The dog Balthazar in the Forsyte Saga & Lennie in Of Mice And Men
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The dog Balthazar in the Forsyte Saga & Lennie in Of Mice And Men
Personally I examine the entire plot before I even begin reading anything - or watching any film.Quote:
Originally Posted by johann cruyff
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.
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...Quote:
Originally Posted by mayneverhave
Yes i agree with you on that.Quote:
Originally Posted by mayneverhave
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. :)Quote:
Originally Posted by Guinivere
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.
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!!Quote:
Originally Posted by kelby_lake
Oh well, an excellent author anyway... I'm still enjoying the experience.
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.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by wessexgirl
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.
Oh and Dobby's death too! :(Quote:
Originally Posted by kelby_lake
I thought of one more.
Andersen's fairy tale, death of a little match girl.
[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. :)
Oh god! That ripped my heart in two! I was eight years old when i read that book, and i just cried and cried.Quote:
Originally Posted by Anastasija
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.
Oh my god! how could i forget about Joes death in Bleak House! :bawling:
Don Quixote's death had me shocked. He just dies, and it was so sad after all his heroic acts!
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.
Ralph Touchett's death in The Potrtrait of a Lady
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...
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.
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.
Hairy Ape. The guy doesn't think he's worthy of being human so he dies in a gorilla pen in a zoo.
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.
Oh for sure Tess, in "Tess Of the D'Urbevilles".. her execution after she finally finds happiness with Angel is awful! :bawling:
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.
The death of the youngest Rostov in War and Peace.
Helen's death in Jane Eyre.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by Etienne
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.
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.
...Don Quixote...:(
*tear* I don't think I was so shocked even when Boromir died.
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.Quote:
Originally Posted by AuntShecky
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.
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.
Sybill's death in Dorian Gray. So moving.
I agree, great choices.Quote:
Originally Posted by V.Jayalakshmi
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.
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.