After
Ghost Wall
Sarah Moss2018
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
An Untamed State
Roxane Gay2014
A woman is kidnapped for ransom in front of her family in Haiti and endures weeks of brutal captivity. The narrative focuses on her survival.
tense → bleak, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
Crime and Punishment
Michael R. Katz1941
A student in Saint Petersburg kills a pawnbroker to prove a theory about superior men. He then navigates his own guilt and a police investigation.
Same tense register, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie2017
Three British Muslim siblings deal with the fallout of their father's jihadi legacy. One sister tries to save her brother from a similar path.
Same tense register, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Swimming Home
Deborah Levy2011
A family on holiday in the French Riviera finds a stranger floating in their pool. Her presence forces their hidden resentments to the surface.
Same tense register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Seven Lies
James Lasdun2006
A man living in New York recounts the series of deceptions and obsessions that led to his moral and social downfall.
Same tense register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
The Sea
John Banville2005
A widower returns to a coastal resort to reflect on a childhood summer and his wife's death. The narrator's memory is fluid and dense.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
tense → playful, still literary fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner1915
The Bundren family travels by wagon to bury their matriarch. Fifteen different narrators describe the journey as the corpse decomposes.
tense → sardonic, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
tense → dreamlike, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Don Quixote
Kathy Acker1986
A woman undergoes an abortion and adopts the persona of Don Quixote to pursue a quest in a fragmented, postmodern landscape.
tense → sardonic
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
tense → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
tense → earnest
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Dial A for Aunties
Jesse Q. Sutanto2021
A photographer accidentally kills her blind date. Her mother and aunties help hide the body during a massive luxury wedding.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
Same tense register
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-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.
tense → sardonic
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
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.
tense → propulsive
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
tense → wry
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
The Sea
John Banville2005
A widower returns to a coastal resort to reflect on a childhood summer and his wife's death. The narrator's memory is fluid and dense.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-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.
tense → playful, still literary fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+1bleak-2
Tinkers
Paul Harding2009
An elderly clock repairman lies dying while his thoughts drift through his father's life as a peddler. The prose focuses on nature and mechanics.
tense → meditative, still psychological fiction
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
Blackouts
Justin Torres2023
A young man cares for a dying elder in a medical facility. They use a 1930s study on homosexuality to reconstruct their personal histories.
tense → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-2prose0bleak-1
February
Lisa Moore2009
A widow in Newfoundland moves between her quiet daily routines and the memory of her husband's death on a sunken oil rig decades earlier.
tense → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace-2·prose0·bleak-1
