _Gilead_, when John Ames finishes his letter to his son, saying, [SPOILER]"I pray that you grow up a brave man in a brave country. I will pray you find a way to be useful. I’ll pray, and then I’ll sleep."[/SPOILER] And now I’m crying, having looked it up. Dammit. ---
**Author:** ![Xavier\_Breath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/76d3ee/32.png) [@Xavier\_Breath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xavier_Breath)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/119 "2011-08-20T18:09:17Z")
Only twice: In Barbara Kingsolver’s _The Poisonwood Bible_ when Ruth Mae hid the quinine pills behind her bed, and later when the other sister recounts witnessing the effects of the snakebite, and In Lief Enger’s _Peace Like a River_, the last 2 chapters. ---
**Author:** ![BrotherCadfael](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@BrotherCadfael](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrotherCadfael)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262/120 "2011-08-20T18:16:11Z")
> [@stargazer](#): > > Some of the _Anne of Green Gables_ books do it to me I’ve been rereading the whole Anne series, from _Green Gables_ to _Rilla of Ingleside_ (8 books in all) because they now are all available as free e-books. And, yes, I tear up at many scenes in the series. I’m a sentimental slob. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ever-cry-at-a-passage-in-a-novel-or-short-story/474262.md?page=7)