Carrying on from the thread "Films that make you cry" I thought I'd start a "Books that make you cry" thread. It is often embararassing when I am on the tube or bus in London and I have a cry at whatever book I'm reading. Here are some of mine...although if the films are anything to go by I'm sure I'll be reminded of others:

All of the James Herriott books as I am an animal loving fiend.

All Jilly Cooper books though I am ashamed to say it....I love bit of of trash romance.

What are yours????

Ah, I'm glad someone started this ... I'm more inclined to cry in a book than at the movies.

My most memorable one is "April Fool's Day" by Bryce Courtenay ... anyone else read it? Oh boy, I was a mess but in a good way.

I'll think of more.

Hey, Amberg, isn't that the worse being around people and doing it ... same as laughing at a book when travelling I once had to put away a Bill Bryson book because I was just laughing too much.

Yeah Copago - that's the worst about the James Herriott books - one chapter you're laughing and the next your crying - anyone around thinks you've completely lost the plot.

James herriot is good and I've been known to shed a tear reading one of his stories, especially the ones that you've already gotten to know the animals from previous stories and then you read about it dying.

But there are times when the tears are sort of happy too, not laughing tears but when a situation is sad but can be for the best.

Black Beauty does it every time. In fact it is usually animal stories with me too. They (animals) can't make choices and humans can . Maybe it's that.

I've never cried because of a book, but I think the saddest book I've read is The Red Pony, by John Steinbeck.

I didn't cry, but the book that got the largest emotional response out of me was A Child Called "It," by Dave Pelzer.

It’s a true story about the author’s childhood. He has either the third or fourth most serious child abuse case in the record of California. The book really tears at a person’s heart.

When I bought it, I had no clue what the book was about really. I saw it in the new release section of a bookstore, turned over the book, recognized the author’s face and thought, why not? Before I knew it, I was in Manhattan, New York reading a book in the middle of the streets and subway during rush hour, unable to put it down.

Although I didn’t cry, it was probably one of the saddest things I’ve read.

lanni

i'm so glad you mentioned steven pelzer's book - it's probably the saddest i've felt whilst reading.

have you read the 2 sequels, i felt so moved that he could be so postive about his life and about all the care workers involved in the system after what he had experienced.

'the horse whisperer' and 'schindler's ark' (books NOT the films) made my eyes water a little.

there are a few more but i can't think of them now

[ 04-20-2002, 10:30 AM: Message edited by: allynellie ]

Yeah, I read the sequels, but they didn’t have quite the same impact as the first.

I cried when I read Goodnight Mr Tom. I also cried when I read Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (at the end). I usually cry when people die.

I read this story about the education of the death, a theme dear to my heart, in French by a woman who then became an actress, Le cri de la mouette. Emmanuelle Labourit.

I cried buckets!

I cried when I read "To Kill A Mockingbird" for the first time. It's quite a vivid memory for me as we studied the book for 'O' Level English when I was at school. The trial made me cry, but the bit that affected me most, was at the end when Boo is seen by everyone at the fire. I had to read aloud and started crying. I just wanted Boo to be left alone. My whole class was amazed at me crying. I felt so silly!!

I still love the book to this day.

I know there's other books that really made me cry but the only two I can remember right now is The Diary of Anne Frank and parts of Fried Green Tomatoes.

"Wuthering Heights" is one that always makes me cry. I remember crying over "Frankenstein" too, it's amazing how much the film industry has distorted the story from the author's original intent.

"Silas Marner" is absloutely heartrending and Thomas Hardy's fiction is every bit as harrowing as his poetry.

I had to cry when I read the book Pay It Forward, don't know by what author. I heard it's a movie as well, but I don't know which one was there first, the book or the movie...

THE WRONG BOY BY WILLY RUSSELL THIS BOOK MAKES YOU LAUGH AND CRY.... I SO ENJOYED READING IT.

I've either cried or come close to crying for every Lurlene McDaniel book I've ever read. They're easy, but I love them.

The Horse Whisperer by Nicholas Evans was so sad. If anybody has seen the movie and liked it then you should also read the book. The book is so much better than the movie and also has a different ending.

I also read A Walk To Remember by Nicholas Sparks. After I was done with it I gave it to my sister and she said that it was one of the saddest books she has ever read.

I cry when I read Charmed Again (based on the episode of Charmed, Charmed Again) I cry when I watch the episode too. It is soooooo sad at the start when Piper is trying to summon Prue (her big sister) and during Prues funeral.

Joy Luck Club, Catch-22, Faith of the Fallen, 1984, and the Telling which was a very powerful science fiction novel about homosexuality that id recommend to both straight and gay persons

Of course i cry in almost every book i read so dont take me very seriously lol.

The book was first. I really loved it, but I hated the movie.

I should probably post more here being a huge reader but anyway.

The book that makes me cry is the same book that is my favourite to this day even though I am now a well adult. Watership Down is the book that has affected me more than any other. I think it is beautifully written, well researched, heartfelt, origional and it has the distinction of making me become a vegitarian. Excuse the spelling its late and I like a drink. I have read many books but this is the one that has affected me most. Call it a childrens book if you want but I think It has a lot more going for it than a somple fairy tale.

I don't think I've actually cried over a book, but more than a few have been sad or depressing enough. The first that comes to mind is Steinbeck's "The Pearl". Throughout the whole thing you knew it wouldn't end well for Kino.

1984 brought about pity and anger for me. Pity for Winston, and anger for the fact that the government had THAT much control over everyday life.

Most of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" struck me as sad for the fact that the father had a split personality which cost him so much, and his fear that his son is developing the same problem.

There have been several books that have made me cry but the first to come to mind is "Redeeming Love" by Francine Rivers. It's a retelling of the Book of Hosea in the Bible. It is very,very good. The part that made me cry the most is when this prostitute has a dream in which she is in a filthy pile of garbage and rats and she sees a man that has a light behind him so bright that she can't see his face. But when he touches her all the dirt goes to him and she is completely clean. But now HE'S dirty. But only for a second. Then she realizes the man is actually the Lord. That was probably the best part of the whole book!