LitQueuelitqueue

After

History of violence

Édouard Louis2018

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Les gommes

    Alain Robbe-Grillet1953

    A detective spends twenty-four hours in a labyrinthine city searching for an assassin. The prose focuses on clinical, geometric descriptions.

    Same clinical register

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Blood on the dining-room floor

    Gertrude Stein1948

    A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.

    clinical → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2

  • The Doves Necklace

    Raja Alem2014

    A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.

    clinical → dreamlike

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    clinical → wry

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-2

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Unfinished

    Priyanka Chopra Jonas2021

    The actress details her childhood in India, her time in American schools, and her transition from pageantry to a global film career.

    clinical → earnest, still memoir

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Waiter Rant: Thanks for the Tip-Confessions of a Cynical Waiter

    Steve Dublanica

    An anonymous server recounts his daily experiences and frustrations working in a high-end New York restaurant.

    clinical → sardonic, still memoir

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • Whiskey in a Teacup

    Reese Witherspoon2018

    Reese Witherspoon shares recipes, interior design tips, and personal stories centered on Southern lifestyle and hospitality.

    clinical → warm, still memoir

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-3

Faster

clinical → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • Behind Closed Doors

    B.A. Paris2016

    A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Kiss the Girls

    James Patterson1995

    Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.

    clinical → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Verity

    Colleen Hoover2018

    A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.

    clinical → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • M Train

    Patti Smith2015

    A musician travels to various cafes and gravesites around the world. She reflects on her late husband, her favorite books, and her daily rituals.

    clinical → elegiac, still memoir

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-2

  • Dhalgren

    Samuel R. Delany1975

    An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.

    clinical → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    clinical → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-3