# The most depressing novel you ever read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 6, 2016, 6:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209 "2016-09-06T18:27:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 13
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/241 "2016-11-08T05:58:02Z")
> [@Jennshark](#): > > _The Memory Palace_, by Mira Bartok. I read it in one sitting; I don’t know if I was feeling especially tender-hearted, but her memoir of life with a mentally ill mother who eventually ends up homeless damn near killed me. > > And, of course, that great childhood Book of Dog Death, _Where the Red Fern Grows_. Gak! I just watched the “Where The Red Fern Grows” movie (the original edition) a few months ago. Yes, I cried at the end. Haven’t read “The Memory Palace” but I did read Immaculee Ilibagiza’s “Left To Tell” in one sitting. This is a woman who escaped the Rwandan holocaust by hiding in a bathroom for 3 months with 8 other women. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Jennshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Jennshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jennshark)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/242 "2016-11-08T15:58:34Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > I just watched the “Where The Red Fern Grows” movie (the original edition) a few months ago. Yes, I cried at the end. > > Haven’t read “The Memory Palace” but I did read Immaculee Ilibagiza’s “Left To Tell” in one sitting. This is a woman who escaped the Rwandan holocaust by hiding in a bathroom for 3 months with 8 other women. :eek: _Memory Palace_ is beautifully written and I highly recommend it. But I’ll never read it again. Weird story: as a kid, I hated the _Red Fern_ book (and film) because the dog deaths ripped my soul. Guess what I won as the spelling bee champ of my elementary school? That’s right: a copy of the book autographed by Wilson Rawls! ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/243 "2016-11-09T05:26:46Z")
Sinclair Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here” was scary enough when I read it a few months ago. It appears to indeed be happening here. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![si\_blakely](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@si\_blakely](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/si_blakely)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/244 "2016-11-09T09:41:30Z")
_The Belly of the Bow_ by K J Parker (a pseudonym of Tom Holt). The protagonist kills his nephew to make into a bow for his brother, as revenge for an earlier betrayal. I also quit on ASOIAF, after I picked up the 4th book while looking for the 3rd, and realised that the only character I still liked at that stage was dead (the Red Wedding). I noped. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 11:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/245 "2016-11-09T11:23:58Z")
> [@pmwgreen](#): > > James K Morrow has a bunch of depressing books, but “This Is How the World Ends” is pretty much the most depressing thing I’ve ever read. It’s pretty much summed up in the title. Good suggestion: “This Is The Way The World Ends” was pretty glum. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/246 "2016-11-09T13:22:46Z")
For me, definitely Orwell’s _1984_ and _Animal Farm_. One that really upset me was _Bridge to Terabithia_ by Katherine Paterson. I was in grade 5 when it was released and we had a teacher who assigned it to read without any warning. Do plays count? Miller’s \*Death of a Salesman \* is depressing and then some… ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2016, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/247 "2016-11-09T13:24:20Z")
> [@si\_blakely](#): > > _The Belly of the Bow_ by K J Parker (a pseudonym of Tom Holt). > > The protagonist kills his nephew to make into a bow for his brother, as revenge for an earlier betrayal. > > I also quit on ASOIAF, after I picked up the 4th book while looking for the 3rd, and realised that the only character I still liked at that stage was dead (the Red Wedding). I noped. Why spoiler tag one spoiler but not the other? ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/248 "2016-11-14T05:34:31Z")
> [@Totenfeier](#): > > _A Canticle for Leibowitz_, Walter M. Miller, Jr. > > Goddam, I love this book. It is the biggest middle finger to the entire human race that I can think of, but it is also beautiful, haunting, lyrical, maddening, saddening, and hysterically funny all at the same time. I hated that book when I read it first in the late 60’s early 70’s. Decided to read it again in the 80’s when everyone was on about it, hated it again. Bit the bullet and read it again 20 years later because for sure I hadn’t realized how awesome it was. Nope still hate it. BLEH. ---
**Author:** ![Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/channing_idaho_banks/32/250_2.png) [@Channing\_Idaho\_Banks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Channing_Idaho_Banks)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 6:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/249 "2016-11-14T06:57:38Z")
Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2016, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/250 "2016-11-14T08:12:44Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > Sinclair Lewis’ “It Can’t Happen Here” was scary enough when I read it a few months ago. > > It appears to indeed be happening here. ☹ I have a First Edition of that book. I’ll have to re-read it, in light of current events. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209.md?page=12)