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After

Amongst Women

John McGahern1990

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More like it

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  • The Other Side of the Bridge

    Mary Lawson2006

    Two brothers in a rural Canadian town compete for the same woman across two decades. The story spans from the 1930s to the 1950s.

    Same elegiac register, still domestic fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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·bleak0

  • Don Quixote

    Kathy Acker1986

    A woman undergoes an abortion and adopts the persona of Don Quixote to pursue a quest in a fragmented, postmodern landscape.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • The Mirror and the Light

    Hilary Mantel2020

    Thomas Cromwell navigates the final four years of his life in Henry VIII's court. He attempts to maintain power as his allies and influence erode.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Assistant to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

    A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Marriage Bargain

    Jennifer Probst2012

    A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • A Quick Bite

    Lynsay Sands2005

    A vampire who faints at the sight of blood finds a psychologist tied to her bed as a gift. They navigate his kidnapping and her family dynamics.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

    elegiac → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    elegiac → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • 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-1

  • Umbrella

    Will Self2013

    A psychiatrist in 1971 treats a woman who has been catatonic for decades. The prose shifts between eras and consciousnesses without paragraph breaks.

    elegiac → clinical

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    elegiac → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • Rabbit at Rest

    John Updike1990

    An aging man faces his failing health and family crises in Florida. The prose focuses on the physical decline and internal thoughts of Harry Angstrom.

    Same elegiac register, still domestic fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    elegiac → meditative, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    Same elegiac register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1