LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Remaking of Sigmund Freud

Barry N. Malzberg1985

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still satire

1 more ↓

  • Galápagos

    Kurt Vonnegut1820

    A ghost watches a group of tourists stranded on an island for a million years. Human biology slowly adapts to the environment over generations.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Denser prose

Same sardonic register, still satire

3 more ↓

  • Dhalgren

    Samuel R. Delany1975

    An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.

    sardonic → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • In Green's Jungles

    Gene Wolfe2000

    A narrator travels to different worlds while his physical form and memories shift. He recounts past voyages to prove his identity to his companions.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

  • VAS

    Steve Tomasula2002

    A man considers a vasectomy while the book uses diagrams and varied typography to explore the history of eugenics and biotechnology.

    sardonic → clinical

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

sardonic → playful, still satire

3 more ↓

  • Vampires Are Forever

    Lynsay Sands2008

    A woman suspects her business partner is a vampire after he attempts to bite her. He tries to convince her they are fated mates.

    sardonic → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Mane Event

    Shelly Laurenston2007

    A female cop reunites with a childhood friend who is now a lion-shifter. They navigate a romantic attraction while he pursues her in New York.

    sardonic → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Rich People Problems

    Kevin Kwan2017

    An extended family gathers in Singapore as their matriarch lies dying. They scheme against one another to inherit a massive estate.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

Same sardonic register, still satire

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    sardonic → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Ready Player One

    Ernest Cline2008

    A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • All Systems Red

    Martha Wells2017

    A self-aware security android hacks its own governor module to watch soap operas while protecting a team of scientists on a distant planet.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Beelzebub's tales to his grandson

    Georges Ivanovitch Gurdjieff1950

    An extraterrestrial being explains the history and strange behaviors of humanity to his grandson during a long space voyage.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Dandelion Wine

    Ray Bradbury1946

    A twelve-year-old boy experiences a series of vignettes over one summer in 1928 Illinois. The chapters focus on small-town life and aging.

    sardonic → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • The Pale King

    David Foster Wallace2011

    An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.

    Same sardonic register, still satire

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Cat's Cradle

    Kurt Vonnegut1963

    A writer researches the creator of the atomic bomb and discovers a substance that freezes all water. He joins an island cult.

    Same sardonic register, still satire

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

  • Chain-Gang All-Stars

    Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah2023

    Prisoners in a private American penal system fight to the death in televised matches for a chance at freedom.

    sardonic → bleak, still satire

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • This Is the Way the World Ends

    James Morrow1986

    A man buys a suit to survive a nuclear war and is put on trial by the ghosts of people who will never be born. It is a satire of nuclear policy.

    Same sardonic register, still satire

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1