Saddest Stories/Novels You've Read

Guttersnipe

Guttersnipe

mortal ally
Joined
Dec 28, 2019
Messages
1,656
Location
Cocagne
Doesn't have to be speculative (I wasn't sure exactly where to post this). For me it was "The Scarlet Ibis" even though I didn't quite understand it at the time. Parts of White Fang made me feel like canines deserve an apology.

If not entirely sad, can you point to a story or novel with one or a couple sad moments?
 
Get Carter by Ted Lewis, not sci-fi but a classic novel never the less, the ending always makes me wanna scream out, dont die!!

I should say 99% is not sad but just the last scene.
 
The Sum of All Fears by Tom Clancy. The chapters involving how the terrorists managed to nuke the East Coast is depressing. The mere fact the plot worked will demoralize you, but Clancy managed to get down the stark, horrific aftermath of an atomic strike and the entropy that ensures is flat out bleak.
 
I second The Scarlet Ibis. I was introduced to it in 7th grade reading class and re-read it periodically. I cry every time. That story helped shape my view of humanity.

I also find Where the Red Fern Grows tear-jerking.

Off-hand, I can't think of any sci-fi or fantasy which I have reacted to in quite the same way. I haven't read any of the other stories so far mentioned in this thread.
 
The Lake of Tuonela Keith Roberts short story. Superficially a story about a man exploring a canal on another planet but as it progresses it becomes obvious that it is a story about him sliding across into death with hope of reaching a better place. Traversing the titular lake, dark and deep underground with no idea what is on the other side is the 'crossing over'.
It is quite beautiful.
I'm in tears now just recalling it.
 
Astro Pen said:
The Lake of Tuonela Keith Roberts short story. Superficially a story about a man exploring a canal on another planet but as it progresses it becomes obvious that it is a story about him sliding across into death with hope of reaching a better place. Traversing the titular lake, dark and deep underground with no idea what is on the other side is the 'crossing over'.
It is quite beautiful.
I'm in tears now just recalling it.
Click to expand...
Did you know that Tuonela (a.k.a. Manala) is the underworld of Finnish mythology?
 
I forgot to mention Of Mice and Men, specifically its scenes of the death of a dog and, later, of Lennie. Also, the fifth and sixth books in the Harry Potter series had me down when I was a kid.
 
Hardy's Jude the Obscure, Joyce's "The Dead", Tolstoy's "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," Wharton's The Age of Innocence, Dostoyevsky's Notes from the Underground, Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude, McCarthy's The Road, Conrad's Heart of Darkness, Mishima's The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, Ishiguro's Remains of the Day.
 
Leviathan by John Gordon Davis
I read this as a teenager and it filled me with rage and sadness. It still does.
 
Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill. I couldn't read the last few pages, there was a moment of hope near the end and didn't want to risk dashing it.
 
"Watchmen" by Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons. And it gets more melancholic (perhaps because more nostalgic) the older it gets
 
Paladin of the Lost Hour by Harlan Ellison It's by far one his best stories but , I find the ending very depressing .
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
Guttersnipe Saddest Films You've Ever Seen General Film Discussion 57
Thor_Doomhammer Officially the saddest picture I have ever seen (HP fanart) J K Rowling 13
H Which are the Saddest Movies you've seen? General Film Discussion 66
M What was most saddest thing in the books of R.Jordan ? Robert Jordan 33
Dave Which was The Saddest Star Trek Episode? Star Trek Discussions 24

Similar threads


Back
Top