Confederates

Tree of Smoke

Denis Johnson2007

An ensemble cast navigate the Vietnam War through CIA operations and ground combat. The narrative spans years and multiple countries.

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Ulysses

James Joyce1914

Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

elegiac → playful

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Briefing for a Descent into Hell

Doris Lessing1971

A man is found wandering London and placed in a psychiatric ward. The narrative shifts between the hospital and his internal cosmic hallucinations.

elegiac → dreamlike

pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Royally Screwed

Emma Chase2016

A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

The Princess

Lori Wick2006

In the fictional land of Pendaran, a prince enters an arranged marriage with a commoner who must learn the ways of the royal court.

elegiac → warm

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Grunge

Larry Correia2016

A Marine killed in a bombing is resurrected to hunt supernatural creatures. He joins a private company that kills monsters for government bounties.

elegiac → sardonic

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Candide

Voltaire

A naive young man travels the world while his tutor insists that everything is for the best. He encounters a series of global catastrophes.

elegiac → sardonic

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown2003

A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.

elegiac → propulsive

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

elegiac → wry

pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Ulysses

James Joyce1914

Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

elegiac → playful

pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Umbrella

Will Self2013

A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.

elegiac → clinical

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Translated Accounts

James Kelman2001

Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

elegiac → bleak

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

The Ghost Road

Pat Barker1995

During the final months of WWI, an officer returns to the front while his doctor reflects on the war. It concludes the Regeneration Trilogy.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Tree of Smoke

Denis Johnson2007

An ensemble cast navigate the Vietnam War through CIA operations and ground combat. The narrative spans years and multiple countries.

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+1

The Undertaking

Audrey Magee2014

A German soldier and a woman marry by proxy to secure leave and a pension. The narrative follows his time at the front and her life in Berlin.

elegiac → cold, still historical fiction

pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1