LitQueuelitqueue

After

Havoc, in Its Third Year

Ronan Bennett2004

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Andersonville

    MacKinlay Kantor1955

    An ensemble cast experiences the conditions of a Confederate prisoner-of-war camp. It follows prisoners, guards, and local civilians.

    Same bleak register, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    bleak → sardonic, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • 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·prose+1·bleak-2

  • Briefing for a Descent into Hell

    Doris Lessing1971

    A man is found wandering London and placed in a psychiatric ward. The narrative shifts between the hospital and his internal cosmic hallucinations.

    bleak → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Guidebook to Murder

    Lynn Cahoon2014

    A woman opens a tourist shop in a coastal town and finds a dead body. She investigates the murder while managing her new business.

    bleak → warm, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Size 14 Is Not Fat Either

    Meg Cabot

    A former pop star working at a college dormitory investigates the murder of a cheerleader. She balances the case with her own personal life.

    bleak → playful, still mystery

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Tell No One

    Harlan Coben2000

    A widower receives an email from his wife eight years after her murder. He flees the FBI to discover if she is still alive.

    bleak → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Ten Big Ones

    Janet Evanovich2004

    Stephanie Plum witnesses a gang hit and becomes a target herself. She balances the threat with her ongoing romantic indecision.

    bleak → playful, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Private Vegas

    James Patterson2015

    Jack Morgan investigates a man who trains women to become killers in Las Vegas. The story follows multiple perspectives in short chapters.

    bleak → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

bleak → elegiac, 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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • 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·prose+1·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.

    Same bleak register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0