LitQueuelitqueue

After

QB VII

Leon Uris1970

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • A Time to Kill

    John Grisham1989

    A lawyer defends a Black father who killed the men who raped his daughter in 1980s Mississippi. The trial occurs amidst racial rioting.

    Same tense register, still legal thriller

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Doktor Faustus

    Thomas Mann1948

    A composer trades his soul for musical genius as his life and the rise of Nazi Germany are chronicled by a concerned friend.

    tense → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Tin Drum

    Günter Grass1963

    A boy in 1920s Danzig decides to stop growing at age three. He observes the rise of Nazism and the war while screaming and playing a toy drum.

    tense → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → bleak

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Killer Blonde

    Laura Levine2004

    A freelance writer investigates a murder in the Hamptons after a socialite is killed. She balances the case with her work for a demanding boss.

    tense → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Kaiju Preservation Society

    John Scalzi2022

    A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

    Neil deGrasse Tyson2017

    A summary of the origin of the universe, the laws of physics, and the nature of space and time.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Firm

    John Grisham1991

    A young lawyer joins a high-paying law firm only to discover it is a front for the mob and the FBI wants him to inform on them.

    tense → propulsive, still legal thriller

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Steal Like an Artist

    Austin Kleon2012

    A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.

    tense → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Doktor Faustus

    Thomas Mann1948

    A composer trades his soul for musical genius as his life and the rise of Nazi Germany are chronicled by a concerned friend.

    tense → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Mila 18

    Leon Uris1961

    Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw Ghetto organize an armed uprising against Nazi occupiers during World War II.

    tense → propulsive, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen

    Tadeusz Borowski1967

    Short stories based on the author's time in Auschwitz. The narrator describes the daily logistics of the Holocaust with detached indifference.

    tense → cold, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Every Man Dies Alone

    Hans Fallada2010

    A working-class couple in WWII Berlin leaves anonymous postcards against the Nazi regime while a Gestapo inspector hunts them down the source.

    tense → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1