Monday, November 27, 2017

On melancholy books

One of my favorite things about books is that there are books for every mood. Below is a list of some books you may enjoy if you’re looking for a more melancholy and sad read:

The Things They Carried
  • The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien - This book has funny moments and terrifying moments, but the overall feeling of this book is sad and thoughtful and definitely melancholy. This book deals with the Vietnam War in a very thoughtful and somewhat gloomy (but honest and vulnerable) way.


Hold the Dark
  • Hold the Dark by William Giraldi - Missing children, a cold and unforgiving landscape, and a narrator who’s experienced much loss come together to make this book both intriguing and pensive.


Go Ask Alice
  • Go Ask Alice by Beatrice Sparks - This fictional diary of a young woman’s descent into a life of drugs, sex, and difficulties can be a difficult and sad read. Recommended for YA readers.


The Year of Magical Thinking
  • The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion - Didion’s account of the year following her husband’s death is a serious and vulnerable look at encountering grief. This book is perfect for anyone experiencing loss and wondering how to cope with it.


What Daddy Did
  • What Daddy Did by Neal Shusterman - This fictional story regarding one family dealing with the death of their mother (at the hand of their father) is a difficult look at grief and at young children coping with loss and learning to move past it.


What books would you add to this list? What melancholy books have you enjoyed? What makes a book melancholy in your mind?

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