I love a good sob. I love a good sob watching a movie, I love a good sob reading a book. I’m really not fussed; I’ll cry at absolutely anything worth crying over. I often choose books knowing full well that they’re going to have an adverse effect on my tear ducts but that’s just the way I like it. There are a fair few books which make me cry every time I read them, no matter how many times I’ve got through them before. I thought I’d do a little post telling you all about the books which have that devastating affect on me.
My
favourite book of all time is probably the one which had the most profound
affect on me and my emotions. People who know me will know how much I love Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. It’s one of those books
that I recommend to absolutely everyone as it’s just so versatile as a piece of
literature and falls into so many different categories and genres. Technically,
it’s science fiction and I’m really not a science fiction kind of girl so I’m
reluctant to describe it as being so. One thing it definitely is is thought
provoking and devastating. The story takes a turn unexpectedly around half-way
through and everything to come is heart breaking and really makes you think
about your attitude towards others.
I
wasn’t a big fan of the movie of My
Sister’s Keeper. It was sad, obviously, and I did have a little cry but the
book was executed in a much better way and was all the more heartbreaking. I’m
a massive fan of Jodi Picoult and her work, I almost included another of her
stories, The Storyteller, in my favourite books of all time
post a few months back in fact. I definitely think she’s mastered the technique
of writing books which have ridiculous effects on their readers and I’m pretty
sure I’ll continue to cry at her writing for as long as she keeps producing
books.
I
watched the movie of The Boy in the
Striped Pyjamas by John Boyne before
I read the book. I visited my grandparents’ house one evening and was greeted
with “We’ve just bought this film from Sainsbury’s! You should borrow it when
we’ve watched it.” I did and boy, did I cry. I bought the book whilst I was
living in France so I still don’t own a copy in English- nor have I read it in
English. I’m sure the language is irrelevant though and it’d have exactly the
same effect on my emotions. It’s one of those books where you honestly just
don’t see the ending coming and when it hits, as much as you don’t want to cry,
you have absolutely no choice in the matter. You even find yourself feeling a
little guilty for crying at just that one tiny aspect of a massive and
devastating concept. Amazing and profound literature.
The
last choice on my list here is my favourite book series of all time (yes, it
even beats Harry Potter!). Do I even need to name it? His Dark Materials. The entire story is amazingly written- Philip Pullman writes in a
sophisticated and beautifully descriptive way, it’s almost impossible not to
love the world that he has created for us. Lyra’s world is one full of mystery
and intrigue and of course, the ending leaves me in absolute destruction every
single time I read it. I’m so excited to see what the BBC do with it in their
up and coming adaptation of the series.
Are
there any books you’ve read that make you sob like a little baby? PLEASE let me
know, I always like to add to my list of soul-destroying books wherever I can.
