After
Prophet Song
Paul Lynch2023
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
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Home Fire
Kamila Shamsie2017
Three British Muslim siblings deal with the fallout of their father's jihadi legacy. One sister tries to save her brother from a similar path.
Same tense register, still political fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
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Othello
William Shakespeare
A Moorish general in the Venetian army is manipulated into believing his wife is unfaithful. The plot relies on a stolen handkerchief.
Same tense register
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Ghost Wall
Sarah Moss2018
A girl and her parents join a university reenactment of Iron Age life. Her father's obsession with historical authenticity turns dangerous.
Same tense register
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My Absolute Darling
Gabriel Tallent2017
A fourteen-year-old girl living in isolation with her abusive father prepares for a physical struggle to escape him. It is a survival story.
Same tense register
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1 more ↓ ↑
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A Burning
Megha Majumdar2020
Three people in India deal with the fallout of a terrorist attack. One is jailed for a Facebook post while another seeks political power.
Same tense register, still political fiction
pace0·prose-2·bleak0
To recover
tense → playful
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Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
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Body Movers
Stephanie Bond2006
A department store employee joins a body-transport service for a trip to Florida that involves a missing socialite and a loan shark.
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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A Veiled Deception
Annette Blair2009
A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.
pace-1·prose-3·bleak-3
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It Starts with Us
Colleen Hoover2022
A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.
tense → earnest
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Assistant to the Villain
Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023
A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.
pace0·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
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.
tense → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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Pines
Blake Crouch2012
A Secret Service agent searches for missing colleagues in an Idaho town he cannot leave. The townspeople and physics itself seem to work against him.
Same tense register, still dystopian
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
tense → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-2
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Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
Same tense register
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
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.
tense → sardonic
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-2prose0bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
tense → bleak, still dystopian
pace-2·prose0·bleak0
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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.
tense → playful
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3 more ↓ ↑
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Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
tense → elegiac
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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.
tense → clinical
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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.
tense → elegiac
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