Try “The membranes” by Chi Ta Wei or This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Icy-Progress8829 on
Have you watched The Imitation Game? It’s a tear jerker. It is based on the book
Alan Turing: The Enigma
gros-grognon on
I don’t think “A Little Life” would satisfy a craving for melancholy; it’s a lot more overt, even emotionally pornographic, about the characters’ trauma.
Edmund White’s “The Beautiful Room is Empty” might fit the bill, though? It’s just gorgeously written and very introspective. Dale Peck’s “Martin and John” is another excellent novel, as is (of course!) James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room”, and both are quite sad. Paul Monette’s “Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story” is memoir and made me cry buckets.
Sarah Schulman’s novels “Shimmer” and “Rat Bohemia” aren’t as demonstably *sad* but there’s definitely an air of melancholy about them, thanks to the protagonists’ alienation.
raniwasacyborg on
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller is an absolute heartbreaker of a book, if you’re in the mood to feel like your heart’s been ripped out of your chest 😅
HughHelloParson on
The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
Potential_Minute_409 on
This probably isn’t what your looking for but a book called “And the band played on” is really sad and queer. (non-fiction about aids)
its_me_its_me_hi on
“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. It’s queer, it’s sad, it’s written by a linguistic/poetic genius.
“In The Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado is another favorite. I’m not sure I’d characterize it as sad but it’s def heavy. It’s about a queer relationship that is emotionally abusive (maybe physically too but it’s been a while since I’ve read it so I don’t remember). Each chapter is written in the style of a different genre which is super duper interesting.
gabbajabba3 on
A little life fits but its sad on steroids
just-kath on
In This Small Spot by Caren J. Werlinger
​
This author writes incredible books
LaurelCrash on
Thomas Mallon’s “Fellow Travelers” gutted me recently. Bonus is that there’s a Paramount+ series based on the book.
10 Comments
Try “The membranes” by Chi Ta Wei or This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
Have you watched The Imitation Game? It’s a tear jerker. It is based on the book
Alan Turing: The Enigma
I don’t think “A Little Life” would satisfy a craving for melancholy; it’s a lot more overt, even emotionally pornographic, about the characters’ trauma.
Edmund White’s “The Beautiful Room is Empty” might fit the bill, though? It’s just gorgeously written and very introspective. Dale Peck’s “Martin and John” is another excellent novel, as is (of course!) James Baldwin’s “Giovanni’s Room”, and both are quite sad. Paul Monette’s “Becoming a Man: Half a Life Story” is memoir and made me cry buckets.
Sarah Schulman’s novels “Shimmer” and “Rat Bohemia” aren’t as demonstably *sad* but there’s definitely an air of melancholy about them, thanks to the protagonists’ alienation.
“The Song of Achilles” by Madeline Miller is an absolute heartbreaker of a book, if you’re in the mood to feel like your heart’s been ripped out of your chest 😅
The Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson
This probably isn’t what your looking for but a book called “And the band played on” is really sad and queer. (non-fiction about aids)
“On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous” by Ocean Vuong is the most beautiful book I’ve ever read. It’s queer, it’s sad, it’s written by a linguistic/poetic genius.
“In The Dream House” by Carmen Maria Machado is another favorite. I’m not sure I’d characterize it as sad but it’s def heavy. It’s about a queer relationship that is emotionally abusive (maybe physically too but it’s been a while since I’ve read it so I don’t remember). Each chapter is written in the style of a different genre which is super duper interesting.
A little life fits but its sad on steroids
In This Small Spot by Caren J. Werlinger
​
This author writes incredible books
Thomas Mallon’s “Fellow Travelers” gutted me recently. Bonus is that there’s a Paramount+ series based on the book.