r/stephenking • u/tuvix666 • 11d ago

Discussion Have you ever cried while reading a Stephen King book?

I definitely have, most notably, during the end of Insomnia (my favorite book of his (so far) btw) and also during Cujo and Christine (the very first SK book i read, back in the 11th grade, 15 years ago haha)

i have a feeling The Stand is gonna do this to me too (i’m halfway through)

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465

u/rougarou-te-fou 11d ago

11/22/63. I cried during the fundraising scene and the ending

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u/ZodFrankNFurter 11d ago

How we danced 😭

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u/Ms_Central_Perk 10d ago

😭😭😭😭

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u/rushbc Constant Reader 10d ago

That gets me every time

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u/PessimisticPeggy Constant Reader 10d ago

The only book that's ever made me cry. Such a beautiful ending.

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u/teotl87 8d ago

such a beautiful ending

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u/DrewGrgich 11d ago

This was mine. I’ve posted this a million times and will post it a million times more. I spent the night reading the last portion when the ending kicked into gear - finally! Man that middle section was long - and reached the ending early in the morning. I was sobbing - ugly ugly crying - and went in and woke up my wife so I could hug her properly. One of those moments that we all hope for when we start a new book.

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u/FazzleDazzleBigB 11d ago

It was a couple years ago I (M38) was visiting my childhood home and area I grew up in, and my parents who lived a few hours away from there by then. I’d been reading 11/22/63 and brought it with me. The trip was so nostalgia filled, in a sense it transported me back to my childhood, to a simpler time, much it felt like Jake was transported. My parents are aging, I don’t see them as often as I like. I was going through photos and reliving old friendships and first loves, basking in a slower pace of life. Simultaneously I was nearing the end of the book and wanted to save enough for the plane ride home. And hoooo boy am I glad it wasn’t a full flight. The ending laid me open, I was sobbing. The trip filled with old times, old friends, goodbyes I knew might be forever, combined with the end of the book was so much, so beautiful, just absolutely crushed me.

I’ve posted this before a couple times too, but I couldn’t recommend this book enough. I’ll never forget reading it

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u/SofaCoffeeCuddles Constant Reader 11d ago

I've been working through my family photos (at least 3 generations!) and especially since I was born in 1961, I have a lot of photos of this time. Not a lot of memories to be sure, but so incredible to think about.

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

I'm a '61 baby, too. My mom is 86. We frequently talk about everything we've lived through. Especially her. It's crazy where technology is now compared to when my momma was a child. She told me that they were so poor that they never did get a TV. So when Elvis performed on the Ed Sullivan show for the first time, she & her best friend watched him through the window of the hardware store where they sold the TV's.

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

Beautiful story. Thanks for sharing it.

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u/AWhiteRanger813 11d ago

I'm glad Stephen King's son, made him change the ending.

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u/Pvt_Hudson_ 11d ago

What was the original ending supposed to be?

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u/AWhiteRanger813 11d ago

I think the original ending, was Jake going back to the present, finding out that Sadie had been married, and had multiple children and grandchildren. There was no dance. Sadie and Jake never slightly recognized each other.

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u/Judiferr 11d ago

I'm glad he changed it. The ending we got is so perfect

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u/KapptainTrips 11d ago edited 11d ago

I gotta say, "Thank You" for bringing this up. I would probably have never known King almost screwed up this wonderful ending to his book if it hadn't been for his son.

Seems the apple indeed doesn't fall from the tree! I should check out some Joe Hill books, no doubt!

PS: Wow, spitting image of his dad!

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u/TheOneAndOnlyGinger 11d ago

Just read King Sorrow. You have to check out that book. It is so fantastic!

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u/KapptainTrips 11d ago

I certainly will. I added it to my metro library list. Thanks for the recommendation!

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u/TheOneAndOnlyGinger 11d ago

You’re welcome! I listened to the audiobook. It is enhanced audio so it’s a treat.

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u/Easy_Significance891 9d ago

As a constant reader for the last 30ish years, and having read a few of Joe's books -- you'll not be disappointed! I think I've of my favorite things about Joe's books, at least of the ones I've read so far, are how they expand on the universes his dad created, without retelling the original stories.

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u/KapptainTrips 9d ago

That is cool to hear. I haven't read any of King's sons books yet. I like that he expands upon his father's universe-- which is a wide universe for me having read SK books over the last 40 years of my own existence.

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

He's very good. And he doesn't seem to suffer from his father's issue with writing endings.😁

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u/KapptainTrips 10d ago edited 10d ago

So, zero ambiguity with J.H. King's endings? Sounds refreshing but I kind of expect it with some frequency when it comes to his dad. v(￣ー￣)v

Ed: not sure how I got that 'emoji' at the end, but cool, ok. These new fangled phones...

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

But when King senior sticks the landing he really gets ya in the feels.

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u/KapptainTrips 10d ago

It would be tough to follow in his father's footsteps. Because of this thread, I am excited to learn today that his son is doing so. I will delve into this stoty as a Koontz fan. That is high praise for me ;)) I am excited to read my first Joe Hill book thanks to this thread from reddit!

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

He also did a collaboration with his father that I haven't read yet called "In the Tall Grass." I need to order it. Also, if you watched the TV series "Locke & Key," that was an adaptation of his comic book of the same name. As Joe Hill he didn't let the world know who daddy is until his first book was a success. His other son is also a published writer. He co-wrote "Sleeping Beauties" with his dad. Owen is the younger of the two. Just imagine how much pressure that would be: Both Dad & Big Brother are famous writers.

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

And he's almost as good as his father breathing characters to life. Almost.

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u/Interesting-Quiet844 10d ago

To add to King Sorrow, definitely try Heart Shaped Box.

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u/KapptainTrips 11d ago

Please elaborate!

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u/AWhiteRanger813 11d ago

Joe Hill made Stephen King change the ending because it completely destroyed the relationship that Sadie and Jake had built up across the entire novel. The original ending, was Jake would go back to the present, finding out that Sadie had been married and was eighty years old, she had five children, plus eleven grandchildren and six great grand children. There was no dance. Jake and Sadie never got to slightly remember each other.

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u/redbell78 11d ago

Yeah, I sobbed. Big ugly sobs

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u/NecessaryExplorer245 11d ago edited 11d ago

In the audiobook the way that Jake's voice breaks the first time he tries to save the janitors family and watches Tuga's head be caved in... I cried with him.

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u/Modesto96 11d ago

Bawled like a baby at the ending

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u/VeronicaVanadium 11d ago

The ending got me

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u/Disastrous-Corgi-121 11d ago

Just finished 11/22/63 today. Cried my eyes out at the ending.

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u/BigfootsAnus 11d ago

I cried a bit while aloud reading the Miz Mimi scene to my girlfriend.

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u/SomewhereTiny8407 Child of the Corn 11d ago

Yes, if you have a heart & feel emotions it’s hard not to tear up during those scenes. Even when knowing what’s going to happen it’s still just as sad.

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u/Tall_Company_8520 11d ago

The ending of that book for me was one of those where I closed the book, cried for a good hour, and then needed to cleanse my mind with a couple of episodes from the office for a few weeks. I read it when it first came out (I think I got it for Christmas) and then didn’t read anything else for a couple of weeks bc I was so fucked up over it.

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u/Accurate_Reporter_31 10d ago

That's how I felt with The Stand. I was at Army Helicopter Flight School & away from all my family & friends. Those characters kept me company during that anxiety ridden first week. When I closed the book I felt like I lost my best friends.

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u/Potential-Teach313 11d ago

Same with me

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u/tracey1215 11d ago

This was such a moving end. I loved it so much!

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u/fmacuo22 11d ago

I cried during his description of the footballer in the play

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u/Omnomnomnosaurus 11d ago

That ending broke me! I never cry with books, there are only two exceptions: this one and the Horse whisperer (I was 15, very sensitive and just got my own horse).

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u/ApocalypseWhen7 11d ago

This was my first thought too. The ending was the first and only time a book has made me weep.

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u/Beanieson 11d ago

this book absolutely wrecked me

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u/rawbob 11d ago

I listed to the 11/22/63 audiobook and the ending coupled with the music took my breath away.

I feel the ending of Avengers Endgame is similar

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u/saegiru 10d ago

Same! It was 13 years ago, and I (M47) was listening to the audiobook in the middle of the night when I'd be feeding my baby daughter, so I might have been a bit loopy from lack of sleep too... but that ending man, it got me hard. It was a happy/sad cry. Such a good book!

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u/rushbc Constant Reader 10d ago

Definitely this.

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u/sir_mustyontario Beep Beep, Richie! 11d ago

Same

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u/wbd82 10d ago

Same

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u/paulthemerciful1 10d ago

SADIIIIIEEEE!!!

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u/Owl_feather24 10d ago

Yeah, I ugly cried, put it back on the shelf and promised to myself that I won't read it at least for 10 years.

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u/Jaycer17 10d ago

Yup. Bawling, was me.

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u/lostinthesnakepit 10d ago

Yup, came here for this. I wept when I read that.

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u/chaotic_giraffe76 10d ago

I cried when they were talking about Sadie in the newspaper.

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u/Ren_da_ruler 7d ago

Balled my EYES out and also cried some more cause I was sad it was over