After
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut1969
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
Same sardonic register, still satire
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The Restraint of Beasts
Magnus Mills1998
Three fence-builders travel across England while their accidents result in a series of casual, unacknowledged deaths.
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Yellowface
R.F. Kuang2023
A struggling white author steals her dead rival’s manuscript and publishes it as her own. She rebrands herself as Asian American to find success.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Black Buck
Mateo Askaripour2021
A Starbucks barista is recruited into a cult-like startup as its only Black salesman. He undergoes a radical transformation to reach the top.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
Ottessa Moshfegh2018
A wealthy New Yorker attempts to sleep for an entire year using a cocktail of prescription drugs to reset her life.
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
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Amsterdam
Ian McEwan1998
Two successful friends make a euthanasia pact after a former lover's death. Their professional lives and friendship unravel in the aftermath.
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Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak-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.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
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Beloved
Toni Morrison1987
A mother in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to spare from slavery. The prose is dense and non-linear.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
The Pale King
David Foster Wallace2011
An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Dorian
Will Self2002
A modern retelling of Oscar Wilde's novel set in the London drug and art scenes of the 1980s. A video installation ages while the subject does not.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
A Fable
William Faulkner1954
During WWI, a French corporal leads a mutiny that halts the fighting. The narrative mirrors the events of the Passion of Christ.
sardonic → meditative
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
To recover
sardonic → playful, still satire
- pace0prose-1bleak-3
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.
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Wielding a Red Sword
Piers Anthony1986
An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
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Year zero
Reid, Robert2012
Aliens discover that Earth's music is the best in the galaxy and they owe humanity trillions in copyright fines.
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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.
sardonic → earnest
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The Duke and I
Julia Quinn2000
A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.
sardonic → playful
pace0·prose-1·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+1prose0bleak-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.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+1·prose0·bleak-2
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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.
sardonic → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
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.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace+1·prose-1·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.
sardonic → tense
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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.
sardonic → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-2prose+2bleak-1
The Pale King
David Foster Wallace2011
An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.
Same sardonic register, still satire
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+1bleak-1
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.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong2019
A son writes a letter to his illiterate mother, recounting his family's history in Vietnam and his own experiences growing up in America.
sardonic → elegiac
pace-2·prose+1·bleak-1
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Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
sardonic → meditative
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Walden
Henry David Thoreau1854
A man lives in a small cabin by a pond for two years. He records his daily expenses, the local wildlife, and his thoughts on solitude.
sardonic → meditative
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