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The continuous Katherine Mortenhoe

D. G. Compton1974

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Water Cure

    Sophie Mackintosh2018

    Three sisters live on an isolated island where their father subjects them to painful rituals to 'purify' them from the outside world.

    elegiac → dreamlike, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    elegiac → sardonic

    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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • The Spellman Files

    Lisa Lutz2007

    A private investigator works for her family's firm while her parents and sister spy on her. She tries to solve a disappearance and her own life.

    elegiac → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • On a Pale Horse

    Piers Anthony1983

    After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Stainless Steel Rat

    Harry Harrison1961

    A futuristic con man is caught by the Special Corps and forced to use his criminal skills to catch other lawbreakers.

    elegiac → playful, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Test

    Sylvain Neuvel2019

    An immigrant takes a British citizenship test that turns into a high-stakes psychological simulation. It is a short, dialogue-heavy novella.

    elegiac → tense, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful, still science fiction

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • 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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

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

    Same elegiac register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    elegiac → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

    Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950

    An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.

    elegiac → meditative, still science fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Prophet Song

    Paul Lynch2023

    A mother struggles to keep her family together in Dublin as Ireland descends into a totalitarian police state. The prose uses no paragraph breaks.

    elegiac → tense, still dystopian

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The New Wilderness

    Diane Cook2020

    A mother and daughter join a group living in the last remaining wilderness to escape a polluted city. They must survive the land and each other.

    elegiac → bleak, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • To Paradise

    Hanya Yanagihara2022

    Three stories set in 1893, 1993, and 2093 explore alternate versions of New York. Characters deal with illness, family legacies, and totalitarianism.

    Same elegiac register, still dystopian

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1