After
Ulysses
James Joyce1914
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing denser, nothing slower
More like it
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Accidental
Ali Smith2005
A stranger enters a family's holiday home in Norfolk and stays for the summer. Her presence alters the internal lives of each family member.
Same playful register, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
In Search of Lost Time
Marcel Proust2001
A narrator examines his life through involuntary memories triggered by sensory experiences. It spans seven volumes of social observation.
playful → meditative, still modernism
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Orbital
Samantha Harvey2024
Six astronauts orbit Earth over twenty-four hours. The narrative focuses on their routine tasks and observations of the planet below.
playful → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Waters of Kronos
Conrad Richter1960
An elderly man travels back in time to his childhood Pennsylvania town, which in his present day is submerged beneath a reservoir.
playful → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Moby Dick
Herman Melville1851
A sailor joins a whaling voyage led by a captain seeking revenge on a specific whale. Large sections digress into the mechanics of 1850s whaling.
playful → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
To recover
Same playful register
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Twenties Girl
Sophie Kinsella2009
Lara is visited by the ghost of her great-aunt Sadie, who appears as a 1920s flapper. They search for a missing necklace and chase a former lover.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
Bad Girl Reputation
Elle Kennedy2022
A former party girl returns to her coastal hometown for a funeral and tries to avoid her ex-boyfriend. They struggle to maintain their distance.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-3bleak-1
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.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-3bleak-1
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
playful → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1
Faster
- pace+3prose-3bleak-1
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.
Same playful register
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-2bleak+1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
playful → tense
pace+3·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
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.
playful → sardonic
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
- pace+3prose-3bleak-1
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.
playful → propulsive
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-3bleak-1
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
playful → wry
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
Girls Burn Brighter
Shobha Rao2018
Two girls in India are separated by a brutal act of violence. They endure trafficking and labor across continents to find each other.
playful → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace0prose-1bleak+2
The story of a brief marriage
Anuk Arudpragasam2016
Two refugees enter an arranged marriage in a Sri Lankan camp during the final days of the civil war. It focuses on the physical details of survival.
playful → meditative, still literary fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
A Distant Shore
Caryl Phillips2003
A retired teacher and an African refugee form a quiet bond in a xenophobic English village. Their past traumas emerge through alternating stories.
playful → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+1prose-1bleak+2
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara2015
Four friends in New York over thirty years. One of them is being destroyed, and the book does not look away.
playful → bleak, still literary fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
The Nickel Boys
Colson Whitehead2019
A studious black teenager in 1960s Florida is sent to a brutal reform school where physical abuse is systemic.
playful → elegiac, still literary fiction
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
