First time a story has made me feel so depressed....

[James00]

Just finished reading "The Rake: A Few Scenes from My Childhood". Its pretty short read and should only take like 2 minutes. Link.

Here are some excerpts;
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Meanwhile my sister interested herself in the drama society. The year after I had left the school she obtained the lead in the school play. It called for acting and singing, both of which she had talent for, and it looked to be a signal triumph for her in her otherwise unremarkable and unenjoyed school career.
On the night of the play's opening, she sat down to dinner with our mother and our stepfather. It may be that they ate a trifle early to allow her to get to the school to enjoy the excitement of opening night. But however it was, my sister had no appetite, and she nibbled a bit at her food, and then she got up from the table to carry her plate back to scrape it in the sink, when my mother suggested that she sit down, as she had not finished her food. My sister said she really had no appetite, but my mother insisted that, as the meal had been prepared, it would be good form to sit and eat it.
My sister sat down with the plate and pecked at her food and she tried to eat a bit, and told my mother that, no, really, she possessed no appetite whatever, and that was due, no doubt, not to the food, but to her nervousness and excitement at the prospect of opening night.
My mother, again, said that, as the food had been cooked, it had to be eaten, and my sister tried and said that she could not; at which my mother nodded. She then got up from the table and went to the telephone and looked the number up and called the school and got the drama teacher and identified herself and told him that her daughter wouldn't be coming to school that night, that, no, she was not ill, but that she would not be coming in. Yes, yes, she said, she knew her daughter had the lead in the play, and, yes, she was aware that many children and teachers had worked hard for it, et cetera, and so my sister did not play the lead in her school play.



[/ QUOTE ]

And

[ QUOTE ]
We were raking the lawn, my sister and I. I was raking, and she was stuffing the leaves into a bag. I loathed the job, and my muscles and my mind rebelled, and I was viciously angry, and my sister said something, and I turned and threw the rake at her and hit her in the face.
The rake was split bamboo and metal, and a piece of metal caught her lip and cut her badly.
We were both terrified, and I was sick with guilt, and we ran into the house, my sister holding her hand to her mouth, and her mouth and her hand and the front of her dress covered in blood.
We ran into the kitchen where my mother was cooking dinner, and my mother asked what happened.
Neither of us, myself out of guilt, of course, and my sister out of a de-sire to avert the terrible punishment she knew I would receive, neither of us would say what occurred.
My mother pressed us, and neither of us would answer. She said that until one or the other answered, we would not go to the hospital; and so the family sat down to dinner where my sister clutched a napkin to her face and the blood soaked the napkin and ran down onto her food, which she had to eat; and I also ate my food and we cleared the table and went to the hospital.


[/ QUOTE ]

I cant help but puke in my mouth when reading some of this stuff. Its just very depressing yet powerful. Its funny how a book/story can have such a profound affect on how I feel. I barely read at all, so this might be first time I have been affected by the power of words. Sorry if this is wrong forum or a stupid post, I just wanted to share my feelings :-(.

[cbebop007]

Jesus.

[DeuceKicker]

If you're in the mood for some vein-opening depression, check out a book called A Child Called "It". I chanced upon it at a bookstore years ago and opened to a random page to read a paragraph or two. I left a few hours later thoroughly depressed, and some of the descriptions haunt me to this day. Now that I'm a father, I'm not sure I could read it again.

[Rushmore]

Yes, that is good stuff.

And it's also a bit of a shame, because I was thinking hey--this is actually pretty freakin good. I'm so rarely moved to investigate a new writer. This could be good and yield many hours of excellent reading of this new writer.

Then..it's David Mamet.

Sigh.

Good stuff anyway.

[Shadowrun]

i dunno i dont think this is any more depressing than a lot of other things going on in this world today.

just seems the kids have a very strict, old school displianry parents.

i do like the style a lot and am going to read the rest.