LitQueuelitqueue

After

Nausea

Jean-Paul. Satre1969

5 of 6 directions open — nothing slower

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Underground Man

    Mick Jackson1997

    The eccentric Duke of Portland spends his wealth building a massive network of tunnels. He records his physical decline and isolation.

    Same meditative register, still unreliable narrator

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • The Sound and the Fury

    William Faulkner1929

    The decline of a Southern family told through four perspectives, including a non-linear stream of consciousness from a man with a disability.

    meditative → elegiac, still unreliable narrator

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → sardonic, still unreliable narrator

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

meditative → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

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

    meditative → tense

    pace+2·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.

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    pace+3·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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+3·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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+3·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    meditative → wry

    pace+3·prose-2·bleak-2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Underground Railroad

    Colson Whitehead2016

    Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.

    meditative → bleak

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    meditative → sardonic

    pace+2·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.

    meditative → bleak

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1