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Original poster

The saddest book you've ever read . . .

308 replies

expatinscotland · 27/05/2005 13:51

or didn't finish b/c it was just too depressing?

'White Oleander' by Janet Fitch

OP posts:
Lilymaid · 21/03/2011 20:38

Persuasion - until it resolves itself happily at the end. Not depressing, just sad.

moggiek · 21/03/2011 20:32

The Grapes of Wrath
Birdsong

haggis01 · 21/03/2011 17:07

Someone earlier listed Precious Bane by Mary Webb - I agree. Cried buckets but the ending has some happy elements.

The Mill on the Floss by Eliot is pretty sad, as is Jude the Obscure and Tess by Hardy.

I always cry when I read Twenty Thousand Streets under the Sky by Patrick Hamilton because I want Bella To have a happy future so much.

I also Love George Gissing's books and find some of them pretty sad (but true) especially the Nether World and Workers in the Dawn.

Zola's L'Assommoir and Germinal are also pretty heartbreaking.

The final MOG book when he dies and comes back as ghost cat to help with the new kitten (and I hate cats)my DS's face was so pitiful to look at that I had to put the book infront of my face.
The Little Wooden Horse and Gobbolino books also have the same effect.

Itsjustafleshwound · 21/03/2011 13:48

Happy Prince
Thousand Splendid Suns/ Kite Runner
She's Come Undone
When a Crocodile Eats the Sun

I am an easy target !

Swangirl · 21/03/2011 13:32

Curious Case Benjamin Button I have just read the short story and was in tears at the end

MurkyTurkey · 20/03/2011 19:09

Pawn in frankincense by Dorothy Dunnett, sniff. Sad

TaudrieTattoo · 20/03/2011 18:56

Half a Yellow Sun. It's brilliant, but so moving.

TaudrieTattoo · 20/03/2011 18:56

Great Expectations - lovely Joe
Beloved
Birdsong
Little Women
The Big Stone Gap one where the little boy dies of leukaemia
Private Peaceful
The Woman Who Walked Into Doors and its sequel,Paula Spencer.
The Road.

JeremyVile · 20/03/2011 18:45

Alone In Berlin - Hans Fallada.
So bleak.

bilblio · 20/03/2011 18:40

A child called It - I cried myself to sleep almost every night while I was reading it. Crying with sadness and anger. My Mum had been working with an abused child the year before and some of the things in the book were similar to what she went through.

Also Lovely Bones and Captain Corelli's Mandolin

Onlyaphase · 20/03/2011 18:34

Another vote for The Road. I don't think I wept at the end, it was more that I felt I would never be happy again.

On the Beach - I always cry at the end.

Diana by RF Delderfield - when she dies at the end it is horrible, and this poor man who has loved her all his life is left there alone.

Caoimhe · 20/03/2011 18:28

Agree with colditz about The Road - it left me feeling completely without hope! Also cried at A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth. I hated Angela's Ashes though - it just seemed completely ridiculous - every few pages another random sibling died - I just didn't believe a word of it.

goodbyemrschips · 20/03/2011 18:24

Another vote for The bridges of madison county.....the only book to make me shed tears.

I have seen goodnight mr tom, so i know the story do you think I should give the book a go.?

VivaLeBeaver · 20/03/2011 18:10

The Road. Could not finish it as it was so depressing.

ithaka · 20/03/2011 18:09

'Until Tonight' by Laure Adler - a memoir about the death of her young son. It is written in such a spare and elegant style, the large hospital is Kafkaesque, she never seems to get a diagnosis, it is unbearable and resonates so strongly for me. Definately the saddest story I have ever read.

cornsilk678 · 20/03/2011 17:59

a thousand splendid suns
Schindlers ark
the road

colditz · 20/03/2011 17:57

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy

It's desolate.

Colyngbourne · 20/03/2011 17:56

There are lots of books with sad bits in - at which I am more than likely to cry - but the "saddest book" as a whole, rather than just bits in it? Possibly

On the Beach - Nevil Shute
The Mouse & His Child - Russell Hoban
Through A Glass Darkly - Jostein Gaarder

SandStorm · 20/03/2011 11:08

Uncle Tom's Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe - my mum told me not to read the ending in public as it was the book I was reading on my daily commute. How right she was!

Also, Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo. It's one of the books I read regularly with my year 5s and every time I tell them to read the ending at home rather than in the group session at school, mostly because it makes me cry every time and I know the ending already!

OzziiMum · 20/03/2011 10:55

chinese cinderella by adeline yen mah, cried so much :(
even sadder because it's true

steffee · 11/12/2005 22:34

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

mymama · 10/12/2005 12:54

My sister's keeper by Jodie Piccoult

Dave Pelzer's personal story about his own childhood enduring horrid abuse from his own mother (2nd worst case in Californian history). This was an Oprah Book Club book.

blueshoes · 09/12/2005 21:58

Of Mice and Men
Bridges of Madison County

merrycompo · 09/12/2005 17:23

Polo - by Jilly Cooper (bear with me!) The bit where Ricky's little boy dies because he's driving too fast and when drunk

PranSerahndDancer · 09/12/2005 17:22

You can just have it Rachey - just CAT me your address and I'll send it