The knockout punch.

I've been thinking lately about what makes a story great for me. I've read a ton of books in my life and I plan to read many more. I've also seen quite a few movies and reluctantly plan to see a few more. But out of all those stories only a small percentage have stuck with me, the rest have sunk to various oblivious levels between "good" and "awful".

This is what I feel makes a story great: The emotional punch. If a story can't make me feel anything then it's not worth the time. Forget if it's artistic, cool, whatever. The stories that I love are those that get inside your heart and they don't leave you when the movie's over or the book's closed. You carry the characters around with you and they've become a part of who you are.

Here's a few examples:

East, by Edith Pattou
This book was well-written, good characters, dialogue, settings, etc. But the story never resonated. When I put it down, I was done.

Bottom line: Landed a few punches but no knockout.

But here's another book:

Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card.
When I was a kid I went to summer camp every summer and no matter how much fun I had, I would always miss my Mom and Dad at night. Camp can be a scary place; there's bigger kids that tease you and tell dirty jokes, there's cool counselors that you'd do anything to hang out with, there's girls and when you're ten or eleven, living with girls in a forest for a week can be a very confusing experience. I think that camp is a lot like school but you don't have your home and parents to retreat to.

When I read Ender's Game all the feelings of summer camp come back to me. In the book, Ender is sent to battle school when he's six years old (they start military training young in the future) where he's trained for combat. But inside Ender, at night when he's laying in bed, he just wants to go back home to his sister, the only person who ever loved him.

I think that's why I'll never forget Ender's Game. It's not because the plot is so great (it is), and it's so exciting (it is) but it's because when I read it I become Ender. I'm back in my bunk at summer camp, missing my Mom and Dad and just wanting to go home. When Ender finds his sister Valentine in the game (if you've read the book you'll understand) it hits me in a place I can feel and that's when the story digs itself into my mind.

All my favorite stories are full of those moments:

• In The Last Battle the battle at the stable and then when Tirian steps through the stable to find the kings and queen of Narnia waiting for him. Actually just about every part of The Last Battle is an emotional ride, so I'll move on.


• The Neverending Story when Bastian gives the Childlike Empress a new name.


• Blade Runner when Roy is dying and says those beautiful lines: "I've seen things you wouldn't believe..."


• Revenge of the Sith from the start of the duel, straight to the end.


• The Dark Tower, the final scenes. It's such an incredible end to such a long journey. (The Dark Tower really illustrates my point because it's not the most well-plotted or, at times, coherently-written bit of work but that story is just an amazing emotional journey.)


• Fellowship of the Ring, when Gandalf falls in the Mines of Moria and in Return of the King when Frodo and Sam are climbing up Mount Doom.


• Peter Pan when Wendy grows up.


• Superman: Action Comics 1, when (don't laugh) Superman rescues Lois for the first time.


• Sense and Sensibility, when Hugh Grant confesses his love to Emma Thompson at the end. (Can I get sensitivity points for admitting this and being a guy?)


• A movie I watched just last night: On the Waterfront, when the priest makes his speech to the dock workers, "Christ is kneeling right next to you..."


• Magnolia, the whole cast sings "Wise Up" by Amiee Mann. If you've seen it you'll get it.

I could go on for quite a while but I think you get the point. It's the times when people start cheering or crying in movie theaters. All these stories become more than movies and books, they become a part of you. For me that's what makes the difference between good and great.

So what are your stories? What are the books/movies that hit you with a knockout punch that you won't forget? And what are the moments in those stories that resonate with you? Let's hear some of them.