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Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone

Diana Gabaldon2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Old Man and the Sea

    Ernest Hemingway1952

    An aging Cuban fisherman goes eighty-four days without a catch. He sails far into the Gulf Stream to battle a giant marlin alone.

    Same earnest register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

earnest → sardonic

3 more ↓

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

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

    earnest → bleak

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

earnest → playful

3 more ↓

  • A Veiled Deception

    Annette Blair2009

    A vintage shop owner investigates a murder during her sister's wedding preparations to clear her family's name.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • It Starts with Us

    Colleen Hoover2022

    A single mother navigates a new relationship with her first love while managing a jealous ex-husband. The story alternates perspectives.

    Same earnest register

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Lost in Time

    A.G. Riddle2022

    A man is exiled to the Triassic period for a murder he didn't commit while his daughter tries to bring him back.

    earnest → propulsive, still time travel

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • Child 44

    Tom Rob Smith2008

    A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.

    earnest → tense

    pace+2·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → clinical

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

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

    earnest → bleak

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • Love & Sleep

    John Crowley1994

    Pierce Moffett researches the history of magic while living in a small town. The narrative shifts between his life and the Renaissance.

    earnest → meditative, still historical fantasy

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

earnest → bleak

3 more ↓

  • Oryx and Crake

    Margaret Atwood2003

    A man survives a genetic apocalypse in a world of engineered creatures. He remembers his past with a scientist and the woman they both loved.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Slaughterhouse-Five

    Kurt Vonnegut1969

    Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time, experiencing his life out of order, from his chaplaincy in WWII to his abduction by aliens.

    earnest → sardonic

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2