After
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann2019
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing denser, nothing slower
More like it
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Fable
William Faulkner1954
During WWI, a French corporal leads a mutiny that halts the fighting. The narrative mirrors the events of the Passion of Christ.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Quarantine
Jim Crace1997
Five travelers, including Jesus, retreat into the Judean desert for a forty-day fast. The book follows their physical and mental deterioration.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Knowledge of Angels
Jill Paton Walsh1994
On a medieval island, a feral girl and an atheist castaway are used as subjects in an inquiry to determine if the soul is innate.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak-1
Narcissus and Goldmund
Hermann Hesse1971
Two friends in medieval Germany take opposite paths: one remains a cloistered monk, while the other wanders the world as an artist.
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Elizabeth Costello
J. M. Coetzee2003
An elderly novelist travels the world giving academic lectures on animals, realism, and evil. The book is structured as a series of formal speeches.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The time keeper
Mitch Albom2011
The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.
meditative → earnest
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
The Last Question
Isaac Asimov2007
A short story told in seven vignettes spanning billions of years. Humanity asks a supercomputer if the heat death of the universe can be avoided.
Same meditative register
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+3prose-2bleak-1
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.
meditative → sardonic, still philosophical fiction
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
meditative → tense
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+3prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
Schopenhauer's Telescope
Gerard Donovan2003
Two men stand over a grave in a war-torn village, debating history and philosophy. One is the prisoner digging; the other is his executioner.
meditative → tense, still philosophical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-2bleak+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.
meditative → bleak, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
meditative → bleak, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
Same meditative register, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
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.
meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
