It Doesn't Take Much

What does it take for a book to make tears spring to your eyes? In my case, not much.  If the writing is real and engaging, I'm primed and ready.  This week, The Broke and The Bookish want to know the Top Ten Books that Made You Cry. This should be an easy list for me: it is not an uncommon occurrence for me to be laughing or crying while engrossed in a book. Problem is, I could convince myself I cried in all the books that touched me...if the writing is there, chances are the tears are also.  If the writing is sub-par, I'll be crying too...just for a different reason.


So I'm going to switch it up. Instead of specific titles, these are the topics that have the potential to put me in a puddle. (of tears. ahem.)


1. When gruff old guys turn teddy bear. Such as Squire Hamley in Wives and Daughters when his wife is dying (played perfectly by Michael Gambon in the BBC adaptation).

2. When someone surrenders a lifelong dream. Like in Lee Miller's Fair and Tender Ladies, when the harsh realities of life crash in.  Or Fannie Flagg's Standing in the Rainbow.  When we are young we are confidant that we can do anything we purpose to do...seeing dreams die tears me apart.

3. Reflection on life not lived.  Remnants of Glory by Teresa Miller and Clay's Quilt by Silas House both left me like that.  I guess this is tied into the last one, except in reverse.

4. When a kid's most beloved pet dies. Old Yeller anyone?  Where the Red Fern Grows?  Stone Fox? I'm not even a dog person necessarily, but these things are SAD.  I cried buckets with these guys.

5. A mother being unable to protect her children.  I actually try to avoid some of these books.  I just can't handle it.  They Came Like Swallows by William Maxwell and The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan are good examples of books that deal with this without something dreadful happening to the child (and yes, they still put me in tears.)


6. Writing that identifies with a serious internal struggle.  Comfort in numbers and all that?  Some things are so hard to put into words, that the effect is all the stronger when you encounter them.  The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath, for example, shows such an amazing, clear yet confusing struggle with depression.  The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather is one of my favorites because of how she explains the artist's struggle with his muse, how to get that elusive creativity and imagination out and formed into something tangible...and the sacrifices that go hand in hand with making your art a priority.


7. Real, lasting, time-tested love.  When fascination and respect still exist after years of hard stuff, I get all misty.  It's like a modern day fairy tale.  Nicholas Sparks is not what I'm talking about--way too mushy-gushy for me.  I'm thinking more like Persuasion by Jane Austen.


8. Girls dealing with hurt and rejection, requiring strength and courage to make it through.  Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson and The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck both are this kind of book for me.

9. The struggling, starving Irish.  A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.  Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt.  Star of the Sea by Joseph O'Connor.  Nory Ryan's Song by Patricia Reilly Giff.  Oh dear, do these books choke me up.


Ah, well, I can't seem to come up with any other major categories.  But since I mentioned like a gazillion books, I think I'm okay with that list.