The 4 saddest books I´ve read - a personal experience

 

 

 

1. Painted Bird by Jerzy Kosinski

 Content

This story follows an abandoned young boy who wanders alone through the frozen bogs and broken towns of Eastern Europe during and after World War II, trying to survive. His experiences and actions occur at and beyond the limits of what might be called humanity, but Kosinski never averts his eyes, nor allows us to ...

 My View

Harsh and brutal is the journey of this kid. It is impossible not to be appalled by the world and to feel for boy, to feel his pain and to see what is transforms him into.

 

 

 2. Where the Crawdads sing by Delia Owens

 

 Content

Kya Clark, the so-called Marsh Girl, is sensitive and intelligent, she has survived for years alone in the marsh that she calls home, finding friends in the gulls and lessons in the sand. Then the time comes when she yearns to be touched and loved. When two young men from town become intrigued by her wild beauty, Kya opens herself to a new life — until the unthinkable happens. 

 My View

I´ve never experienced loneliness depited so intensely and fierce before. This is one main issue this novel revolves around from my point of view, the severe loneliness of a child and longing to belong. It really did make me cry.

 

 

 3. Set this house in Order by Matt Ruff

 

 Content

A suspenseful novel about 2 young people: Penny suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. Andy, who also suffers from the same illness, wants to help her. He himself has learned to let all his personalities live in an imaginary house in his head. Because of Penny, he discovers a locked door that had not previously entered his consciousness ...

 My View

Maybe this book is not always super sad but more heavy by the subject and the issues it revolves around, but I still think it belongs on the list, also because the trauma experienced at a young age is bitter and disquieting. A great read

 

 

 4. The Bone People by Keri Hulme

 Content

In a tower on the New Zealand sea lives an estranged artist (Kerewin), in exile from her family. One night her solitude is disrupted by a speechless, mercurial boy. As she succumbs to his feral charm, she also falls under the spell of his Maori foster father Joe. Out of this trinity evolves a mystery, a love story, and an ambitious exploration of the zone where Maori and European meet, clash, and merge.

 My View

This novel contains a fierce and unsettling mixture of tenderness and brutality. The contrast of both intensify the violence the boy has experienced and is still experiencing and the struggle the adults face to overcome their own demons. A tough read; it did make me cry.