After
Satin Island
Tom McCarthy2015
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing slower
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Rhine Journey
Ann Schlee1981
A middle-aged woman travels by steamer down the Rhine in 1851. She observes her family and internalizes a chance encounter with a man from her past.
clinical → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose+1bleak+1
To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf1927
A family and their guests visit a house in the Hebrides. The narrative follows their internal thoughts over two days separated by ten years.
clinical → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Orbital
Samantha Harvey2024
Six astronauts orbit Earth over twenty-four hours. The narrative focuses on their routine tasks and observations of the planet below.
clinical → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Waters of Kronos
Conrad Richter1960
An elderly man travels back in time to his childhood Pennsylvania town, which in his present day is submerged beneath a reservoir.
clinical → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lila
Marilynne Robinson2014
A woman with a traumatic, nomadic past settles in a small Iowa town and marries a minister. She struggles to reconcile her history with his faith.
clinical → tender, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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.
clinical → playful, still literary fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
Briefing for a Descent into Hell
Doris Lessing1971
A man is found wandering London and placed in a psychiatric ward. The narrative shifts between the hospital and his internal cosmic hallucinations.
clinical → dreamlike, still philosophical fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner1915
The Bundren family travels by wagon to bury their matriarch. Fifteen different narrators describe the journey as the corpse decomposes.
clinical → sardonic, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose+1bleak+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.
clinical → sardonic
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose+1bleak+2
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.
clinical → propulsive
pace+2·prose+1·bleak+2
To recover
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Modern Romance
Aziz Ansari2015
A comedian and a sociologist analyze how technology and culture have changed dating. It uses data and interviews to compare eras.
clinical → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry: How to Stay Emotionally Healthy and Spiritually Alive in the Chaos of the Modern World
John Mark Comer
A pastor argues for a slower pace of life based on Christian principles and his own experience with burnout.
clinical → earnest
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
clinical → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-2bleak-1
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.
clinical → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
clinical → earnest
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+3prose-1bleak0
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.
clinical → sardonic, still philosophical fiction
pace+3·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+3prose-2bleak-1
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.
clinical → playful
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-1bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
clinical → tense
pace+3·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+3prose-2bleak-1
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.
clinical → propulsive
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-2bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
clinical → wry
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+2prose0bleak+2
Girls Burn Brighter
Shobha Rao2018
Two girls in India are separated by a brutal act of violence. They endure trafficking and labor across continents to find each other.
clinical → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
- pace0prose0bleak+2
The story of a brief marriage
Anuk Arudpragasam2016
Two refugees enter an arranged marriage in a Sri Lankan camp during the final days of the civil war. It focuses on the physical details of survival.
clinical → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
A Distant Shore
Caryl Phillips2003
A retired teacher and an African refugee form a quiet bond in a xenophobic English village. Their past traumas emerge through alternating stories.
clinical → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+1prose0bleak+2
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.
clinical → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace+2prose0bleak+2
The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead2019
A studious black teenager in 1960s Florida is sent to a brutal reform school where physical abuse is systemic.
clinical → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace+2·prose0·bleak+2
