Has anyone ever felt sad when a character in a book died?

Question

I'm reading the last book of a series and felt a twinge of sadness when one of the characters died. I know it's silly but it was almost like losing a friend whom I've know for a number of years (nearly 20 to be exact). Anyway, if you think I am mental at least be kind about saying it if you don't mind, I would appreciate that.

3595....I'm on the last book of that one now. I was alright (mostly) when Eddie died but it just tore me up when Jake died.

Answer 1

The Dark Tower series right? Yeah I cried when Jake died and when Susan died. I mean when you spend so much time reading books that are as long and great as the DT series then yeah there's nothing wrong with getting upset. It's like crying in a sad movie.

Answer 2

An authors job is to make the book(s) that he/she writes something that people wont forget over night. They make their characters with something special about them so that the readers will enjoy the book even more. The fact that you felt a "twinge of sadness" is like a pat on the back for the author. It means that they have developed the character to the point that you feel (as you said) like you've lost a friend, because through out the book/series they have been there. So don't think you're mental. Because you're not.

Answer 3

The Harry Potter series definitely made me feel incredibly sad when people such as Dumbledore, Dobby, and Snape died. If Harry had died I would have cried for hours. I've grown up with those books and feel connected to the characters, as odd as that sounds. The books are powerful and amazing: the mark of a great author is the extremity of emotions they invoke.

Answer 4

I read a long-running book series about 25 years ago. I was going through a rough period in my life at that time. Anyway, toward the end of the series, for whatever reason, the author decided to kill off the "supporting co-star". I was shocked and devastated! Over the course of the series I had gotten to know the character and fell in love with her. The senseless way in which she was killed off really upset me. It was, as you say, like losing a friend. At that rough time in my life I couldn't just "cry then let it go". Talk about being "mental", I actually sat down and wrote a several page epilogue to that book that explained that this character only appeared dead when the hero found her. After he walked away thinking she was dead, she was found by etc. etc. etc. I actually mailed this "epilogue" to the author, trying to get him to change his mind about killing the character off, hoping he would use it as a "prologue" to a later book in the series.

He didn't change his mind, but I did get a nice letter from the author thanking me for reading and being a fan of the series and of the characters.

That was the one and only time I've ever done something like this. Sure, I get sad when characters die, but I've never gone off the deep end like that again.

Answer 5

In my Green Haven Series I spent six years on it actually I am still wrtiting it. I have completed three novels in the series and am taking a brake before I get into the fourth. I fully intended to write one book then I decided to make a trilogy but everytime I ended the novel I got that familiar sad feeling. So I decided to do a fourth novel from a character point of view that is dead in the first novel its like a prequel but at the end you find out it was an autobiography being played to the characters that were in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd novels. But I am afraid after that novel I won't be able to end it again. I have become attached so much so that when ones goes missing or one is pain I feel it as though I were there. It sounds odd but maybe not so odd as I assume a lot of writers are like that. If you don't become attached you either don't end the story because you get bored or the characters won't be liked by the reader either because you didn't create them as strong as you could have. I find it hard to write other novels now after so many years with the residents of Green Haven. But I have written a few stand alone single novels and have recently started another series. I feel like I am apart of each characters life and when I write it is like they are telling there story in my head and I am just recording it. I think another answerer said something like that and it is so true with me too. I am the opposite of you, you said you are cruel to your characters I have a hard time hurting mine. I have yet to kill any main characters. I have hurt them and the other characters think they are dead but I just couldn't do it (kill them). I still smile when I read my stories and cry at the sad parts and gasp at shocking parts like its the first time I've heard it. It sounds sort of crazy but my characters are my people. - Cass

Answer 6

Yeah. Ever read Stephen King's The Dark Tower series? Every time a main character died I felt so sad.

Answer 7

Oh whenever a character dies in a book I cry. Even if a charactor leaves. For example (my goodness why am I using a HP reference) I obbed when dumbledore died. I also was crying like so hard at the end of the bartamaues trilogy. When Edward left Bella in Twilight, I cryed and I felt empty. My heart ached for bella. So no, you are not mental if anyones mental it's me. A lot of people cry for books.

Answer 8

First off you are not mental. Books are meant to tap into certain areas of emotion so that you do care for their characters.

As for if I ever felt sad when a character died? No. Shocked mostly, but not sad.

Answer 9

I'm sure you are not the only one feeling like that. I have read many books, and yeah, I feel down when something like that happens. You just keep reading and feel as if you were living in the book. I actually fell in love with a character and I don't think I'm mental. I don't think you are either.

Answer 10

I cried during the last two Harry Potter books because of character deaths. When you read a series like that for so long, you become so attached the characters. I'm not ashamed to say that I had to break out the Kleenex. :) Happy reading to you!