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So. Today I'm instructed to "Recommend a tear jerker." I have a hard time thinking of any of the books I read as "tear jerkers." Maybe because I think they have more substance than that. But I'm going to overcome my prejudice of what I believe the typical tear jerker is like and recommend some books that may move a person to tears. (To be honest, though, I can't remember the last time I cried while reading. I know, I'm a terribly cold-hearted human being.)
Of course, Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. If this book can't make you cry, I don't know what can. (I think I cried during it... If I didn't, I really am terribly cold-hearted.)
Little Women is a somewhat more cheerful tear-jerker that won't make you hate society at large.
But if societal crimes are your thing, The Hunchback of Notre Dame (or, more correctly, Notre Dame de Paris) is another great one. (Mr. Hugo was sure good at jerking those tears.)
However, after going over my list of books I've read on Goodreads (that website is my savior for lists like these), I've realized that I have, in fact, read and enjoyed some actual tear jerkers (the stereotypical kind that I was talking about before). So, hopefully I won't embarrass myself by admitting that I've read...
The Wednesday Letters and Christmas Jars by Jason F. Wright. Yes, I have read a full two books by Jason F. Wright, and I am not ashamed. (...Mostly.) I actually really liked them.
I have yet to read an unabridged version of Hunchback, but even w/ the abridged version, I wiped some tears. ( I think I was in fifth grade).
ReplyDeleteAww! The ending was just so heartbreaking...
DeleteNext year, I am going to read Les Miserables. Really. Promise. (This year's giant book is A Suitable Boy, and I am on page 103.)
ReplyDeleteThe Christmas Jars. OK, I will not judge because I haven't read it and maybe it is good. I can't read those books. You know them. I can absolutely sob over really blatantly manipulative Bollywood movies, though, so I've got no higher ground here.
My tentative plan is to do a Les Mis readalong next year (the only time that made sense to do it this year was smack in the middle of a school semester, and I just can't do that to myself). Hopefully it will work out, and maybe we can read it together! :)
DeleteYeah, I know...it's terrible! I always go into them so skeptical, and then I just get sucked in. Definitely in the category of blatantly manipulative Bollywood movies (or, in my case, ridiculously idealistic rom coms). We all need a good cry over a stupid book once in a while, right? ;)
So to clarify, I'm not actually saying that it's good...just that if you enjoy that sort of thing, then it's on the higher end of tear-jerkers-for-the-sake-of-tear-jerkers. Hah.
DeleteBooks I remember crying over:
ReplyDeleteWhere the Red Fern Grows
Rascal
Old Yeller
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
I know there are others, but those are the ones I can remember right now :-) I'm much more likely to cry over a movie than a book, and over an animal dying than a person.
A lot of people cry over Where the Red Fern Grows, but I never have, as much as I like the book. I'm heartless when it comes to animal deaths in books! I like animals, but I'm a lot more sad when people die. But even then I have to really love the character. And I'm the same way with movies--I'll get teary over the tiniest thing in a movie, but I just don't really cry while reading, even though I feel like books leave a bigger impact on me.
DeleteI didn't cry much over books when I was younger, but since Summer was born, I just can't handle deaths of children in stories. It's better now than it was when Summer was a newborn - or maybe it's not, but I just know what to avoid. I've never liked sad books, though, unless they're true stories.
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of similar--I'm more likely to cry over things now, especially things that have to do with marriages, like marital problems or the death of a spouse. I guess now I can sort of imagine what that would be like (well, better than I could before). Mostly, though, I just cry over movies. I cry over just about anything in movies. I remember how much you don't like sad books. :)
Delete