Literally moved to tears

[Panglossian]

It struck me the other day that I have never been moved to tears by the plight of a character in a novel. So I am wondering, have you ever been affected so whilst reading a work of fiction? I suspect it is quite rare. Or is it?

[dfloyd]

After all, this is the best of all possible worlds.

[Seasider]

I have been moved to tears by a book three times. Once reading of the death of Helen Burns in Jane Eyre, once reading a poem called The Nabarra by C.Day Lewis in which a sea battle in the Spanish Civil War was described and finally by The Goat of M. Seguin by Alphonse Daudet.

I have been moved to tears by a book three times. Once reading of the death of Helen Burns in Jane Eyre, once reading a poem called The Nabarra by C.Day Lewis in which a sea battle in the Spanish Civil War was described and finally by The Goat of M. Seguin by Alphonse Daudet.

Oops!!

[L.M. The Third]

I was moved to tears by the ending of The Mill on the Floss. I know there have been other books, but I can't recall them right now. (And I hardly think it counts if I've stayed up reading until 2 AM and was half crying from exhaustion and therefore susceptible. ;) )

[Ecurb]

I cry all the time at novels (poems, too) -- but often not at the sad parts. I cry at the happy parts. Or at any moving section. Sometimes it's the emotional resonance of the scene combined with my admiration for the writing that brings tears to my eyes. It's almost like I'm crying because I'm proud to be human, and participate in the scene, and the talent that created it. Here's an example of such as scene, from the end of Anthony Trollope's "Last Chronicle of Barset". It may not make you cry if you haven't read the book, but if you have, perhaps you'll understand what I'm talking about. The proud but poor clergyman Mr. Crawley has a daughter who is marrying the rich archdeacon's son, and is self conscious about his and her poverty. The night before, at dinner, the archdeacon had talked about fox hunting and other worldly matters, to the disapproval of the Crawley. But the archdeacon proves that worldly skills are not so very worthless after all in this scene:


On the next day, however, Mr Crawley, having been summoned by the archdeacon into the library for a little private conversation, found that he got on better with him. How the archdeacon conquered him may perhaps be best described by a further narration of what Mr Crawley told his wife. 'I told him that in regard to money matters, as he called them, I had nothing to say. I only trusted that his son was aware that my daughter had no money, and never would have any. "My dear Crawley," the archdeacon said--for of late there seems to have grown up in the world a habit of greater familiarity than that which I think did prevail when last I moved much among men--"my dear Crawley, I have enough for both." "I would we stood on more equal ground," I said. Then as he answered me, he rose from his chair. "We stand," said he, "on the perfect level on which men can meet each other. We are both gentlemen." "Sir," I said, rising also, "from the bottom of the heart I agree with you. I could not have spoken such words; but coming from you who are rich to me who am poor, they are honourable to the one and comfortable to the other."'

'And after that?'

'He took down from the shelves a volume of some sermons which his father published many years ago, and presented to me. I have it now under my arm. It hath the old bishop's manuscript notes, which I will study carefully.' And thus the archdeacon had hit his bird on both wings.

[endgame]

yes... when i read: tess of the d'ubervilles by thomas hardy. her story is very very moving,uncle tom's cabinet and little prince ... very very moving :'(

[prendrelemick]

Since becoming a father I've never managed to read "A Christmas Carol" with a dry eye. First there's the whole Tiny Tim situation, that's gauranteed to get me going. Then there is the joyously sentimental ending - by which time I'm a blubbering wreck.

[marcolfo]

the grapes of wrath :´(

[Venerable Bede]

I have never actually cried while reading a book or watching a movie. I can find a book really sad and heart wrenching but it never makes me cry. I can totally understand someone crying when reading a sad book, but I've never been moved to tears by a book.

[Paulclem]

I cried when I realised we had to read jane Austin for our A'Levels 3 million years ago.(A gnashing and a wailing and a rending of clothes may have happened too.)

I've blubbed since, but I'm not going to admit it because I'm a northern bloke. We don't blub or hug.

[G L Wilson]

I read Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller just after the death of my own father. It was a bad move because I wept like baby Jesus over it.

[kiki1982]

I rarely get moved to tears. Something should be amazingly moving or sad before I start on it. So the death of Helen Burns... Not good enough...

But I have shed tears at Jean Valjean's death in Les Misérables, at Porthos's MAJOR SPOILER death and even more at his testament MAJOR SPOILER OVER and recently I cried at the end of Emants's Monaco while translating it. It had been dragging so long to total misery that this child that was given someone's last money was just too much. It was so simple and yet so sad.

My hubby spoilt it though by asking me something at that moment. The atmosphere was totally different when I read the next sentence. :rolleyes:

[hallaig]

The last page of 'Brideshead Revisited', 'The House on Pooh Corner'. and 'All Quiet on the Western Front'?

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

The only time I can remember crying is when the dog died at the beginning of The Absolutely True Story of a Part Time Indian. The death of humans can strike me as sad, but rarely gets me near tears. A dog, on the other hand, definitely will.

[conartist]

I've cried a lot of times, though rarely anywhere other than at or near the very end of a book. Anna Karenina is the only book I can think of off the top of my head that caused me to cry at multiple points.

[prickly_pete]

The murder of the soldier in Germinal I remember crying. Not like a used woman but crying none the less.

[Annamariah]

It struck me the other day that I have never been moved to tears by the plight of a character in a novel. So I am wondering, have you ever been affected so whilst reading a work of fiction? I suspect it is quite rare. Or is it?

Rare? Books make me cry all the time, and movies too! Perhaps I'm just too sensitive :blush: :p

[Cailin]

Only twice - and I knew I was being shamelessly manipulated into blubbing but still couldn't help it!

[G L Wilson]

For a man to cry is seen as the worst thing in our society, apart from gays kissing. I hate society, therefore I will cry when I want to.

[Veho]

The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
One Day - David Nicholls
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
And a few occasions when reading the 'Harry Potter' books.

[Desolation]

Like many others here, I've never actually cried...But I did water up a little bit at the ending of For Whom the Bell Tolls.

I think that coming close to crying while reading Hemingway might take several millions points off of my manhood, though. :sad:

[beautiful_heart]

I cried many times while reading a novel. Although right now I only recall of two novels. I was very much touched by the ending of 'Mill on the Floss' and 'Gone With the Wind'. They are my favourite novels and I was really moved by their sad endings. :'(

[Ecurb]

For a man to cry is seen as the worst thing in our society, apart from gays kissing. I hate society, therefore I will cry when I want to.

Crocodiles, con men, and thespians cry when they "want to". The rest of us cry nonvolitionally.

[Seasider]

I had forgotten The Little Matchgirl by Hans Anderson.And a story by Thurber who usually has me laughing out loud...the one about his dog who used to fetch stuff home and one day died in the attempt. It's funny that some of us have greater sorrow at cruelty to animals than people. I will never go to seeThe Godfather, great as I am sure it is, because someone told me about the horse.
.

[kiki1982]

Haha, funny that you mention The Little Matchgirl by Andersen! :lol:

My mother read it when she was small, and every time, she got sobbing, to the point that her mother forbade her to read it anymore if she didn't stop. Other times then...

[Ecurb]

The Thurber story is "Rex, Portrait of a Dog". Here's a copy: http://www.game-dog.com/showthread.php?t=29714&page=1

It's a great piece (and short, so it's well worth reading). Thurber wrote many good dog stories ("The Dog that Bit People" and others). He also drew many famous dog cartoons, in which his dogs always look calm and wise, and the humans harried and befuddled.

[G L Wilson]

Crocodiles, con men, and thespians cry when they "want to". The rest of us cry nonvolitionally.

Trash talk comes cheap to those who can get away with it, it seems. (The next person who calls me a bot can expect the same notice to be brought to their post.)

[missmeadowsweet]

I don't think I've ever actually cried at a book or movie, unless one counts feeling the water coming to one's eyes but never actually having it spill over onto one's cheeks. I know this has occurred for me when reading certain parts of Lord of the Rings (books and films) and when reading The Scarlet Pimpernel. There have been others but I can't remember them now. Usually humble self-sacrifice is what seems to do it for me, particularly I think, when a man sacrifices for the woman he loves.

[Vonny]

The death of humans can strike me as sad, but rarely gets me near tears. A dog, on the other hand, definitely will.

Me too. Almost every children's book is like this. I remember in about 4th grade, Where the Red Fern Grows. There are so many animal stories that make me cry, and the animals don't even need to die! I remember in 1st grade, Charlotte's Web. When the spider Charlotte dies, it's sad for the spider but even more so for Wilbur who is left without her.

One of the the saddest stories involving children, that I've seen, is the animated movie, Grave of the Fireflies.

[irinmisfit92]

Khaled Hosseini's A Thousand Splendid Suns made me cry like a monster. It was intoxicating :D In addition, I often cry at the sight of Henning Mankell's beautifully crafted words. In the case of movies, I cry too many times. :P

[Seasider]

Animal stories!! Black Beauty. Sob, sob

[Babyguile]

I have a vague memory of crying to a novel but I can't remember what it was called or precisely when. It might have been on more than one occasion even. All I know is that I remember the feelings and that I reflected on the fact that I cried to a book because I didn't think I would. I wish I could remember...

I did come very close to tears while reading Anne Stevenson's poem 'The Victory' and I admire that poem. It is only a few lines long.


The Road - Cormac McCarthy
Tess of the D'Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
One Day - David Nicholls
Frankenstein - Mary Shelley
And a few occasions when reading the 'Harry Potter' books.

Which part of Tess of the T'Urbervilles, just interested?

[Ecurb]

I could barely get through Oscar Wilde's "The Selfish Giant", which I was reading to a 4-year-old last night.

http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/owilde/bl-owilde-selgi.htm

[Veho]

Which part of Tess of the T'Urbervilles, just interested?

At the end, at the Stonehenge scene. It was a pretty sad book all the way through though.

[endgame]

yes.. and also when tess baptizes her son and gives him the name "pain" because she knows that he's going to suffer

[Heteronym]

I have cried a few times, yes. In reading Crime and Punishment (the scene in which Raskolnikov is at a loss of words to explain why he killed two women), The Magic Mountain (Joaquim asking Hans not to stay too long in the sanatorium), and Seeing (the city's people fighting back the government's censorship).

[YW1990]

Daniel Keyes' ' Flowers for Algernon '.
I found the ascension and descension of Charlie's intelligence the main locus of my emotional involvement with the book. His gradual losing of his intelligence for me, was devastating. He knew what it felt like to be intelligent and to engage with the world in this highly intellectual way and for him to lose that was having this insight be snatched away. The fact that he couldn't remember his time being intelligent was another part of why i was so moved. He is literally the same man but he in a sense has lost himself.