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After

Impossible Object

Nicholas Mosley, 3rd Baron Ravensdale

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More like it

Same cold register

1 more ↓

  • History of Wolves

    Emily Fridlund2017

    A lonely teenager in the Minnesota woods becomes obsessed with a new family and their young son. She observes a tragedy she might have prevented.

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Pale King

    David Foster Wallace2011

    An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.

    cold → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Vivisector

    Patrick White1970

    A painter uses the people in his life as raw material for his art. He observes their flaws and suffering to translate them onto canvas.

    Same cold register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Wake

    Paul Kingsnorth2014

    A landowner in 1066 leads a guerrilla resistance against Norman invaders. The story is written in a modified version of Old English.

    cold → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    cold → tense

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Real Murders

    Charlaine Harris1990

    A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.

    cold → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    cold → 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.

    cold → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    cold → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

cold → elegiac

3 more ↓

  • Moby Dick

    Herman Melville1851

    A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Walden

    Henry David Thoreau1854

    A man lives in a small cabin by a pond for two years. He records his daily expenses, the local wildlife, and his thoughts on solitude.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Gilead

    Marilynne Robinson2004

    An elderly preacher in 1950s Iowa writes a letter to his young son about their family history. He reflects on his father and grandfather.

    cold → meditative

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

Heavier

cold → bleak

3 more ↓

  • Oryx and Crake

    Margaret Atwood2003

    A man survives a genetic apocalypse in a world of engineered creatures. He remembers his past with a scientist and the woman they both loved.

    cold → sardonic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • A Little Life

    Hanya Yanagihara2015

    Four friends in New York over thirty years. One of them is being destroyed, and the book does not look away.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut1969

    Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time, experiencing his life out of order, from his chaplaincy in WWII to his abduction by aliens.

    cold → sardonic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1