After
The Girls
Emma Cline2016
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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Hot Milk
Deborah Levy2016
A woman takes her chronically ill mother to a clinic in Spain. She examines their symbiotic relationship while exploring her own identity.
Same dreamlike register, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Glass Hotel
Emily St. John Mandel2020
A massive Ponzi scheme collapses, affecting a bartender, a financier, and a shipping executive. The story jumps across decades and locations.
Same dreamlike register, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Bone People
Keri Hulme1984
A reclusive artist, a mute boy, and a drifter form a volatile bond on the New Zealand coast. The narrative incorporates Maori myth and language.
Same dreamlike register, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Sense of an Ending
Julian Barnes2011
A retired man re-examines his university years after receiving a letter. He discovers his memory of a past suicide was inaccurate.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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4 3 2 1
Paul Auster2017
The novel follows four parallel versions of Archie Ferguson's life from birth through young adulthood. Each path diverges based on chance.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
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The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner1929
The decline of a Southern family told through four perspectives, including a non-linear stream of consciousness from a man with a disability.
dreamlike → elegiac
pace0·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
dreamlike → playful, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
Same dreamlike register, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Sea
John Banville2005
A widower returns to a coastal resort to reflect on a childhood summer and his wife's death. The narrator's memory is fluid and dense.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
dreamlike → propulsive
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Dark Lover
J. R. Ward2005
A vampire king seeks revenge against the slayers who killed his parents while protecting a woman discovering her own supernatural heritage.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
The Care and Feeding of Stray Vampires
Molly Harper2012
A human woman works as a daytime assistant for vampires. She breaks her professional rules to help a poisoned client survive.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Ice Planet Barbarians
Ruby Dixon2021
A group of human women are stranded on a frozen world and rescued by blue, horned aliens. The story focuses on survival and biological attraction.
dreamlike → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
dreamlike → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
dreamlike → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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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·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
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-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
dreamlike → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Sea
John Banville2005
A widower returns to a coastal resort to reflect on a childhood summer and his wife's death. The narrator's memory is fluid and dense.
dreamlike → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
dreamlike → playful, still literary fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
dreamlike → elegiac, still coming of age
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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+1·bleak-1
Heavier
dreamlike → bleak, still literary fiction
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Shuggie Bain
Douglas Stuart2020
A young boy grows up in 1980s Glasgow public housing. He tries to support his mother as she struggles with severe alcoholism and poverty.
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
An Untamed State
Roxane Gay2014
A woman is kidnapped for ransom in front of her family in Haiti and endures weeks of brutal captivity. The narrative focuses on her survival.
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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Ghost Wall
Sarah Moss2018
A girl and her parents join a university reenactment of Iron Age life. Her father's obsession with historical authenticity turns dangerous.
dreamlike → tense, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
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·prose0·bleak+1
- pace+1prose0bleak+1
Girls Burn Brighter
Shobha Rao2018
Two girls in India are separated by a brutal act of violence. They endure trafficking and labor across continents to find each other.
pace+1·prose0·bleak+1
