Most Depressing Tomes

[rosco rathbone]

This is the thread where you chime in with your opinion of what book is or isn't the most depressing book known to you.


In my opinion, the most horribly depressing book is The Elementary Particles by Michele Houllebecq. By which I mean to say that; I have never read a book that cast me into the depths of horror in such a summary and brutal fashion.

I ordered it on strong recommendations. When I picked it up from my booksellers' and perused the blurbs and summaries, I thought to myself "this sounds like strong poison. Twere better to give this one a pass." Then I went straight home and read the whole thing in one horrified, entranced sitting; at the end of which I was cast into a depression that lasted for days.

I've never read a book that gave such a voice to my most shameful fears and longings. It's the most cynical and despairing thing I ever read.

But that's just me. What is YOUR most triple-X, deadly venom, surgeons-general warning, hide-the-razor-blades book?

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Old Yellar

-Colly

 

[sweetnpetite]

I was cast into a deep meloncholy by "Don't know much about History"

So much of the truth of history as presented by the author is that humanitarian godfearing goals where stated but mearly to cover for greed, selfishness, and the excuse to mistreat other human beings.

while I actually pretty much believe that, to a large extent, it was too much for me to take. I didn't finish reading it. I think it could have used a *little* bit on some positive aspect of human nature.

 

[minsue]

Too many to decide. Of those I've read recently - Daughter by Asha Bandele. Very good book, but I cried through most of it (one of the reasons I know it's a very good book).

 

[shereads]

Old Yellar

-Colly

'

Three-way tie, all children's books: Old Yeller, The Yearling, and The Red Pony.

Most recently, I was enjoying the whimsical "The Life of Pi," when out of the blue came a chapter of such cruelty and mayhem that I felt physically sick. I know there must be some point to what he wrote, and I'm sure the abrupt mood-change makes it a better book, but I hope I'm over the worst of it.


Edited to add: Current non-fiction isn't exactly boosting my spirits. "The Price of Loyalty" actually made me cry. No matter how cynical you think you are, it's not enough to prepare you for that book.

 

[Lucifer_Carroll]

Difficult.

There were moments in the Darkness series by Turtledove that I cried, but everything ended up relatively happy in the end. Similarily, I didn't feel razor bladey about Salinger though he usually touches me pretty well. Ditto for Shakespeare's tragedies with the exception of Hamlet (that *shink* noise was Perdita getting ready to shiv me). "Stone Butch Blues" by Leslie Feinberg was probably the closest in book format to touching me depressingly. Yet even that fell short of the pure depression mark.

I know of a few animes that have left me in a similarily Rathbone feeling: "Now and then, here and there" for instance as well as Z.O.E. Idolo and the last episode of Cowboy Bebop.

And in the comic sense, the manga Confidential Confessions by Reiko Momochi regularly stirs such feelings in me, especially the tales on suicide.

So I still seek out the BOOK that will give me that feeling. Right now I'm sort of leaning on the Japanese and real life for those soul crushing feelings of depression.

 

[rgraham666]

The Grapes of Wrath and All Quiet on The Western Front usually do me in.

 

[doormouse]

Of Mice And Men .. or The Green Mile

 

[shereads]

Winnie the Pooh. Any episode featuring Eeyore.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Wicked.
I cried when the wicked witch died, she was very misunderstood.

 

[minsue]

Wicked.
I cried when the wicked witch died, she was very misunderstood.

Have you read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister?

 

[doormouse]

Wicked.
I cried when the wicked witch died, she was very misunderstood.

Ding Dong! The witch is dead!

Which old witch?

The wicked witch!

Ding Dong the wicked witch is dead!

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Have you read Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister?

Not yet, but that's on my list...I love his works.

 

[shereads]

The Grapes of Wrath and All Quiet on The Western Front usually do me in.

An amen on "Grapes of Wrath" and "Of Mice and Men." I haven't read "All Quiet On the Western Front." I'll wait until I want to be depressed some more.



Also guaranteed to wipe the smile off your face: "Reading Lolita in Tehran," just out in paperback.

 

[minsue]

Also guaranteed to wipe the smile off your face: "Reading Lolita in Tehran," just out in paperback.

I've had that one for a while now, but I haven't been able to bring myself to read it yet.

 

[ABSTRUSE]

Oh yes,,,, the Good Earth is also a downer.

 

[Guest]

I don't think any book has ever depressed me, or even made me unbearably sad. I don't read true-crime, horror or psych books. Tragic stories can make me sad but not depressed. No great art does.

Beethoven and Wagner can do me in emotionally but it's always good. "King Lear" kills me but it's good too, the beauty of art always transcends tragedy for me.

Perdita

 

[shereads]

"Reading LoLita in Tehran"

I've had that one for a while now but I haven't been able to bring myself to read it yet.

Ironic, isn't it?

 

[Rumple Foreskin]

This is the thread where you chime in with your opinion of what book is or isn't the most depressing book known to you.

What is YOUR most triple-X, deadly venom, surgeons-general warning, hide-the-razor-blades book?

No contest:

Most Depressing: Great Expectations - by Charles Dickens

Dishonorable Mention: Bleak House - same depressing dude.

Rumple Foreskin

 

[dr_mabeuse]

I remember being pretty bummed out by Hubert Selby Jr's Last Exit to Brooklyn.

In general, stuff on TV depresses me more than things in books. Seriously, if I watch TV for any length of time, I get really bummed out. Especially reality shows. These people are just so unattractive.

---dr.M.

 

[rosco rathbone]

, the beauty of art always transcends tragedy for me.

Perdita

The humor of great art makes me laugh through my tears. Chekov's been doing that lately. I always feel like, "fuck, what can you do but laugh", though, which isn't really that great a feeling when you stand back and look at it.

 

[rosco rathbone]

"....Grendel is a really interesting book, which will captivate your heart for the antagonist. The author, John Gardener portrayed Grendel as an innocent creature who is force to become evil due to humans and a dragon who steers him wrong. This book is mainly about how Grendel reaches the state in which he becomes total destructive. In the first part of the book Grendel wanted to become friends with humans, but humans feared him due to his physical apperance in which we all notice at first and judge a person by it , instead of what is truly significant their inner being. Grendel's first defense against a brusque universe is solipsism: the belief that the self can know only itself and that it is only existent thing. The main flaw in solipsism is that it contradicts every aspect of human experience. Grendel is unsatisfied and nervous under it's tenuous cover. In the second half of the book, after Grendel visits the dragon he has a different belief in which nothing has meaning;that life is a long series of accidents and is in itself an accident. He becomes the monster everyone portrays him to be. He then kills with no pity and brings raids upon the thanes. In the last Chapters Grendel meets his match Beowulf, who is the only level mind in the entire novel. Beowulf completes the journey that provides Grendel the answer to his puzzle. The meaning of life is in its living. Though it is too late for Grendel to react, he rejects Beowulf and all that the hero represents , and so Grendel's death , like his life, is merely an accident. ..."

 

[Guest]

The humor of great art makes me laugh through my tears. Chekov's been doing that lately. I always feel like, "fuck, what can you do but laugh", though, which isn't really that great a feeling when you stand back and look at it.

Rosco, one of my fave stories is A Story without an End. At the bottom you can click to an index of other Chekhov stories online.

We must always have humour.

Perdita

 

[oggbashan]

Rachel Carson: Silent Spring

Any book that attempts to predict world events by measuring the Great Pyramid (especially if that book comes in three volumes).

Any book on Napoleon Bonaparte that doesn't admit that he was responsible for the death of most of a couple of generations of Frenchmen.

Og

 

[Vincent E]

A great American novel, and a very depressing one also, is The Octopus by Frank Norris.