LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Gift of Rain

Tan Twan Eng2007

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

1 more ↓

  • The Ghost Road

    Pat Barker1995

    During the final months of WWI, an officer returns to the front while his doctor reflects on the war. It concludes the Regeneration Trilogy.

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

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, still historical fiction

    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

  • 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.

    elegiac → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

elegiac → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • Hot mahogany

    Stuart Woods2008

    A lawyer guards a former spy with amnesia who restores antique furniture. They uncover a conspiracy linked to the man's service in Vietnam.

    elegiac → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Assistant to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

    A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Fearless Fourteen

    Janet Evanovich2008

    A bounty hunter searches for a missing bank robber while a stoner guards a cop's house. The plot involves a hidden nine-million-dollar fortune.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·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.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace+2·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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    elegiac → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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

  • 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

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    elegiac → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Ghost Road

    Pat Barker1995

    During the final months of WWI, an officer returns to the front while his doctor reflects on the war. It concludes the Regeneration Trilogy.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Tree of Smoke

    Denis Johnson2007

    An ensemble cast navigate the Vietnam War through CIA operations and ground combat. The narrative spans years and multiple countries.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • The Undertaking

    Audrey Magee2014

    A German soldier and a woman marry by proxy to secure leave and a pension. The narrative follows his time at the front and her life in Berlin.

    elegiac → cold, still historical fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1