The Reading of Tragedy
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I was thinking this morning of the handful of books that have really affected me over the years. Not necessarily books that have had a lasting influence on my thinking or even books that I love in the long term. I was thinking of those books that have left me depressed or sad for days after I finished reading them. They're not necessarily the best books (though sometimes they are), but they do have at least this one strength: their ability to affect the reader emotionally, which is something of a trick and not that common.
Anyway, here were the books I thought of:
The Last Battle
This is the last installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, and I was unable to read it until I was in college. I started it several times as a kid, but it was so sad I couldn't continue. When you start the book, Narnia is corrupted and everything has gone to hell. I could never read past the first two chapters or so.
Gone with the Wind
I read Margaret Mitchell's novel somewhere around 12 or 14 years old. At the end, it felt tragic. Scarlett comes to the great realization of her life, that she's been a fool and that Rhett is the man for her, at just the moment when Rhett cannot try for one minute more.
A Thousand Acres
This farmland take on King Lear by Jane Smiley left me with the feeling of stupid, unnecessary waste that is the heart of tragedy.
The Iliad
Bernard Knox wrote the introduction to the Fagles translation, which I read after I had finished it. He perfectly captured how I felt at the end. Although the epic ends on a note of humanity when Achilles allows Hector's father to take his body and bury it with honor, it doesn't make up for the sense of emptiness and loss (and foreboding) that accompanies the golden prince's death.
New Moon
The first third of this novel is unbearably sad to me. I think it contains Stephenie Meyer's best writing.
In the Woods
This is just a run-of-the-mill police procedural, but the characters are really vivid and really longing . . . they are so needy and they are so close to getting what will satisfy that need. And they just waste it.
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I was thinking this morning of the handful of books that have really affected me over the years. Not necessarily books that have had a lasting influence on my thinking or even books that I love in the long term. I was thinking of those books that have left me depressed or sad for days after I finished reading them. They're not necessarily the best books (though sometimes they are), but they do have at least this one strength: their ability to affect the reader emotionally, which is something of a trick and not that common.
Anyway, here were the books I thought of:
The Last Battle
This is the last installment of the Chronicles of Narnia, and I was unable to read it until I was in college. I started it several times as a kid, but it was so sad I couldn't continue. When you start the book, Narnia is corrupted and everything has gone to hell. I could never read past the first two chapters or so.
Gone with the Wind
I read Margaret Mitchell's novel somewhere around 12 or 14 years old. At the end, it felt tragic. Scarlett comes to the great realization of her life, that she's been a fool and that Rhett is the man for her, at just the moment when Rhett cannot try for one minute more.
A Thousand Acres
This farmland take on King Lear by Jane Smiley left me with the feeling of stupid, unnecessary waste that is the heart of tragedy.
The Iliad
Bernard Knox wrote the introduction to the Fagles translation, which I read after I had finished it. He perfectly captured how I felt at the end. Although the epic ends on a note of humanity when Achilles allows Hector's father to take his body and bury it with honor, it doesn't make up for the sense of emptiness and loss (and foreboding) that accompanies the golden prince's death.
New Moon
The first third of this novel is unbearably sad to me. I think it contains Stephenie Meyer's best writing.
In the Woods
This is just a run-of-the-mill police procedural, but the characters are really vivid and really longing . . . they are so needy and they are so close to getting what will satisfy that need. And they just waste it.
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posted by Anonymous at
4:25 PM
2 Comments:
I've balked reading some books--one was Crime and Punishment--I got to a scene where a horse was being flogged and couldn't read any more. I was haunted for days--obviously, there's more to C&P than that emotional resonation, but wanted to suggest it for your list. Susan E
It's funny that you should mention that scene in particular. I recently tried reading The World to Come, which my friend Julie recommended. And usually if Julie gives a book a particularly strong recommendation, it turns out to be excellent. But in the beginning of that book, livestock is tortured, and I just couldn't keep reading.
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