10 Books That Made Me Cry

[@echobravoromeo]

As I get older (41), I often find myself getting emotional. Usually when I think of my kids growing up; however, music and books have recently started to hit me hard as well. Another great video Juan!

[@ShiverMeTimbers70]

Agreed! Me (34) too.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Well, I turn 30 on December 8, so I’m learning a thing or two about getting older. 😂 I also find I don’t have the same tolerance for grueling stuff anymore-particularly real-life tragedy.

[@echobravoromeo]

@Plagued by Visions Life experiences and getting older tends to do that.

[@chriswestwood6490]

I came to your channel via Criminolly's review of Poking Holes. I love your videos, but I was blown away by your short story collection. I pretty much abandoned my family Sunday afternoon as I couldn't put it down! Many thanks and best wishes 😁

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank you so much, Chris! Sincerely. I’m so happy you enjoyed it! Thank you for giving it a chance. ❤️

[@Dessyman18]

I cant really say Ive bawled from a book yet but I will say that the last few pages of All the Pretty Horses made me shed a few just because of how BEAUTIFUL the prose was.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I hope to one day be similarly arrested by prose!

[@kerilowman9257]

Last House on Needless Street made me sob uncontrollably several times. It was a really beautiful experience.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I’ve heard this title before. I’ll keep my antennae up for it!

[@Priscilla_Bettis]

Come Closer and The Exorcist affected me, too. But my big emotional reaction was when I read Where the Red Fern Grows as an adult.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I read a passage of that to a 2nd grade class when I worked as a substitute teacher. It was the most wholesome moment of my life.

[@badrad9226]

I haven’t cried yet over a book but I’m very intrigued on what books would make me cry . Excellent video Juan , good to see you . I will check these out .

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank you! Good to hear from you, too. :)

[@badrad9226]

@@PlaguedbyVisions the same ✨

[@clawravenscroft1788]

What books will make one cry is always different. Really depends on your soft spot. If you can't stand cruelty against woman, or children or animals or if you cry because something is so beautiful heart warming or because of lost love or maybe because of a very happy ending after many hardships. Or maybe you are like me and nothing makes you cry. Just deeply impacted.

[@badrad9226]

@@clawravenscroft1788 mainly deeply impacted .

[@jestersmith9349]

It makes me happy that you have been able to cherish such emotional moments with these books! I’m sure every author wants to inspire such strong feelings, so I think that either happy tears or sad tears, they would be happy of the impact!

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

💖💖💖

[@seamusgaelic6447]

Books that have made me cry. So many. Too many to fully list here. But, a few that come to mind are: Boy's Life, by Robert McCammon" ** A Dog's Purpose, by W. Bruce Cameron ** Bless Me, Ultima, by Rudolfo Anaya ** LaRose, by Louise Erdrich ** Winesburg, Ohio, by Sherwood Anderson (specifically the short story "Hands" from the collection) ** The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini ** The Heart is a Lonely Hunter, by Carson McCullers ** The Poisonwood Bible, by Barbara Kingsolver ** The God of Small Things, by Arundhati Roy ** Salvage the Bones, by Jesmyn Ward (Juan, if you like Faulkner, you would love her!) ** Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson ** The Heart's Invisible Furies, by John Boyne ** Lincoln in the Bardo, by George Saunders ** On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous, by Ocean Vuong ** Shuggie Bain, by Douglas Stuart, and his latest, Young Mungo ** White Oleander, by Janet Fitch ** The Wizard of Loneliness, by John Nichols ** At Swim, Two Boys, by Jamie O'Neill ** The Leavers, by Lisa Ko ** The Five Wounds, by Kirsten Valdez Quade ** . Wow, compiling my list, I just realised, I am a cry baby! I seriously like a good cry though. It's so refreshing, and literature is the perfect way to get those tears to flow.

[@johnmalinsnz2090]

I'm too afraid to read the Kite Runner and a few others I recognise on your list.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

What a beautiful crybaby list you’ve got going here! Real men cry!

[@unstopitable]

What a marvelous surprise this video was. Thank you.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank YOU for watching!

[@CiardisInferno99]

I don't remember ever crying at a book but Russel Banks' "The Sweet Hereafter" and Thomas H. Cook's "Red Leaves" left me pretty emotionally gutpunched.

[@ashurmom2969]

Just subscribed, really enjoy your content 😊

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank you so much! ❤️

[@LivingDeadEnby]

Ursula K. Le Guin's "Left Hand of Darkness" made me cry. My brother's sudden death months before might have had to do with the intense impact the death of that certain person at the end of the book had on me, though. It hit me hard.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

That is a perfectly understandable reaction.

[@ITCamefromthePage]

DAMN Juan coming right for my throat by going "it made me cry 5 stars"...I think I literally did that review last week hahahaha. I cry super easy at books lol. I just cried A LOT at a non-fiction book about a Library Cat and weirdly enough at the end of a book based off of a videogame. Both I think were genuinely earned tears and I didn't feel like either were super manipulative. I think with Death of a Salesman it is probably better that you came to it later in life because I think that book especially is lost on a teenager, I know it made absolutely no impact on me at the time, and I guarantee if I were to revisit it, I'd get A LOT more out of it. A lot of these book sound absolutely outstanding. Ceremony and Mrs. Dalloway especially. I was genuinely tearing up by the end of this video a bit!

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

You need to read Ceremony! It is moving in the most tragic of ways, the true tragic sense, the murky, overbearing, Greek sense. Just reading this comment made me want to read it again!

[@happyhauntslibrary]

I am so happy to have found your channel! Just subscribed. I really want to get to The Exorcist since it’s such a classic and I love possession stories. I thought Come Closer was so effective at making me feel so helpless and unravelled!

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Happy you found it as well, welcome! The Exorcist works at a more “literary” level, I’d say, so a lot of more straight-up horror fans end up not liking it. I hope you do!

[@CliffsDarkGems]

Wonderful, honest, emotionally charged video Juan. As a white, English Major, South African male I feel your pain. There are books and plays written about the darkest time in our history that cause hurt, pain, bloody wounds from both sides that will always make me extremely emotional. Read The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay and plays by Athol Fugard. There are so many African stories that can and will make you cry.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank you so much for these recommendations! They sound absolutely indispensable. Death and the King’s Horseman by Nigerian playwright Wole Soyinka really affected me.

[@sellibudelli]

The master and margarita is my favorite book ever and the reason why i started learning russian. I can't wait to read it as intended by that beautiful mind. Thank you for reminding me of the uncontainable joy and heartwarming hope that story gave me.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

The Master and Margarita is a soul-healing journey! Too bad it also has very prominent racism. :(

[@paperwormscat9760]

It may less about your suffering and more a reason of us wanting to read sad books. I am a very melancholic person myself and can't wait to see what you gonna show. I always keep a page of a german second hand online book store open when watching your videos, so I can add all interesting titles to my watchlist. :D

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Haha, if people want to document my suffering, I am honored!

[@fiberartsyreads]

Such an interesting list! I don’t cry as easily when reading as opposed to watching movies/shows but Betty by Tiffany McDaniel had me bawling! 😭

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Agh, I have to read that!

[@jcasti6923]

'Betty', 'A Little Life', and the ending of 'Pretty Girls'

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I have a copy of Betty! Somehow I’ve never felt like reading it. 😂

[@Arven8]

Thanks, Juan. I'm late to the party, but you've convinced me to read The Exorcist. I find stories about demon possession very disturbing -- more disturbing than most other types of horror -- so I generally avoid it, out of anxiety. But I guess maybe that's a reason to read it -- face your fears and all. You did a nice job of describing what is good about the book. ... As for crying, well, the last novel I finished was All Quiet on the Western Front. That had me bawling near the end... A couple months ago, I read The Girl Next Door. That one had me feeling very sad and shedding a tear at several points... I always give a book credit if it makes me cry. The fact that an author is able to evoke that level of response from me, that is a real point in the book's favor. It means I'm identified with the story and characters, it's gone beyond just entertainment and it feels real to me. That's a real accomplishment, I think. Anyhow, thank you for the video.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I hope you got around to reading The Exorcist! Thank you so much for your lovely comment. 💖

[@Arven8]

@@PlaguedbyVisions I did, thank you. I enjoyed it very much.

[@jacob_ian_decoursey_the_author]

The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton is (maybe) the only book I ever read in a single night, and also had me sobbing by the end.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I read it in one night, too! I was in tears and also crushing on all the boys. 😂😂😂

[@TH3F4LC0Nx]

That's interesting how The Master and Margarita impacted you so deeply; I always like to hear stories of stories resonating with people so profoundly. For me, the big tearjerker is The Little Prince. Ripped my heart right out. 😭😭😭

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Yeah, I wasn’t expecting the impact of such beauty to resonate with me, but those are the beautiful surprises books always have in store.

[@Mondomeyer]

The Exorcist an interesting choice, but I think I understand it; Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left made me tear up.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

The Last House on the Left is a full-on refined tragedy. In fact, it’s inspired by the Bergman film adaptation of a really tragic ballad. I understand your choice as well.

[@Mondomeyer]

@@PlaguedbyVisions Yes, that's true. Horror is a form of tragedy when you get right down to it. Recently, I picked up an Igmar Bergman movie staring Ingrid Bergman. I wonder if that caused any confusion on set.

[@michellesmelancholia]

As the name of my channel may suggest, books that make me sad are my favourite type of books. Completely agree with your take on The Exorcist. I've watched the movie a ridiculous amount of times but I only read the book during my early 20s and the character of Father Karras broke me, especially as I was dealing with my own loss of faith in the religious sense. Fortunately for me the outcome of this was positive. I haven't revisited Juan Rulfo since high school, I really should do... when you described 'No Oyes Ladrar los Perros' it all came rushing back to me! The last book that made me cry was We Have Always Lived in the Castle ❤‍🩹

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Omg yes! I think Father Karras is one of the most tragic characters in 20th century American fiction. He truly gives me airs of Death of a Salesman!

[@MegBatsBujos]

I loved what you said about The Master and Margarita. Manuscripts don't burn.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

The Master and Margarita truly freed me!

[@johnmalinsnz2090]

The most recent book I read, Black Iris by Leah Raeder, focused a lot on mental illness, bullying of the main character because she is a lesbian, alcohol and drug abuse, all those sorts of harmful things. It's a romantic suspense novel, oddly enough, but don't let that put anyone off. So yeah, it made me quite emotional. Forbidden by Tabitha Suzuma deals with child abuse and sibling incest between the main characters, so the story had a strong emotional impact on me that left me feeling scarred. The coming of age southern gothic Bastard Out of Carolina by Allison Dorothy had me quite emotional. It's such a brilliant book, I definitely have to reread it. On a brighter note, the finale book of the Wheel of Time fantasy series by Robert Jordan made me cry, who wouldn't after reading fourteen books, lol.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Haha, the liberating cry after such a long series! I find that many of these themes you mentioned I tend to avoid if they’re explored from a melodramatic angle. Melodrama really does get to me!

[@saru3478]

Dennis Cooper's "I Wished" made me weep from the first page to its last. There are many elements that make it extremely personal to me in particular. Still, it's such a beautiful memoir to his friend, George Miles. It's less like a book and more like a pyramid built for him. I usually highlight things in books, but I couldn't bring myself to "deface" its pages that way. Heavily recommended.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I still have to get to this one! It’s on my shelf.

[@Glassandcandy]

As someone who grew up in Mississippi to a family deeply rooted there (been there since 1699 if you can believe it) SATF is such a deeply personally resonate book for me. I’ve read it probably 7 times now, it’s one of my absolutely favorite books of all time and it made me cry, not because of its difficulty, but because it is so deeply and personally tragic and accurate to the feelings that come from being part of that region of America and being a product and continual part of its history. [SPOILER]-- we Quinton suggests he and caddy kill themselves and caddy agrees but he backs out even though she’s begging him to just kill her- that shit hits me like a semi truck everytime [END SPOILER].

[@downsjmmyjones101]

I cried reading The Golden Compass(I was a pre-teen I think) because a kid is tortured and is left a soulless husk. I also cried reading The Whalestoe Letters part of House of Leaves. A mother and son try to love each other. Tragedy ensues.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

OMG THE INTERCISION SCENE! Nightmare fuel for months for me as well. 😭😭😭

[@arilith504]

Loved this video. The first book I ever remember crying to was one I read for school when I was about 13 called Gebr. (Bros.) by Ted van Lieshout (I haven't been able to find a translation, it's in Dutch). It's about two brothers, the youngest of whom has died. The eldest ends up reading his brother's diary and the book is kind of the diary entries and the living brother's thoughts intertwined. A lot of the diary entries are about how the younger brother realises his older brother is gay and by reading these entries the older brother kind of is confronted with this realisation about himself. It's just really beautiful and heartbreaking. I keep thinking about rereading it but, having now lost my own younger sister, I'm not sure I can bring myself to. Most recently I cried at the end of The Likeness by Tana French which was entirely unexpected but I guess I'd just gotten really attached to the characters in the book and the ending is quite bittersweet. I cry at everything these days though.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Haha, now I find I don’t really cry at much. I really do think it was the stress of college messing with my emotions haha.

[@arilith504]

@@PlaguedbyVisions Yeah, college is a bad time for many folks!

[@thoughtquake7516]

With regards to intersex characters in literature, another couple of books that come to my mind are 'Middlesex' by Jeffrey Eugenides and 'Annabel' by Kathleen Winter.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Have you read/would you recommend Middlesex? I’ve heard certain criticisms that make me apprehensive, but I do own a copy.

[@thoughtquake7516]

@@PlaguedbyVisions I haven't read it since it first came out so I don't remember it that well but as near as I can remember, I was not blown away by it. However, I would highly recommend 'Annabel.' It's a first novel by a Canadian writer, won a number of awards and I thought it was wonderful.

[@augustwillman2690]

While I didn't actually cry from the Exorcist, I completely agree that it was emotionally devastating and depressing, specifically from the position of the mother in my opinion. Though the priest's perspective is also emotional. The first time I read Death of a Salesman I hated it, but as an adult it hit much harder and made a much bigger impact. Other than Long Days Journey into Night, it's my favorite play. On one last note, I adore Leslie Marmon Silko, her poetry and spoken poetry is beautiful and amazing. Not sure if you've read Round House by Louise Erdrich, but I'd recommend that as well.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I think one of the biggest crimes is the fact that Death of a Salesman is taught at high schools. That is NOT the time to read that at all. Leslie Marmon Silko is amazing! And I read Round House in November 2021 and loved it!

[@roquerockafire5086]

William Peter Blatty makes me want to go back to church. I would be thrilled to hear your thoughts on the Cormac McCarthy books I see on your shelf. I'm reading 'Child of God' and it's surprisingly vulgar.

[@tectorgorch8698]

All The Pretty Horses got to me a couple of times. Didn't love it when the hero turns into Rambo/MacGuyver, but -- ?

[@johnmalinsnz2090]

Have you read The Road? It's my favourite by far. Blood Meridian was the first one of his I read, and it had me hooked on his books. I haven't read All the Pretty Horses yet, but it's next.

[@tectorgorch8698]

@@johnmalinsnz2090 Yes indeed. It won't disappoint.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I’ve had a couple of McCarthy reviews on the channel! - I talked about Blood Meridian in my “Top 9 Most Disturbing Books” video - I talked about The Road in my “Top 5 Saddest Horror Novels” video - I talked about Child of God in my “Top 10 Most Disgusting Books” video

[@roquerockafire5086]

Oh yeah I forgot 😅 that top ten video was how I decided between reading 'Child of God' and 'Outer Dark' first. I think all of McCarthy's novels are disturbing in different ways. I haven't read 'All the Pretty Horses' yet, although I did read 'The Crossing' it was shocking, tragic and very emotional.

[@zachzackzak]

I love the Sound and the Fury but it permanently damaged my reading,I have never been able to get back up to my old reading speed since having to slow down to such a degree to understand that book lol.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

The Sound and the Fury either shows you the beauty of literature or destroys you with its weight.

[@maddym4020]

“black skin white masks” should be required reading for all tbh. such an incredible foundational text in post-colonial theory that imo doesn’t get nearly the attention it deservss

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

100%. I’m currently reading Césaire’s Discourse on Colonialism and would say the same for it.

[@XenIsWhen]

Will you ever do a video about notoriously bad novels? The 372 Pages podcast has some great examples, but there are others as well.

[@johnmalinsnz2090]

I'd be interested in watching a video about which books Juan doesn't like and why.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I don’t know if I’d do a video on notoriously bad novels in general, but there’s one in particular from Mexico I REALLY want to do a video on!

[@ichirofakename]

I guess I better read Mrs. Dalloway again. All I remember about it is that it left me flat.

[@lukegoodard4472]

Do you ever read fantasy ? Would heavily recommend 'Realm of the Elderlings" series if you haven't heard of it. A very emotional read!

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I’m not really interested in fantasy! But emotion definitely piques my interest haha.

[@sowhat9571]

Did you ever read anything from Michel Houellebecq? 'Depressionism' writer. He sometimes gets to me.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I have not! I’m apprehensive given his open islamophobia, but if I ever hear of a title of his that sounds too compelling to miss, I guess I wouldn’t be entirely opposed.

[@kingspoit1]

I love Master and Margereta so much. read it in 2005. my favorite was the champagne labels given out as cash

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Such a beautiful, wondrous book, isn’t it?

[@BensRadio22]

Biographies usually make me cry at the end, but the end of Space is the place (Sun Ra) and Samuel Beckett: The Last Modernist really fucked me up. Both kind of for similar but different reasons, whole universes extinguishing with the people that created them, but in the case of Sun Ra, how many people were beside him in his last moments, even if he was a complete outsider in every community he ever was, and Beckett kind of self-diminishing himself, even with everyone around him trying to love him, like a wounded animal.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Oh, no no no. Even your sole description of Beckett’s biography gave me goosebumps. I could not handle knowing that man so intimately.

[@imaspoon4522]

When they assigned one of those Henry plays to us in college (Henry IV? Henry IV Part 2: Electric Boogaloo?) I just about had a breakdown because I waited till late at night to write my paper on it and someone I did not want to talk to would not stop calling me, and it was disturbing my timid, mandatory roommate. F'off everyone, I have to write about God knows what all night! I remember I still passed the class, but not much else. Books just don't really make me cry. They can sure make me miserable tho.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

I was expecting a lot more answers to be “Intro to Physics” etc. 😂😂😂

[@johnherndon9040]

All the pretty horses and News of the world- because they a “F this S I’m going back” moments.

[@paperwormscat9760]

I just read "come closer", and I thought it was very boring and dull. Not sure if that was because of the german translation, but I guess I expected more of it. She knew already on page 25 that she was possessed, there was no real mystery. No big journey of mental breakdowns and then the big reveal of it actually being a demon.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Oh, some books just aren’t for everyone. I’ll say, the mystery around the possession was my least favorite part. I was more latched on to the drama of her day-to-day life I guess.

[@sethmccandless3335]

Closest I got to crying so far was the end of Catcher in the Rye

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

That’s interesting! I don’t recall that book having much emotional impact, but it’s been over a decade since I read it.

[@sethmccandless3335]

@@PlaguedbyVisions yeah it was the part where he is watching his sister on the carousel and just smiling. It might have just been my personal interpretation of ot but it's like he is finally letting go and learning what is really important.

[@The5n0w]

Recently read The Plague by Camus, which hit quite hard after going through the pandemic, I felt very emotional trhoughout the whole book and cried at the death of the kid. Also The half blood prince when Dumbledore dies lol, I read the books as they were coming out, growing up along with the characters, and my teen heart was not ready 😂

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

“The Renegade,” a short story by Camus, also shattered my emotions when I was a teen. Camus did not mess around!

[@doublestarships646]

I didn't know people were snooty about The Exorcist. That book channels into our fears, anxiety and emotions at a subconscious level. I would say that there's probably something wrong with you if you DIDN'T feel anything when reading The Exorcist lolol.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

People are snooty about horror in general. 😒

[@casey4415]

🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@Glassandcandy]

Hold on a hot second… is that a puck figure on the top right corner? Are you a Berserk stan? (Please say yes)

[@d3mist0clesgee12]

Bookpiled brought me here, like this site, not really into to horror, scifi and fantasy, great site.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Welcome!

[@odothedoll2738]

I’m a few minutes in and believe me nothing that makes you emotional in this video will be nearly as embarrassing as anyone with ovaries. PMS induced mood swings has made me deeply upset/angry about the stupidest things imaginable.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

In 2023 I’m getting ovaries.

[@pastorytime2683]

For f***'s sake Juan, I DID read the exorcist and I found it boring 😂. Siân

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Okay, then we need to remedy a separate issue entirely… 👹

[@pastorytime2683]

@@PlaguedbyVisions 😅👍 I liked the Sara Gran tho!

[@clawravenscroft1788]

"Come closer" sounds like a book that demonizises lesbian relationships. That love for a female by a female is a sinful thing that should not be. :( I don't remember that I ever cried because of a book. Either I don't remember or I never have read something that impactful.

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

That would most definitely be a valid criticism. Their relationship is never really stated as much past possessive and cruel, but definitely throwing the wrench of qu33rness there complicates it. I wonder if it would’ve had a different impact with a hetero demonic relationship?

[@clawravenscroft1788]

@@PlaguedbyVisions Toxic hetero relationships weirdly attracts many people, especially woman. In films as in books alike. Just remeber the massive impact of Twillight and 50 Shades of Grey. Just toxic masculinity and a female main character with no thought and character treats or interests than beeing with a man. I really don't see what is so attractive about beeing used. Humans are weird...

[@eduardobenassi3072]

You're looking slim, dude 💪 The latest read that made me tear up a few times was The Unholy Consult by Scott Bakker. 💀🖤

[@PlaguedbyVisions]

Thank you, Eduardo! Time to start hitting the weights haha. What was so sad about The Unholy Consult?

[@eduardobenassi3072]

@@PlaguedbyVisions There's plenty of sadness in that series, lol. Depends on how immersed you get. That fourth book got me all sorts of upset and sad, but also wanting more.

[@Glassandcandy]

As someone who grew up in Mississippi to a family deeply rooted there (been there since 1699 if you can believe it) SATF is such a deeply personally resonate book for me. I’ve read it probably 7 times now, it’s one of my absolutely favorite books of all time and it made me cry, not because of its difficulty, but because it is so deeply and personally tragic and accurate to the feelings that come from being part of that region of America and being a product and continual part of its history. [SPOILER]-- we Quinton suggests he and caddy kill themselves and caddy agrees but he backs out even though she’s begging him to just kill her- that shit hits me like a semi truck everytime [END SPOILER].