# What books have made you cry? (Possible spoilers) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 6, 2003, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002 "2003-01-06T20:24:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![lauramarlane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a5b964/32.png) [@lauramarlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lauramarlane)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/21 "2003-01-07T17:08:02Z")
The book that really got to me most recently was _The Lovely Bones_ by Alice Sebold. It’s about a young girl who’s raped and murdered and she tells the story of her life and watches over her family from heaven. Please don’t think the whole book is sorrowful and depressing because it’s not. Some parts had me laughing out loud, and it was a very uplifting book–best thing I’ve read in quite a while, but I cried like a baby at certain parts. ---
**Author:** ![Archergal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c89c15/32.png) [@Archergal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Archergal)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/22 "2003-01-07T18:28:25Z")
I have a book called “Snowflake in My Hand”. It’s by Samantha Mooney, who worked with cats who are sick (feline leukemia, I think.) I read that whenever I need a good cry. (I used to be a cat person. Now I’m primarily a dog person.) Nop’s Trials by Donald McCaig made me cry. I always cry at the end of “The Last Unicorn” and during “The Innkeeper’s Song” by Peter S. Beagle. What can I say, I’m just an old softie. ---
**Author:** ![Zazie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Zazie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zazie)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/23 "2003-01-07T20:25:30Z")
“Of mice and men” got be pretty good. “The horse wisperer” too… And as a younger kid “The little Mermaid”, the REAL one, where she dies at the end… Geez, why make fairytales so sad! ---
**Author:** ![Stoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stoid/32/272_2.png) [@Stoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stoid)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/24 "2003-01-07T20:36:06Z")
\*\* A Prayer For Owen Meany \*\* \<----- probably my favorite book of all time. \*\* Lonesome Dove \*\* twice \*\* The Power of One \*\* \<----a book I adored but only read on recommendation because the topic seemed to be something I would never, ever be interested in. FANTASTIC book, unbelievably bad movie. \*\* Cold Mountain \*\* \<------- Do you love great writing? Read this book. Then be prepared to be sideswiped. * * * ---
**Author:** ![ivylass](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de053/32.png) [@ivylass](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ivylass)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/25 "2003-01-07T20:44:14Z")
_Dragonfly in Amber_ by Diana Gabaldon. The scene where Claire decides she must return to the present, leaving Jamie Fraser, always has me in a puddle on the floor. Then I read _Voyager_ and I’m all perked up again. Damn slashdot, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8edcca/32.png) [@I\_can\_t\_believe\_that\_s\_butter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/I_can_t_believe_that_s_butter)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/26 "2003-01-07T21:41:41Z")
_The Human Comedy_, William Saroyan. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/27 "2003-01-07T21:48:05Z")
I’m bloody hopeless, and can barely read the newspaper cartoons without a box of tissues handy. 😃 However, the first book that I can recall getting mega-weepy with was **Hand Me Down** by Leigh Bonheur. It was the autobiography of this young child/woman who, born illegitimately back in the days when it was disgrace, was passed around from family to abusive family because no-one really wanted her. I read it first when I was 10 yrs old and was incredibly moved by her courage, but also horrified that people could do such evil things to each other. ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2003, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/28 "2003-01-07T23:34:18Z")
I’ll give a third vote to **A Prayer For Owen Meany** , but I can’t believe that no one has mentioned **Watership Down** , considering that I’ve read it about a dozen times and still can’t get through the part where Hazel is led away from his warren (where he has lived so long that very few remember who he was and what he did) to the hereafter by the Black Rabbit of Inle. Dang, I’m choking up just writing about it. ---
**Author:** ![Candlemas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a8b319/32.png) [@Candlemas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candlemas)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/29 "2003-01-08T00:16:04Z")
When I was a kid **The Giving Tree** used to make me cry nearly every time I read it. I read **Huckleberry Finn** in my mid 20’s and actually shed a tear when Huck regrets giving up Jim, misses him terribly and starts to cry. ---
**Author:** ![NailBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecae2f/32.png) [@NailBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NailBunny)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/30 "2003-01-08T00:45:03Z")
Oh yeah, **The Giving Tree** still gets me. “And the tree was happy.” _sob_ Also chock me up to those who bawled through **Bridge to Tarabithia** , **Where the Red Fern Grows** and **Charlotte’s Web**. Fantastic books, all of them. Really heavy stuff for little kids. There was also one that we read in elementary school, called **Priscilla the Pig** , which was the story of this pig who was raised in a house with this family. She dies at the end, and I remember the pages of my book were all wrinkled up right at that part because I was sobbing my little eight year old heart out. ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/31 "2003-01-08T01:03:48Z")
**The Death and Life of Superman** - novel form, not the comic book. Only book that has ever made me cry. I’ve also never cried at a movie as far as I can remember. ---
**Author:** ![AbbySthrnAccent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@AbbySthrnAccent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AbbySthrnAccent)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/32 "2003-01-08T01:40:59Z")
Me too on Charlotte’s Web, Bridge to Teribithia, The Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, Where the Red Fern Grows, Tuesdays with Morrie, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Also The Notebook, by Nicholas Sparks ---
**Author:** ![dead0man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@dead0man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dead0man)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/33 "2003-01-08T01:56:34Z")
I’ll 2nd “Of Mice and Men”. The end makes me cry everytime I read it. ---
**Author:** ![Tanaqui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3bc359/32.png) [@Tanaqui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanaqui)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/34 "2003-01-08T04:24:49Z")
Jeez, just thinking about “The Giving Tree” depresses me. More recently, Connie Willis’ **Passage** drained me and saddened me to the point I couldn’t finish it. Just skimmed the last few bits to find out what happens in the end. She’s such a powerful writer. But that’s just the latest, I cry very easily. ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 4:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/35 "2003-01-08T04:36:48Z")
My voice gets all choked up every time I read Robert Munsch’s _ **Love You Forever** _ to my kids. Very emotional experience, despite having read it so often. ---
**Author:** ![kung\_fu\_lola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/f4b2a3/32.png) [@kung\_fu\_lola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kung_fu_lola)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/36 "2003-01-08T04:42:02Z")
I’m with **Larry Mudd** - _Microserfs_ made me cry because it was so beautiful and just… it had so much _heart_, you know? _The Fionavar Tapestry_ always makes me cry… The thing that got me the most was when the Baelrath calls to the Giants and changes them forever. I think I had been previously scarred by this sort of theme when I read the ending of _The High King_. When I read it the second time, I almost couldn’t stand to read Kevin’s warmhearted banter with his father at the beginning of the book, knowing what Kevin’s future was. I originally read the _Tapestry_ when I was on vacation with my family, and I remember sitting on the beach crying. My parents were looking at each other like; “Maybe we should take it away from her;” and I was going; “Noooo, _sob_, it’s soo-ooo-oo good! _sob_” _His Dark Materials_ got me too, especially when the surviving Angel was being overcome by waves of anguish that would ebb and flow. On a happier note: I was sitting on a bench during the summer a few years ago, reading _Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone_ and I couldn’t stop tears from coming when Hagrid gave Harry the photo album. For a moment I thought; “If anyone sees me, they’ll think I’m crazy, chuckling and crying over a kid’s book.” But there you are. ---
**Author:** ![\_etalhea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/779978/32.png) [@\_etalhea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_etalhea)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 6:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/37 "2003-01-08T06:08:45Z")
Actually, **The Lord of the Rings** , at the very, very,very end at the Gray Havens. Gets me everytime. I have a theory that that parts not gonna make it into the theatrical release of the movie, but I could be wrong. Won’t be the same anyway. The book gets me everytime. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/38 "2003-01-08T06:35:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Candlemas \* > **When I was a kid The Giving Tree used to make me cry nearly every time I read it.** This was the first book I thought of when I read the thread title. I suspect that my children used to ask me to read it _specifically_ to make me cry. It’s a perennial favorite with the preschool crowd at Sunday school, too. But I’m not exactly a tough nut to crack when it comes to emotional books. A lot of the ones already mentioned do it to me, and any book in which an animal dies can set me off. The original _Lassie Come-Home_ and _Black Beauty_ made me cry when I was ten, and the same passages make me cry today. I can’t read Cleveland Amory’s non-fiction memoir, _The Cat Who Came For Christmas_, if I plan to go out in public within the next 24 hours, because too many people think I’ve just had a loved one die. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 7:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/39 "2003-01-08T07:02:55Z")
_Toby Tyler_ ---
**Author:** ![SolGrundy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbce88/32.png) [@SolGrundy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SolGrundy)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2003, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002/40 "2003-01-08T07:29:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kung fu lola \* > \*\*On a happier note: I was sitting on a bench during the summer a few years ago, reading _Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone_ and I couldn’t stop tears from coming when Hagrid gave Harry the photo album. For a moment I thought; “If anyone sees me, they’ll think I’m crazy, chuckling and crying over a kid’s book.” But there you are. \*\* If it’s any consolation, that part got to me as well. Granted, I’m not that impressed with how the books are written on the whole, and I cry at the opening of a bank, but I thought that was the best-written part of the whole series so far. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-books-have-made-you-cry-possible-spoilers/147002.md?page=3)