LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Death of Vivek Oji

Akwaeke Emezi2020

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Gifted

    Nikita Lalwani2007

    A math prodigy in Cardiff is pushed toward Oxford by her father's strict academic regime. It follows her childhood and teenage years.

    Same tender register, still coming of age

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Don Quixote

    Kathy Acker1986

    A woman undergoes an abortion and adopts the persona of Don Quixote to pursue a quest in a fragmented, postmodern landscape.

    tender → sardonic

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Autobiography of Red

    Anne Carson1999

    A novel in verse reimagines a Greek myth as a modern coming-of-age story about a red winged boy and his lover, Herakles.

    tender → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

tender → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Manning Brides

    Debbie Macomber2008

    Two brothers navigate unconventional paths to marriage. One enters a marriage of convenience for a child, while the other finds love after loss.

    tender → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Takeover

    T.L. Swan

    A billionaire attempts to acquire a widow's family company but ends up moving into her home. It follows their power struggle and her three sons.

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Pioneer Woman

    Ree Drummond2011

    A city woman moves to a remote cattle ranch after falling in love with a cowboy. She details her transition to country life and farm chores.

    tender → warm

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → sardonic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    tender → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    tender → wry

    pace+1·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Housekeeping

    Marilynne Robinson1980

    Two sisters grow up in an isolated Idaho town under the care of their transient aunt. The prose focuses on memory and the nature of loss.

    tender → elegiac, still coming of age

    pace-2·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    tender → clinical

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Road

    Cormac McCarthy2006

    A father and son walk through a landscape of ash and scavengers toward the coast. They carry only what fits in a shopping cart.

    tender → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Underground Railroad

    Colson Whitehead2016

    Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.

    tender → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Oryx and Crake

    Margaret Atwood2003

    A man survives a genetic apocalypse in a world of engineered creatures. He remembers his past with a scientist and the woman they both loved.

    tender → sardonic

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1