Saddest deaths in literature

[Guinivere]

SPOILER ALERT

I don't know if this thread exists yet, but here we are.

Which death scene from a novel, play or poem was the saddest, most gut-wrenching thing you've read so far.

For me it would be Anna Karenina's suicide, when she flung herself in front of the train. I somehow knew the story would have to end in tragedy, but her death was a literary experience I won't forget.

[Niamh]

Maybe you should put a spoiler alert at beginning of thread Gen. :) I for one havent read Anna Karenina;)

For me its those of Ruth In Gaskells book of same name and Adam in East of Eden. Oh and when Margaret Hales father dies in North and South.

[amalia1985]

Edgar Linton's death in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights. As my second choice, I would mention Lady Elaine's death, as described in Tennyson's beautiful poem, The Lady Of Shalott.

[wizrd]

DUMBLEDORE, hands down, the saddest death EVAR. lol, i kid, i kid. wait, actually, i dont..

there really wasnt a more heart wrenching death that ive read, truthfully, especially when youve been hooked to the books and characters for more than half your lifetime.
and plus, i havent read many books with really sad deaths or anything..

[Kafka's Crow]

DUMBLEDORE, hands down, the saddest death EVAR. lol, i kid, i kid. wait, actually, i dont..

there really wasnt a more heart wrenching death that ive read, truthfully, especially when youve been hooked to the books and characters for more than half your lifetime.
and plus, i havent read many books with really sad deaths or anything..

That reminds me of the time when that book came out. Hours after its release somebody read the book quickly, made a huge banner and hung it on a motorway overpass on M25 (our busiest motorway (highway) in the UK) saying "A DUMBLEDORE DIES ON PAGE ...!" This has to be the funniest literary prank I heard about. The banner was removed by the authorities shortly but by then thousands of motorists and their kids (it was a Saturday morning) had seen it and it was in the press and on the BBC News etc.

As far as the saddest deaths in literature are concerned, it has to be Cordelia's death in King Lear. I strongly believe that Lear is the greatest achievement of human imagination along with the Sistine ceiling and the altar and War and Peace. I first read Lear 20 years ago, one sunny winter morning and I cried and I started re-reading right away. I knew the whole play by heart within next couple of years along with Hamlet and Macbeth and it started my love-affair with literature which has been going on uninterrupted ever since:


Enter Lear, with Cordelia [dead] in his arms, [Edgar,
Captain,
and others following].

Lear. Howl, howl, howl, howl! O, you are men of stone.
Had I your tongues and eyes, I'ld use them so
That heaven's vault should crack. She's gone for ever!
I know when one is dead, and when one lives.
She's dead as earth. Lend me a looking glass.
If that her breath will mist or stain the stone,
Why, then she lives.
Kent. Is this the promis'd end?
Edg. Or image of that horror?
Alb. Fall and cease!
Lear. This feather stirs; she lives! If it be so,
It is a chance which does redeem all sorrows
That ever I have felt.
Kent. O my good master!
Lear. Prithee away!
Edg. 'Tis noble Kent, your friend.
Lear. A plague upon you, murderers, traitors all!
I might have sav'd her; now she's gone for ever!
Cordelia, Cordelia! stay a little. Ha!
What is't thou say'st, Her voice was ever soft,
Gentle, and low- an excellent thing in woman.
I kill'd the slave that was a-hanging thee.
Capt. 'Tis true, my lords, he did.
Lear. Did I not, fellow?
I have seen the day, with my good biting falchion
I would have made them skip. I am old now,
And these same crosses spoil me. Who are you?
Mine eyes are not o' th' best. I'll tell you straight...

[Charles Darnay]

Saddest death in literature:

Gilliatt from "Toilers on the Sea" by Victor Hugo

[mercy_mankind]

Edgar Linton's death in Emily Bronte's Wuthering Heights.
I agree with you, and i think that novel fill with sadness.
and my second choice in an Arabian novel called "Abraham Alvarez", I cried a lot for his death.

[Guinivere]

Maybe you should put a spoiler alert at beginning of thread Gen. :) I for one havent read Anna Karenina;)

Oh and when Margaret Hales father dies in North and South.

I'm sorry. But i guess we will mention a lot of deaths in this thread. There's more to the book though than Anna dying. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I think Mr Hales death is very touching too. Especially the quiet way Margaret deals with it.

[kelby_lake]

gatsby. and poor lolita's death was triple bad-luck. she wins for most miserable death.

[PeterL]

gatsby. and poor lolita's death was triple bad-luck. she wins for most miserable death.

Jake's death was mildly surprising, but Lolita's death was essential to the story, and the novel couldn't end with her alive.

[aabbcc]

I may sound childlish, but Nell from The Old Curiosity Shop stuck in my memory when I was a child and was going through a 'Dickens phase'... Many sad deaths from that phase, but Nell somehow struck me the most.

Anna Karenina, however, was one of the most disappointing literary deaths to me... I was more striked by Emma Bovary's death than her, I guess (and I really dislike that book) - but maybe it was because it was unexpected (I honestly had no idea that Emma would die, but my grandfather managed to spoil Anna for me when I was five years old :lol:).

[Kafka's Crow]

I feel sorry for the people who are left behind after these great tragic deaths: Horatio, Kent, Charles Bovary etc. Another idea just struck me: Dostoevsky does not create martyrs. His heroes go on living after the tragic events. You feel sorry for them and all the pathos is created without anybody dying a glorious death. There are some very, very tragic situations and characters in Dostoevsky who continue to live in my imagination as martyrs without actually dying. I think as far as the tragic effect and sadness is concerned, death is over-rated and over-utilised!

[Kafka's Crow]

Another thing, most peculiar death of a major character has to be Murphy's death in Samuel Beckett's novel Murphy. I will not spoil the fun but it is dark, humorous and very very unforgettable and sad at the same time.

[blp]

This one (http://gawow.com/roethke/poems/98.html) repeatedly makes me cry.

Funny, as I was typing this, the itunes in the office where I'm working played the line 'to die by your side is such a heavenly place to die' from the Smiths song There is a light that never goes out.

[Agatha]

For me the saddest death was the death of prince Andrei in War and Peace.
And I also sadden after Sorel's death in The red and the black.

[ThousandthIsle]

Wow, yeah... This is a wonderful thread but in an instant I've just found out climactic scenes in books I haven't read yet, but planned to read.

Good idea, Niamh. There should be spoiler alerts.

Perhaps everyone could format the book title in noticable font so curious people can skim the forums and easily skip the books they don't want to spoil for themselves.

Spoiler alert for the Lord of the Rings trilogy: this also happened to me once when I was at the beginning of The Two Towers, and this was far before the LOTR films came out, so I was just enjoying the reading experience and had no idea what to expect of the ending. Anyway, the copy I was using had the appendix at the end of the third book, and I used it at the beginning of the second. Without meaning to, I opened to the last page of book 3 while turning to the appendix, and my eye crossed the last sentence: "And he returned safely home" GAH!)

Also, in Dostoevsky's The Idiot, I had a hard time with Nastassya Filipovna's death. Clearly it was distressing, and deeply disturbing, as it led Myshkin to an absolute mental collapse, but I had been hoping that ending could be evaded. The whole book set up this ending for Nastassya, but right before she consciously jumped into the arms of her killer, there seemed to be so many different directions things could take, and I was really hoping Dostoevsky would surprise us somehow. Especially since the source of Nastassya's suffering wasn't even her fault.

[Dark Muse]

Lilly Bart in House of Mirth was very sad to me.

[mayneverhave]

Quentin Compson from The Sound and the Fury

which doesn't actually happen on page.

or

Ilyusha's death in the Brothers Karamazov.

[amalia1985]

I agree with you, and i think that novel fill with sadness.
and my second choice in an Arabian novel called "Abraham Alvarez", I cried a lot for his death.

You know, what always makes me so sad about Edgar's death is not only his last conversation with his daughter, but also the fact that Cathy's future after her father's death was so bleak.

[johann cruyff]

Well, although his death isn't really described, but rather just hinted (it ends with him waiting to be executed) at the very end of the novel, Ahmed Nurudin's death in The Death and the Dervish is one of the strongest, saddest, most moving passages I've ever read. The novel ends with the lines in my signature, and I'm not sure how it's been translated, and it probably doesn't have the same strength, but when it comes to reading it in Bosnian, it's probably the best ending ever.

[aabbcc]

Well, although his death isn't really described, but rather just hinted (it ends with him waiting to be executed) at the very end of the novel, Ahmed Nurudin's death in The Death and the Dervish is one of the strongest, saddest, most moving passages I've ever read. The novel ends with the lines in my signature, and I'm not sure how it's been translated, and it probably doesn't have the same strength, but when it comes to reading it in Bosnian, it's probably the best ending ever.
It doesn't have nearly the same strength in English as it does in Bosnian, trust me. I tried reading Selimović in English, but I couldn't, the way English conveys certain feelings and ideas is drastically different than how Bosnian does, and, compared to the original, it sounds rather dull, bland, tasteless. But then again I generally don't quite prefer English as my reading language, so maybe it's just me.

I didn't include Nurudin to my list because his death is only assumed, not really described, but I agree with you - it's striking, and incredibly beautiful.

I just thought of one other death, Goethe's poem Der Erlkönig; it isn't lenghty so I will post Walter Scott's translation entirely:


The Erlking

O who rides by night thro' the woodland so wild?
It is the fond father embracing his child;
And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,
To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.

"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says;
"My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?"
"O, 'tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."

"O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
My mother keeps for thee many a fair toy,
And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling—my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

"O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
She shall bear three so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"
"Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the grey willow that danced to the moon."

"O come and go with me, no longer delay,
Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."
"O father! O father! now, now, keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me—his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was dead.

[curlyqlink]

For me, it's when the dog dies in The Art of Racing In The Rain.

I'm not kidding! It's shamelessly sentimental, but that's okay... to be really affecting, to have lots of pure emotional appeal, a death scene has to be sentimentalized. Which is why I'd also cast a vote for Dickens' death scenes.

As the a really well done death scene, that's a different matter. In that case I'd agree with Kafka's Crow and nominate the scene from King Lear.

[Leabhar]

Andrey Bolkonsky in War and Peace.

[Julian Koller]

Goethe's Werther

[Leabhar]

Goethe's Werther

True. I forgot about that. That is my second choice.

[Niamh]

As far as the saddest deaths in literature are concerned, it has to be Cordelia's death in King Lear. I strongly believe that Lear is the greatest achievement of human imagination along with the Sistine ceiling and the altar and War and Peace. I first read Lear 20 years ago, one sunny winter morning and I cried and I started re-reading right away. I knew the whole play by heart within next couple of years along with Hamlet and Macbeth and it started my love-affair with literature which has been going on uninterrupted ever since:
I completely forgot this! Yes that is definitely one of the saddest ever.


I'm sorry. But i guess we will mention a lot of deaths in this thread. There's more to the book though than Anna dying. I'd recommend it to anyone.

I think Mr Hales death is very touching too. Especially the quiet way Margaret deals with it.
Yes we will mention alot of deaths and novels, thats why in cases like this with wouldnt be a bad thing to put a *Spoiler Alert* in your opening post so when people come into it, they will know they may find out something about a book they plan to read that they might not want to. :)

I may sound childlish, but Nell from The Old Curiosity Shop stuck in my memory when I was a child and was going through a 'Dickens phase'... Many sad deaths from that phase, but Nell somehow struck me the most.
.
Nell! :bawling: I forgot that one too! :(
But Adams Death in east of eden had me crying solidly for about three hours so thats definitely my saddest one. :nod:

[Guinivere]

The Erlking

O who rides by night thro' the woodland so wild?
It is the fond father embracing his child;
And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,
To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.

"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says;
"My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?"
"O, 'tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."

"O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
My mother keeps for thee many a fair toy,
And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling—my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

"O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
She shall bear three so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"
"Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the grey willow that danced to the moon."

"O come and go with me, no longer delay,
Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."
"O father! O father! now, now, keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me—his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was dead.

We did a lot of Goethe at my school, and I remember this from msuic class. It is really touching, although I prefer the German original (but I guess the original is always the best), I quite like the Scott translation. I haven't seen it before, so thanks for posting the entire poem.

[Kafka's Crow]

I just thought of one other death, Goethe's poem Der Erlkönig; it isn't lenghty so I will post Walter Scott's translation entirely:


The Erlking

O who rides by night thro' the woodland so wild?
It is the fond father embracing his child;
And close the boy nestles within his loved arm,
To hold himself fast, and to keep himself warm.

"O father, see yonder! see yonder!" he says;
"My boy, upon what dost thou fearfully gaze?"
"O, 'tis the Erl-King with his crown and his shroud."
"No, my son, it is but a dark wreath of the cloud."

"O come and go with me, thou loveliest child;
By many a gay sport shall thy time be beguiled;
My mother keeps for thee many a fair toy,
And many a fine flower shall she pluck for my boy."

"O father, my father, and did you not hear
The Erl-King whisper so low in my ear?"
"Be still, my heart's darling—my child, be at ease;
It was but the wild blast as it sung thro' the trees."

"O wilt thou go with me, thou loveliest boy?
My daughter shall tend thee with care and with joy;
She shall bear three so lightly thro' wet and thro' wild,
And press thee, and kiss thee, and sing to my child."

"O father, my father, and saw you not plain
The Erl-King's pale daughter glide past thro' the rain?"
"Oh, yes, my loved treasure, I knew it full soon;
It was the grey willow that danced to the moon."

"O come and go with me, no longer delay,
Or else, silly child, I will drag thee away."
"O father! O father! now, now, keep your hold,
The Erl-King has seized me—his grasp is so cold!"

Sore trembled the father; he spurr'd thro' the wild,
Clasping close to his bosom his shuddering child;
He reaches his dwelling in doubt and in dread,
But, clasp'd to his bosom, the infant was dead.

Oh this poem brings back memories of long, very long winter nights reading all kinds of stuff. I think I read it somewhere in a very distant past. Excellent poem. That Selimović novel is definitely on my reading list. Another great death is Sohrab's death at the hands of his own father (Rustum) in Firdausi's Shahnameh. It has to be the greatest as it crowns the huge body of elegiac literature in Persian language where after love-poetry, elegiac verse is the main form:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Tragedy-Sohraab-Rostaam-Abol-Qasem-Publications/dp/0295975679/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1216818354&sr=8-3

[kelby_lake]

Hedwig in Harry Potter! :(

[Kafka's Crow]

Hedwig in Harry Potter! :(

Did he die as well? Thanks for telling us, I can talk with children more confidently now that I know one more HP fact (any excuse to avoid reading the books!)

[Guinivere]

Hey Hedwig is a female owl. Show some respect !

[Kafka's Crow]

Hey Hedwig is a female owl. Show some respect !

Ooops! I thought it was the big bearded guy who goes around on a flying motorcycle. Mixing characters up already (I think I have read too many Potter books!)

[Guinivere]

Ooops! I thought it was the big bearded guy who goes around on a flying motorcycle. Mixing characters up already (I think I have read too many Potter books!)

SPOILER ALERT: That was Hagrid, but the bike used to belong to Sirius Black, Harry's Godfather.

[Loike]

Yup, the deaths of Harry Potter's Hedwig and Dumbledore were major crisis points in my life; I very nearly never picked up another book again for fear of being distressed to the same or perhaps even greater degree by more deaths.

Okay, that was part in jest at my sentimentality towards a wizard and an owl, so the most awful, tear-inducing deaths of which I've read are Ralph's in Henry James' The Portrait of a Lady - gosh, I was crying for so long at this point! - Liza Tillerman's in Cynthia Voigt's Dicey's Song and Frederick's in Philip Pullman's The Shadow in the North.

I wish I hadn't read this thread in its entirety; I'm reading Lolita at the moment, and although Humbert is continually making references to his being a murderer, I wasn't yet ready to believe that Lolita would die by the end of the novel. Does Humbert kill her, by the way?

And I agree with another member here who said that Anna Karenina's death in the novel of the same name wasn't really that great. I didn't like it at all, and in my opinion it was the worst aspect to the novel, except for the tiresome ending.

xx

[Guinivere]

I wish I hadn't read this thread in its entirety.
xx

Okay I am beginning to regret having started this thread. Will someone please take the apropriate action, if it is too distressing for readers. Maybe we should vote on it ? I mean how many spoiler alerts do we need ? Is red and capital really enough ? (I am serious by the way)

[Loike]

I mean how many spoiler alerts do we need ? Is red and capital really enough ? (I am serious by the way)

Haha. I don't mind at all; I read the whole thread, and I knew that in doing so I'd probably come across something that I didn't know.

And for what my opinion is worth, this is a very interesting thread. :).

xx

[johann cruyff]

I wish I hadn't read this thread in its entirety; I'm reading Lolita at the moment, and although Humbert is continually making references to his being a murderer, I wasn't yet ready to believe that Lolita would die by the end of the novel. Does Humbert kill her, by the way?


Why would you want to know the ending before you complete the book? Just curious... And no, he doesn't.

[Loike]

Why would you want to know the ending before you complete the book? Just curious... And no, he doesn't.

I don't know, really. Normally I'm adamant not to find out the ending of a book before I've finished it, but for some reason I'd very much like to know with regards to Lolita. It's almost too intense for me to keep reading without knowing what's going to happen. I may well collapse with the shock otherwise! Haha. And if Humbert doesn't kill her - I shall take your word for it - I'm even more likely to collapse. So perhaps the saying, "Forewarned is forearmed" is prudent in this case? ;).

xx

[qimissung]

SPOILER ALERT; Beth in 'Little Women,' a very long time ago; Romeo and Juliet in the play of the same name (yes, I know it's tripe compared to Lear, but I don't care :)); Sidney Carton in 'A Tale of Two Cities;' anyone who died in the last Harry Potter book, maybe especially Dobie; and last, Hester and Lee Grumman in 'The Subtle Knife.'

"She said, 'We held 'em off. We held out. We're a-helping Lyra."

Then she was pressing her little proud broken self against his face, as close as she could get, and then they died."

I weep for them, the ones who are trying.

[lolie]

without reflecting i should say the death of Emma Bovary ( Madame Bovary from Flaubert) , of Mme de Morsauf ( the Lys in the valley from Balzac), or the tragical death of Julien Sorel ( The red and the black from Stendhal)...

[ballb]

The dog Balthazar in the Forsyte Saga & Lennie in Of Mice And Men

[mayneverhave]

Why would you want to know the ending before you complete the book? Just curious... And no, he doesn't.

Personally I examine the entire plot before I even begin reading anything - or watching any film.

The reason I do this is to get an idea of the work (either book or film) as a complete work - with a distinct beginning, middle, and end. With knowledge of the ending or climax, forshadowing does not require a second reading to be effective.

Plus it helps me get through really long books. The first thing I did reading the Brothers Karamazov was flip through the book till the end so I didn't seem like I was just endlessly turning pages - there was an end in sight.

[johann cruyff]

Plus it helps me get through really long books. The first thing I did reading the Brothers Karamazov was flip through the book till the end so I didn't seem like I was just endlessly turning pages - there was an end in sight.

That I can understand :lol: I sometimes take a look at the titles of chapters, for instance, but I usually try to read without knowing too much in advance. I wouldn't say I read books just for the plot, but knowing it in advance would kind of kill it for me...

[Saladin]

Ilyusha's death in the Brothers Karamazov.

Yes i agree with you on that.

[Niamh]

Okay I am beginning to regret having started this thread. Will someone please take the apropriate action, if it is too distressing for readers. Maybe we should vote on it ? I mean how many spoiler alerts do we need ? Is red and capital really enough ? (I am serious by the way)

Guinivere, as i've mentioned before, If you go to your original opening post and put the words Spoilers Alert at the top of it, then everyone will know that the thread is going to give away some info, that way, no one else has to constantly write Spoiler alert at the beginning of their posts as they have already been pre warned. If you want i can put it in the thread title. :)

[wessexgirl]

There are 2 novels which have unbelievably sad deaths of characters in them, which affected me. I'll just mention the novels themselves, and if anyone hasn't read them yet, but plans to, it won't be spoiled too much.

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and L'Assomoir by Emile Zola. Both had me wiping away a tear and clearing my throat.

[kelby_lake]

We will probably forget most of these deaths, so don't worry

[ThousandthIsle]

We will probably forget most of these deaths, so don't worry

Unless you happen to have one of the books in in progress. ;) Dang!!

Oh well, an excellent author anyway... I'm still enjoying the experience.

[farnoosh]

i don't read about death in literature but i do think about death often in my life....i would like to die in my room with a rose in my hand and i knife in the other ...lying on my floor looking at the nightsky from my window ..thats my only dream in life.

[Idril]

There are 2 novels which have unbelievably sad deaths of characters in them, which affected me. I'll just mention the novels themselves, and if anyone hasn't read them yet, but plans to, it won't be spoiled too much.

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy and L'Assomoir by Emile Zola. Both had me wiping away a tear and clearing my throat.

Jude the Obscure was absolutely devastating. It was the first Hardy book I read and I can't bring myself to pick up another one because of that scene.

The first one that comes to mind for me is Soames' death in Swan Song. It's kind of odd that that one sticks out more than the others because it wasn't all that remarkable but I just loved that character. I had become so attached to him throughout all the Forsyte Saga books and all that I had invested in him was bound up in that one scene. I knew it was coming, I even put off reading for a few days so I could pretend like it wasn't going to happen but eventually I accepted I had to just get through it and I tell you, it was the hardest few pages I've ever had to read. His death was the only one that made me sob.

[Pensive]

Hedwig in Harry Potter! :(

Oh and Dobby's death too! :(

[aabbcc]

I thought of one more.
Andersen's fairy tale, death of a little match girl.

[wessexgirl]

[QUOTE=Idril;602329]Jude the Obscure was absolutely devastating. It was the first Hardy book I read and I can't bring myself to pick up another one because of that scene.

I think it his saddest, most tragic book, and of course his last novel. He got such a battering from the critics over it that he only wrote poetry after that, so you're not alone in not liking it. But I would urge you to try his others. He is brilliant, if a little depressing. :)

[strawberryhead]

I thought of one more.
Andersen's fairy tale, death of a little match girl.

Oh god! That ripped my heart in two! I was eight years old when i read that book, and i just cried and cried.

But the death of a character that effected me most was the death of Kryltsov in Tolstoy's "Resurrection" You don't actually see Kryltsov die, so to speak, but after he dies, the prince Nekhludov goes into the mortuary and sees his corpse. That scene is so solemn and beautiful.

The death isn't sudden and devastating - Kryltsov suffers from tuberculosis, and his condition deteriorates throughout the novel. You expect that he's going to die. But the way the scene in the mortuary is described is just bitterly sad.

[Niamh]

Oh my god! how could i forget about Joes death in Bleak House! :bawling:

[andave_ya]

Don Quixote's death had me shocked. He just dies, and it was so sad after all his heroic acts!

[snowangel]

The Awakening
Oliver Twist
I thought Edna Pontellier's death was so eery and sad, I really hoped she would have a happy ending, but I guess that was kind of naive.
Nancy's death was disturbing and violent, I hated that the one believable female character in Oliver Twist had to die such a horrible death.

[downing]

Ralph Touchett's death in The Potrtrait of a Lady

[GatsbyTheGreat]

That one guy from that one novel... The Great... something... hmm the name escapes me at the moment ;)

Also, Michael Valentine's death in Heinlein's "Stranger in a Strange Land". He was such a triumphant figure that I didn't really expect him to meet a tragic fate. Though I suppose the Martians wouldn't consider it tragic at all...

[crystalmoonshin]

Lin Taiyu's death in the Dream of Red Mansions. It was caused by her disappointment at not being the chosen one to marry her cousin Paoyu with whom she shared an intimate relationship. Her death was so sad and tragic, it happened during the marriage of Paoyu to Xue Paochai.

Also. the death of Quasimodo who followed Esmeralda the gypsy to her grave.

[Emil Miller]

Charles Strickland`s death on Tahiti in the Moon and Sixpence by Somerset Maugham. You would have to be made of stone not to be deeply moved by his terrible end.

[kelby_lake]

Hairy Ape. The guy doesn't think he's worthy of being human so he dies in a gorilla pen in a zoo.

[prendrelemick]

For me, a death that doesn't actually occur. But I can't bear to read where Tiny Tim is missing from the Cratchet household in the Christmas future.

[islandclimber]

Oh for sure Tess, in "Tess Of the D'Urbevilles".. her execution after she finally finds happiness with Angel is awful! :bawling:

[polgara]

In Jude the Obscure there is an incredibly sad death scene, I agree with those who have mentioned it before. The whole book is the most depressing I have ever read.

[Etienne]

The death of the youngest Rostov in War and Peace.

[samah]

Helen's death in Jane Eyre.

[prendrelemick]

The death of the youngest Rostov in War and Peace.

A good choice, I'd forgotten about that one. On the other hand, Prince Andrew's death from the same book, is probably the best written death scene ever. I found it almost comforting.

[AuntShecky]

Henry James's Portrait of a Lady is the only book that made me weep while I was reading it, although several books affected me
emotionally: Beckett's novel trilogy and Sophie's Choice. (The latter so traumatized (is that a word?) me that I've been unable to watch the movie version to this day.)

I can read Shakespeare "without tears," but I can't watch performances of Hamlet and Lear without crying.

[Janine]

Be forewarned: First one is a spoiler for the Thomas Hardy novel, "The Woodlanders".

One of the saddest for me is from Thomas Hardy's novel "The Woodlanders"...I cry when Giles dies in the rain, after sacrificing his tiny cabin to Gracie.

I also think Hardy's novel, "The Mayor of Casterbridge" has to have the saddest endings ever. I own the film version and cry, actually sob, at that ending, and that is no matter how many times I have seen it. It just tears me up inside something awful.

Editing now: You guys are right - "Tess...." is incredibly sad, as is "Jude the Obscure". Let's face it, most of Hardy's work was tragic and thoroughly sad, enough to evoke many genuine tears.

[andave_ya]

...Don Quixote...:(

*tear* I don't think I was so shocked even when Boromir died.

[wessexgirl]

Henry James's Portrait of a Lady is the only book that made me weep while I was reading it, although several books affected me


Perhaps it's just me, but I find Isabel Archer extemely irritating. I am currently watching a tv version from the 60's though, with the lovely Richard Chamberlain as Ralph. I like him, and what happens to him is very sad, (I won't spell it out), but so far she's annoying, and I don't know if it's just the actress who's playing her. I can't see what all the characters see in her. Am I just being harsh on my own sex, as I love the thought of an intelligent, independent woman being the main character of the book, but she has no warmth, unless it's just the actress. I'll confess I haven't read the book, but I have listened to it on audio, and I didn't really get any warmth there either. The Kidman version is lacking too.

[Captain Trips]

In The Stand when Nick Andros died after Harold blew up the house that the Free Zone Committee was meeting in. Especially since he died grabbing the bomb to try and save everybody else.

Also in The Dark Tower when Eddie and Jake died. Those were all sad deaths.

[V.Jayalakshmi]

Dear Members,
I think of two books wherein, I feel the saddest deaths are portrayed.One is that of Sydny Carton in Charles Dicken's "A Tale Of Two Cities".Here the death is not shown in actuality but portrayed by the journey that Sydny Carton does in carriage that will take him to the Guilletine.He does this for saving his lover's husband.( It was only Carton who loved her and not she).
The next one is that of the brother and sister combination of Maggie and Tom in George Elliot's novel "the Mill On The Floss".The river rises here to take away these two.

[Dr. Hill]

Sybill's death in Dorian Gray. So moving.

[wessexgirl]

Dear Members,
I think of two books wherein, I feel the saddest deaths are portrayed.One is that of Sydny Carton in Charles Dicken's "A Tale Of Two Cities".Here the death is not shown in actuality but portrayed by the journey that Sydny Carton does in carriage that will take him to the Guilletine.He does this for saving his lover's husband.( It was only Carton who loved her and not she).
The next one is that of the brother and sister combination of Maggie and Tom in George Elliot's novel "the Mill On The Floss".The river rises here to take away these two.

I agree, great choices.

Falstaff's death in Henry V. The speech by Mistress Quickly about it is very moving. I was reminded of it as I have just watched Judi Dench acting it in Henry V on tv. Wonderful stuff.

[Cellar Door]

For me, there is only one response: Sydney Carton's death in A Tale of Two Cities... It is the only book that has ever made me cry.