LitQueuelitqueue

After

M Train

Patti Smith2015

5 of 6 directions open — nothing slower

More like it

Same elegiac register, still memoir

1 more ↓

  • Seeing Ghosts

    Kat Chow2021

    A journalist traces her family’s history across three continents to understand the persistent impact of her mother’s early death.

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Argonauts

    Maggie Nelson2015

    A memoir of the author's relationship with her partner and her pregnancy. It mixes personal narrative with academic theory on gender and family.

    elegiac → meditative, still memoir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    elegiac → bleak, still memoir

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Education of Henry Adams

    Henry Adams

    A man writes a sardonic third-person account of his life and his failure to adapt to the technological shifts of the late 19th century.

    elegiac → sardonic, still memoir

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

elegiac → warm, still memoir

3 more ↓

  • Tuesdays with Morrie

    Mitch Albom1994

    A journalist reconnects with his dying college professor for weekly lessons on life. They discuss aging, regret, and love as the professor declines.

    elegiac → tender, still memoir

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-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.

    elegiac → earnest, still memoir

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Unfinished

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas2021

    The actress details her childhood in India, her time in American schools, and her transition from pageantry to a global film career.

    elegiac → earnest, still memoir

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • House to House: An Epic Memoir of War

    David Bellavia

    An American infantry sergeant provides a room-by-room account of the Second Battle of Fallujah. It focuses on close-quarters urban combat.

    elegiac → tense, still memoir

    pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor

    Clinton Romesha

    A Medal of Honor recipient provides a tactical account of the 2009 Battle of Kamdesh at Combat Outpost Keating.

    elegiac → propulsive, still memoir

    pace+3·prose-1·bleak0

  • Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds

    Rusty Bradley

    A Special Forces officer recounts the 2006 battle for Sperwan Ghar. The focus is on tactical decisions during a multi-day engagement.

    elegiac → propulsive, still memoir

    pace+3·prose-1·bleak0

Heavier

elegiac → bleak, still memoir

3 more ↓

  • Wasted

    Marya Hornbacher1998

    A detailed memoir of the author's decade-long struggle with anorexia and bulimia. It documents hospitalizations and the physical decay of the body.

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+2

  • A House in the Sky

    Amanda Lindhout2013

    A freelance journalist is kidnapped in Somalia and held for fifteen months. The memoir details her captivity and the conditions she endured.

    elegiac → tense, still memoir

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2

  • A River in Darkness

    Masaji Ishikawa2018

    A man describes his thirty-six years living in North Korea after moving there from Japan. He recounts extreme poverty and his eventual escape.

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2