After
Grace Notes
Bernard MacLaverty1997
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Astonishing Splashes of Colour
Clare Morrall2003
Kitty struggles with the grief of a stillbirth while navigating her eccentric family. She perceives her life through a filter of distinct colors.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Lost Dog
Michelle de Kretser2007
A professor searches for his lost dog in the Australian bush while caring for his aging mother. He navigates a relationship with a cryptic artist.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Unless
Carol Shields2002
A mother struggles to understand why her daughter has dropped out of university to live as a mute beggar on a street corner.
meditative → earnest, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Critical Injuries
Joan Barfoot2002
A random act of violence in a supermarket links the lives of a middle-aged woman and a teenage boy. The focus is on their long recoveries.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak0
An Artist of the Floating World
Kazuo Ishiguro1986
An aging painter in post-WWII Japan reflects on his career and his support for the former imperialist regime while arranging his daughter's marriage.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+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.
meditative → dreamlike, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
Milkman
Anna Burns2018
An unnamed 18-year-old girl is stalked by an older paramilitary figure in 1970s Northern Ireland. The prose uses long, circuitous sentences.
meditative → tense, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
The Conservationist
Nadine Gordimer1974
A wealthy white industrialist buys a farm outside Johannesburg. He struggles to maintain control over the land and the people on it.
meditative → cold, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Study for Obedience
Sarah Bernstein2023
A woman moves to a remote northern country to care for her brother. The local community grows hostile as she observes them.
meditative → cold, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Steal Like an Artist
Austin Kleon2012
A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Big Magic
Elizabeth Gilbert2015
The author shares her philosophy on the creative process through personal anecdotes. It focuses on overcoming fear and pursuing curiosity.
meditative → warm
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Untamed
Glennon Doyle2020
A woman recounts leaving her marriage and rebuilding her life after falling in love with another woman. It is a series of personal manifestos.
meditative → earnest
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Shopaholic & Baby
Sophie Kinsella2007
A woman with a shopping addiction navigates pregnancy while discovering her celebrity obstetrician is her husband's ex-girlfriend.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Year zero
Reid, Robert2012
Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.
meditative → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
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.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose0bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
meditative → tense
pace+2·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose0bleak0
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.
meditative → sardonic
pace+2·prose0·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Wilderness
Samantha Harvey2009
An architect with Alzheimer's attempts to reconstruct his life story. The narrative fragments as his memory and sense of time dissolve.
meditative → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Study for Obedience
Sarah Bernstein2023
A woman moves to a remote northern country to care for her brother. The local community grows hostile as she observes them.
meditative → cold, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Next Big Thing
Anita Brookner2002
A seventy-three-year-old man in London contemplates his few remaining options for the future. He considers travel, marriage, and his isolation.
Same meditative register, still psychological fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The Gathering
Anne Enright2007
A woman gathers with her siblings in Dublin for her brother's wake. She reconstructs a childhood trauma to understand his suicide.
meditative → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
No Longer Human
太宰 治2024
A man describes his life through three notebooks, detailing his inability to connect with others and his social alienation.
meditative → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The Lighthouse
Alison Moore2012
A recently separated man takes a walking tour of Germany while reflecting on his childhood abandonment and his failing marriage.
meditative → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace0prose+1bleak+2
The White Hotel
D. M. Thomas1981
A woman's life is told through poems, a Freudian case study, and a narrative. It moves from her sexual fantasies to her death in the Holocaust.
meditative → dreamlike, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose+1bleak+2
My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell2020
Vanessa reflects on her teenage relationship with a teacher after he is accused of abuse. The narrative shifts between 2000 and 2017.
meditative → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2
