LitQueuelitqueue

After

To Paradise

Hanya Yanagihara2022

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

1 more ↓

  • The Narrow Road to the Deep North

    Richard Flanagan2014

    A surgeon in a Japanese POW camp during the construction of the Death Railway is haunted by a past affair. It covers fifty years of his life.

    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.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • 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.

    elegiac → sardonic, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • The Wake

    Paul Kingsnorth2014

    A landowner in 1066 leads a guerrilla resistance against Norman invaders. The story is written in a modified version of Old English.

    elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

elegiac → playful

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Fifty Shades of Grey

    E.L. James2000

    A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.

    elegiac → earnest

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    elegiac → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Get Jiro!

    Anthony Bourdain2012

    In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.

    elegiac → sardonic, still dystopian

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Child 44

    Tom Rob Smith2008

    A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2

Slower

3 more ↓

  • A Month in the Country

    J. L. Carr1980

    A WWI veteran spends a summer in a quiet village restoring a medieval mural in a church. He reflects on his trauma while observing local life.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • 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.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-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.

    elegiac → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2