The Bookseller

Steppenwolf

Herman Hesse2009

A middle-aged man feels split between his humanity and a lupine nature. He wanders a city and enters a surreal 'Magic Theater'.

Same dreamlike register, still psychological fiction

pace0·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.

dreamlike → propulsive, still historical fiction

pace+1·prose+2·bleak+2

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

dreamlike → sardonic, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

Vampires Are Forever

Lynsay Sands2008

A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

The Mane Event

Shelly Laurenston2007

A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

This Girl

Colleen Hoover2013

A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

dreamlike → earnest

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

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.

dreamlike → sardonic

pace+2·prose0·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.

dreamlike → propulsive

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

dreamlike → wry

pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Tinkers

Paul Harding2009

An elderly clock repairman lies dying while his thoughts drift through his father's life as a peddler. The prose focuses on nature and mechanics.

dreamlike → meditative, still psychological fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

February

Lisa Moore2009

A widow in Newfoundland moves between her quiet daily routines and the memory of her husband's death on a sunken oil rig decades earlier.

dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

The Wilderness

Samantha Harvey2009

An architect with Alzheimer's attempts to reconstruct his life story. The narrative fragments as his memory and sense of time dissolve.

dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

American Pastoral

Philip Roth1997

A successful businessman's life collapses when his daughter commits a political bombing in the 1960s. It tracks the decay of his family and ideals.

dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

A Fine Balance

Rohinton Mistry1995

Four people from different castes share a small apartment during the 1975 Indian Emergency. Their lives are upended by state-sanctioned violence.

dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak+2

The Gathering

Anne Enright2007

A woman gathers with her siblings in Dublin for her brother's wake. She reconstructs a childhood trauma to understand his suicide.

dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+2