LitQueuelitqueue

After

Narcopolis

Jeet Thayil2012

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Promise

    Damon Galgut2021

    A white South African family gathers for four funerals over several decades. Each section follows a different member as a land promise goes unmet.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still ensemble cast

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

dreamlike → sardonic

3 more ↓

  • Gravity's Rainbow

    Thomas Pynchon1973

    During the end of WWII, an American lieutenant's sexual encounters seem to predict where German V-2 rockets will fall. The narrative is fragmented.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • A Brief History of Seven Killings

    Marlon James2014

    A large cast of characters recounts the 1976 attempt on Bob Marley's life. The narrative spans decades and moves from Jamaica to New York.

    dreamlike → propulsive, still ensemble cast

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Play

    Kylie Scott2014

    A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Final Offer

    Lauren Asher2023

    An alcoholic heir returns to his family's lake house to secure his inheritance. He finds his ex-girlfriend living there with a child he never knew.

    dreamlike → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Last Question

    Isaac Asimov2007

    A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.

    dreamlike → meditative

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Deadline at Dawn

    Cornell Woolrich1944

    A sailor and a dancer have until sunrise to find a killer and clear their names. The story follows their frantic search through New York City.

    dreamlike → tense, still noir

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Plugged

    Eoin Colfer2011

    An Irish bouncer in New Jersey searches for his girlfriend's killer while being hunted by the mob. He is also recovering from a hair transplant.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still noir

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    dreamlike → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

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

    dreamlike → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • The English Patient

    Michael Ondaatje1992

    Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.

    dreamlike → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1