After
Bewilderment
Richard Powers2021
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
Same elegiac register, still literary
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The Overstory
Richard Powers2018
Nine strangers are connected by their unique relationships with trees. The narrative spans decades as they converge to protect a forest.
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The Spinning Heart
Donal Ryan2001
Twenty-one different narrators describe the aftermath of the Irish financial crash in a small town. The story centers on a local construction boss.
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Welcome Me to the Kingdom
Mai Nardone2023
Interconnected stories follow families in Bangkok across decades as they navigate economic shifts and personal loss.
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1 more ↓ ↑
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Denser prose
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A sport and a pastime
James Salter1967
An unnamed narrator observes the sexual affair between an American college dropout and a French girl in 1960s France.
elegiac → dreamlike, still literary
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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
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3 more ↓ ↑
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As I Lay Dying
William Faulkner1915
The Bundren family travels by wagon to bury their matriarch. Fifteen different narrators describe the journey as the corpse decomposes.
elegiac → sardonic
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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
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A Brief History of Seven Killings
Marlon James2014
A large cast of characters recounts the 1976 attempt on Bob Marley's life. The narrative spans decades and moves from Jamaica to New York.
elegiac → propulsive
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To recover
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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.
elegiac → earnest
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The Score
Elle Kennedy2016
A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.
elegiac → playful
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3 more ↓ ↑
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The Kiss Quotient
Helen Hoang2018
An autistic econometrician hires a male escort to teach her how to be in a relationship. They navigate physical intimacy and social anxiety.
elegiac → warm
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To Sir Phillip, With Love
Julia Quinn2003
Eloise Bridgerton travels to meet a widowed baronet she has only known through letters. They consider a marriage of convenience.
elegiac → warm
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All Rhodes Lead Here
Mariana Zapata2021
A woman moves back to her Colorado hometown after a breakup and rents a garage apartment from a grumpy single father.
elegiac → warm
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Faster
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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.
elegiac → playful
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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
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3 more ↓ ↑
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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
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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
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The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
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Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
A Passage North
Anuk Arudpragasam2021
Krishan travels by train from Colombo to a funeral in northern Sri Lanka. He spends the journey reflecting on a past love and the civil war.
elegiac → meditative, still literary
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
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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
3 more ↓ ↑
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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
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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
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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
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