Breakfast on Pluto

The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen2015

A half-French, half-Vietnamese double agent flees to Los Angeles after the Fall of Saigon. He continues to spy on his fellow refugees.

Same sardonic register, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

sardonic → propulsive, still historical fiction

pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

sardonic → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

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.

Same sardonic register, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

It Happened One Summer

Tessa Bailey2021

A socialite is sent to a small fishing town to run a dive bar. She enters a relationship with a local sea captain who doubts her competence.

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Bitten & Smitten

Michelle Rowen2006

Sarah is accidentally turned into a vampire and must rely on a grumpy, centuries-old vampire to teach her how to survive.

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

Fire Burn and Cauldron Bubble (Underworld, #1)

H.P. Mallory

A woman discovers she is a witch and becomes entangled with both a vampire and a warlock while navigating a supernatural underworld.

pace0·prose-2·bleak-2

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.

Same sardonic register, still picaresque

pace+1·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.

sardonic → propulsive

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

sardonic → wry

pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Absalom, Absalom!

William Faulkner1936

The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

sardonic → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

Lila

Marilynne Robinson2014

A woman with a traumatic, nomadic past settles in a small Iowa town and marries a minister. She struggles to reconcile her history with his faith.

sardonic → tender, still literary fiction

pace-2·prose0·bleak-1

Blackouts

Justin Torres2023

A young man cares for a dying elder in a medical facility. They use a 1930s study on homosexuality to reconstruct their personal histories.

sardonic → elegiac, still literary fiction

pace-2·prose0·bleak0

The Prophets

Robert Jones Jr.2021

Two enslaved men on a Mississippi plantation find refuge in their love for each other. Their relationship is threatened by a betrayal.

sardonic → elegiac, still literary fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

The Deposition of Father McGreevy

Brian O'Doherty2000

A priest recounts the physical and moral decline of an isolated Irish village during a harsh winter in the 1940s.

sardonic → elegiac, still literary fiction

pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

A Fine Balance

Rohinton Mistry1995

Four people from different castes share a small apartment during the 1975 Indian Emergency. Their lives are upended by state-sanctioned violence.

sardonic → bleak, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose-1·bleak+1