LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Storm We Made

Vanessa Chan2024

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Underground Railroad

    Colson Whitehead2016

    Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.

    Same bleak register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    bleak → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

  • The Vaster Wilds

    Lauren Groff2023

    A servant girl escapes a starving colonial settlement in the 1600s and attempts to survive alone in the American wilderness.

    bleak → meditative, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • This Other Eden

    Paul Harding2023

    A multiracial community on a small island off the coast of Maine faces forced displacement by state officials in the early 20th century.

    bleak → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

bleak → playful

3 more ↓

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    bleak → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Comfort Book

    Matt Haig2021

    A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.

    bleak → warm

    pace-1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Odessa Sea

    Clive Cussler2016

    Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

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.

    bleak → sardonic

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    bleak → wry

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

Slower

bleak → elegiac, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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-2·prose0·bleak-1

  • Lila

    Marilynne Robinson2014

    A woman with a traumatic, nomadic past settles in a small Iowa town and marries a minister. She struggles to reconcile her history with his faith.

    bleak → tender, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-2

  • Rhine Journey

    Ann Schlee1981

    A middle-aged woman travels by steamer down the Rhine in 1851. She observes her family and internalizes a chance encounter with a man from her past.

    bleak → meditative, still historical fiction

    pace-2·prose0·bleak-1