After
The Grapes of Wrath
John Steinbeck1939
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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The Jungle
Upton Sinclair
A Lithuanian immigrant family faces poverty and injury while working in the Chicago meatpacking industry at the turn of the century.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
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Quo vadis
Henryk Sienkiewicz1992
A Roman soldier falls for a Christian woman during Nero's reign. The plot follows the contrast between Roman excess and early Christian martyrdom.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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Sea of Poppies
Amitav Ghosh2008
A diverse group of strangers converges on a former slave ship in 1838 India. They navigate colonial tensions and the opium trade.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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- pace0prose-1bleak-1
West with Giraffes
Lynda Rutledge2021
In 1938, a young man drives two giraffes across the United States in a custom truck. The story is told by the driver at age 105.
earnest → warm, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
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The Gilded Hour
Sara Donati2015
Two female doctors in 1883 New York treat the city's poor while navigating restrictive social laws and a series of disappearances.
Same earnest register, still historical fiction
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Denser prose
- pace+1prose+1bleak+1
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.
earnest → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
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Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
earnest → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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.
earnest → dreamlike
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To recover
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
Artemis
Andy Weir2017
A porter and smuggler on a lunar colony takes a high-stakes sabotage job to pay off a debt. She uses technical knowledge to solve problems.
earnest → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
An Offer From a Gentleman
Julia Quinn2001
The illegitimate daughter of an earl works as a servant for her stepmother. She sneaks into a masquerade ball and meets Benedict Bridgerton.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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King of Pride
Ana Huang2023
A buttoned-up billionaire heir falls for an impulsive bartender while trying to secure a CEO position. They navigate a forbidden workplace romance.
earnest → playful
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace0prose-2bleak-2
The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries
Emily Brightwell1993
A Victorian housekeeper and her staff secretly solve crimes for their employer, a clueless Scotland Yard inspector.
earnest → playful
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
Royally Screwed
Emma Chase2016
A crown prince visiting Manhattan pursues a bakery worker who threw a pie at him. The story follows their class-clash courtship.
earnest → playful
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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → 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.
earnest → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
- 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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak0
The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje1992
Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- 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.
earnest → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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.
earnest → clinical
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- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
earnest → bleak
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
Heavier
earnest → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
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.
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The Confessions of Nat Turner
William Styron1967
A fictionalized confession of the leader of an 1831 slave revolt while he awaits execution in a Virginia jail cell.
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3 more ↓ ↑
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The Known World
Edward P. Jones2003
A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.
earnest → meditative, still historical fiction
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A Long Long Way
Sebastian Barry2005
A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
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Brotherless Night
V. V. Ganeshananthan2023
A young woman in Sri Lanka tries to study medicine while her brothers join militant groups during the civil war. It covers a decade of conflict.
earnest → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
