After
Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy1985
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
Same bleak register, still historical fiction
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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.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
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The Confessions of Nat Turner
William Styron1967
A fictionalized confession of the leader of an 1831 slave revolt while he awaits execution in a Virginia jail cell.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
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No Country for Young Men
Julia O'Faolain1980
A family in 1970s Ireland deals with the fallout of a visit from an American relative. The story uncovers secrets from the 1920s Civil War.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
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The Bluest Eye
Toni Morrison1970
A young Black girl in 1940s Ohio prays for blue eyes as a way to escape her reality. The narrative follows her family's collapse and trauma.
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
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Andersonville
MacKinlay Kantor1955
An ensemble cast experiences the conditions of a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. It follows prisoners, guards, and local civilians.
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To recover
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
bleak → playful
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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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.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-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.
bleak → earnest
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
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The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
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.
bleak → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-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.
bleak → tense
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
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.
bleak → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
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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.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
bleak → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
Slower
bleak → elegiac, still historical fiction
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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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
tough read for multiple reasons, people fail but it's amazing3 threads
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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-1·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-2
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.
bleak → playful
pace-1·prose0·bleak-2
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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.
bleak → clinical
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
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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.
Same bleak register
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
