# 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:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [September 6, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/41 "2016-09-06T22:42:09Z")
I’ll go with “An American Tragedy” by Theodore Dreiser. The depressing part for me was that at each step, the protagonist kept making things worse and worse and worse not because he’s an evil man, but because he’s weak. I found that really sad, much more than grimdark books like “The Road”. ---
**Author:** ![PapSett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecc23a/32.png) [@PapSett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PapSett)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/42 "2016-09-06T22:45:44Z")
Beem. It was written in Russia about a Gordon Setter (which happens to be my breed of dog), supposedly a true story. The dog’s owner is hospitalized and Beem escapes his caregiver and goes looking for his owner. The book covers everything that he goes thru, and he is finally on the right track to go home when he is picked up by the dog catcher. His owner has also just been released and come home and he goes searching for Beem. When he finds him at the pound, Beem is dead. I was in no way expecting that ending; I was reading the book on lunch at work and broke down into a blubbering heap. Will never read it again. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/43 "2016-09-06T23:05:28Z")
I’ve read several of the novels mentioned above, but none of them is as depressing as _We Were the Mulvaneys_. An excellent novel, but terribly depressing. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/44 "2016-09-06T23:13:16Z")
The Scarlet Letter. Damn the sadist english teacher that required it in highschool. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/45 "2016-09-06T23:13:46Z")
I used to think that Steinbeck was the most depressing author ever. Then I discovered Ray Bradbury. The worst that ever happens in a Steinbeck book is that everyone dies. I don’t think I ever managed to make it more than two chapters into _The Martian Chronicles_. Also worthy of mention is Tolkien’s _The Children of Hurin_. It’s probably the second-most-depressing book I’ve ever read, but the quality of the writing is so amazingly good that you can’t stop yourself from reading it. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/46 "2016-09-06T23:19:51Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > Connie Willis **Doomsday Book.** If you think **Doomsday Book** is dark, don’t read **Blackout** and **All Clear**. T **o Say Nothing of the Dog** , on the other hand, is a delight. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/5f8ce5/32.png) [@The\_Peyote\_Coyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Peyote_Coyote)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/47 "2016-09-06T23:28:13Z")
I would second _Atlas Shrugged_. Some of the novels mentioned in this thread – _The Grapes of Wrath, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, and Great Expectations_, for example – are depressing, but they are great literature. Ayn Rand is a worse writer than Lester Dent and Edgar Rice Burroughs. It’s even more depressing to think that some people are so delusional as to think the book serves as a model for society. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/48 "2016-09-06T23:29:40Z")
I know it is just a young adult series but **The Hunger Games** made me cry a few different times. Just when you think you are about done, **Mockingjay** casually dumps some more devastation right on you without any warning. I wanted to start my own militia group by the time I finished. The only other book that bitch-slapped me that hard was **A Separate Piece**. It moves a lot slower but I could really identify with the characters. I was traumatized for a while after I finished it. ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2016, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/49 "2016-09-06T23:57:14Z")
> [@moojja](#): > > That book actually has an upbeat ending, if you’re a communist. So does the ending of the film _Grapes of Wrath._ ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/50 "2016-09-07T00:04:01Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > “A Knight of Ghosts and Shadows” by Poul Anderson, pretty much the climax of the Dominic Flandry saga. Now, this is a brilliant book! The concepts and development are at the very peak of Anderson’s creativity. > > But, oh, hades, what a depressing book! He really whales on his protagonist, hurting him in ways I wouldn’t hurt my worst enemy. Damn, I don’t remember that. I’ll search for it. I recall his capturing Aycharaych, welding their space suits together, although I cannot recall which book that was. ---
**Author:** ![kayT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayt/32/3633_2.png) [@kayT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayT)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/51 "2016-09-07T00:11:06Z")
_The Secret History_ by Donna Tartt. Big fat downer. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/52 "2016-09-07T00:12:23Z")
> [@nearwildheaven](#): > > “It Can’t Happen Here” by Sinclair Lewis. > > Published in 1935, and it could potentially happen here. I read it a few months ago. I just last month started it…got halfway through…and dropped it. Too depressing! It has a kind of train-wreck or Greek-tragedy inevitability to it. (Also…I couldn’t believe some of the shenanigans. Arresting Congress on the third day of the new administration? Or how about wrecking the entire economy…but there are still small businesses pretty much going about as normal. Nuh uh! If the monetary system collapses, you go back to barter. I thought the story over-played the predations of the wicked President.) ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/53 "2016-09-07T00:36:04Z")
“And the Ass Saw the Angel,” by Nick Cave (yeah, the Bad Seed). ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/54 "2016-09-07T00:39:26Z")
_House of Mirth_, Edith Wharton. Poor Liliy Bart couldn’t get out of her own way. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/55 "2016-09-07T00:55:30Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Then I discovered Ray Bradbury. The worst that ever happens in a Steinbeck book is that everyone dies. I don’t think I ever managed to make it more than two chapters into _The Martian Chronicles_. Bradbury is one of my all-time favorite writers. My first exposure to his work was the short story _All Summer in a Day._ Synopsis: A little girl from Earth who lives on Venus is wasting away because she only gets to see the sun once every 7 years. She is bullied. The school children lock her in the closet. The sun comes out, and they all run out to play and bask. Then the sun vanishes once more and the rains come. The children remember they locked the Earth girl in the closet, and somberly open the door. And scene! Sleep tight, kids. ---
**Author:** ![TheInimitableMaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@TheInimitableMaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheInimitableMaven)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/56 "2016-09-07T01:07:45Z")
“All Summer In A Day” is another outstanding example of yes, it’s depressing, but it’s a terrific story. As well as one of the epitomes of why Bradbury is one of my favorite writers…_All Summer In A Day_ is one of the best anti-bullying stories ever penned. But to be fair and give all personal tastes an equal shake, I’m amazed nobody has said _ **Fahrenheit 451** _ yet. Another high school anti-favorite that although wasn’t a novel (but heck, if novellas like _ **The Pearl** _ and short stories like “All Summer” count, then plays should definitely count too), nor the most mind-numbing sludge of a read, it was still quite depressing…_ **Oedipus Rex** _. ---
**Author:** ![Parthol](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/dec6dc/32.png) [@Parthol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Parthol)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/57 "2016-09-07T01:25:01Z")
I vote for **McTeague** by Frank Norris. It’s about a dim-witted and brutal dentist around the end of the 19th century, whose life falls apart after his new wife wins a $15k lottery. You can read the incredibly depressing plot summary on [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McTeague). By the end of the book: The titular character, having fled after murdering his wife, is stranded deep in Death Valley handcuffed to a corpse ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/58 "2016-09-07T01:40:21Z")
> [@Shagnasty](#): > > I know it is just a young adult series but **The Hunger Games** made me cry a few different times. Just when you think you are about done, **Mockingjay** casually dumps some more devastation right on you without any warning. I wanted to start my own militia group by the time I finished. > > The only other book that bitch-slapped me that hard was **A Separate Piece**. It moves a lot slower but I could really identify with the characters. I was traumatized for a while after I finished it. That should be **A Separate Peace** although there is none of that in the novel. Killing your best friend, even unintentionally, is generally frowned upon. ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/59 "2016-09-07T01:47:02Z")
> [@G0sp3l](#): > > I can’t recommend the entire book, but _The Passage_ by _Justin Cronin_ (which is a novel, though not literature) has one of the most depressing first Chapters EVER. The entire book is bleak but that first chapter. Damn, I’ve got something in my eye. I want to read the trilogy, but I’m like you–haven’t finished the first yet! It got sooooo bleak. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209/60 "2016-09-07T02:00:02Z")
I’ve never read the Gormenghast books, but I saw the TV miniseries, and it was hella depressing. If it was fair to the books, then they must be major-league downers. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-depressing-novel-you-ever-read/765209.md?page=4)