Books – Helping Me to be Less of an Emotional Robot Since Sometime in the 1980s
October 16, 2011 in WLP Wants To Know
Anyone that knows me will tell you that I am not the most articulate with my emotions. I handle a couple well. I’m good with rage, hurt and, oddly enough silliness. My sisters and I would argue that this is our austere German and Scottish heritage shining through and yet I know Germans and Scotts who are emotionally well rounded.
Recently, a death of an acquaintance happened suddenly and without warning. To deal with the emotions brought to the forefront (grief, fear, sadness, anger) I did what I often do – dove into books.
Sometimes, for me anyway, having a good cry over a fictional character’s situation can help open the floodgates to my own emotions and help me to face up to and deal with my personal feelings surrounding whatever issue is bothering me.
The following are some of my favourite tearjerker books.
***Spoilers***
The “This is so Wrong” Tearjerker – Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Louisa May Alcott’s story of the March sisters during the last stages of the American Civil War is a poignant tale of life’s struggles and triumphs. My mom read this book to my sisters and I several chapters a night for several months when we were 10, 8 and 6. Little women was about girls and here we were sisters, not a brother in sight, just like the March girls. We loved it. (Side note: My dad is a trooper.)
One thing the sisters had to endure that we did not, petticoats excluded , was the death of one of their own. When Beth died my sisters and I lost it. We sobbed and sobbed. She was so good, wonderful and kind, everything a little girl should be and yet she died. DIED!!
I recently reread the book and still sobbed. There is something horrible about the death of a child, something so backwards and perverted that I think you pretty much have to be made of stone to not be effected.
The Self Sacrifice Tearjerker- The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by CS Lewis
Lewis’ Chronicles of Narnia series was a staple in my home. I’ve read The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe, or had it read to me, so many times that I’ve lost count. However, every single time Aslan sacrifices himself to the White Witch and her minions to save Edmund I can’t keep it together.
You could probably argue that my response is directly related to my Christian upbringing, but I like to think that in most people the there is something so moving and unbelievable about one person, or large talking Lion, taking the onus for another that you cannot help but be effected emotionally.
The Gut Wrenching “How Can I Go On” Tearjerker – Lover Eternal by JR Ward
In Lover Eternal, JR Ward tells the story of Rhage and Mary two lovers that, by all accounts, should never have met, but through fate are brought together and then by fate (that fickle bitch) are torn apart by death. Although, the book has a fantastic happily ever after the scenes of death and loss that lead up to it are ridiculously sad. It makes me want to crawl in a ball and never leave my bed. I cry fat, ugly tears when I read this book.
The Joyful Tearjerker – The Hinge Factor by Erik Durchmeid
Erik Durschmeid’s essay on the events that lead to the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the subsequent fall of the Iron Curtain undo me.
I was 10 when, thanks to CNN, I watched free Germans dance a top a landmark that for decades had stood as a reminder of the oppressive Soviet Regime. My father cried and called his parents, German immigrants, and explained to us why this was such a momentous occasion. He told us the story of our Oma barely more than a girl, finding herself on the Eastern side of Germany, but in love with a boy on the West. Our Oma, I shudder to think of how, came up with $25 US dollars to pay a woman to show her the way into West German. The woman lead her to a river, pointed to it and said told her to swim. When My Oma died in 2004, she died still unable to swim, and yet somehow she crossed that river and left every single member of her family behind for love. The fall of the wall meant that she could return home and see the family she had been cut off from for over 40 years.
When I read Durschmeid’s recounting of the joy and jubilation that occurred that night when one off handed comment by a German official (“They can go whenever they want, and no one will stop them.”) ultimately lead to the end of 40 years of oppression and isolation I feel like I’m there. I feel like I can almost taste the excitement and new beginnings and I cry. Every. Single. Time.
Now, that is a good Tearjerker.
What are some books that make you cry the ugly cry?
)…at least most of the time.
