After
In Memoriam
Alice Winn2023
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Swimming in the Dark
Tomasz Jedrowski2020
Two men fall in love at an agricultural camp in 1980s Poland. They struggle to maintain their bond under a repressive communist regime.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
Dreams of Joy
Lisa See2011
In 1958, a young woman travels from Los Angeles to China to find her father. She becomes trapped in the famine of the Great Leap Forward.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Paris Daughter
Kristin Harmel2023
Two mothers in occupied Paris are separated by war and a tragic choice. Decades later, one searches for the truth about their daughters.
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Great Believers
Rebecca Makkai2018
Two timelines follow a group of friends in Chicago during the 1980s AIDS crisis and a woman searching for her daughter in 2015 Paris.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Night Watch
Sarah Waters2006
The lives of four Londoners are traced backward from 1947 to 1941. The story moves from the aftermath of WWII to the height of the Blitz.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
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.
elegiac → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace0prose+2bleak+1
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.
elegiac → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Don Quixote
Kathy Acker1986
A woman undergoes an abortion and adopts the persona of Don Quixote to pursue a quest in a fragmented, postmodern landscape.
elegiac → sardonic
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
elegiac → bleak
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
To recover
elegiac → playful
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
The Duke and I
Julia Quinn2000
A duke and a debutante enter a fake courtship to avoid social pressure. They navigate Regency London's marriage market while hiding their deal.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Warrior Rising
P.C. Cast2008
Goddesses transport a modern woman to ancient Troy to seduce and distract Achilles. It is a lighthearted fish-out-of-water romance.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Terms and Conditions
Lauren Asher2022
To secure his inheritance, a businessman enters a marriage of convenience with his assistant.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Wielding a Red Sword
Piers Anthony1986
An Indian prince avoids an arranged marriage by accepting the supernatural office of War. He wields a sword that draws him into a conflict in Hell.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace0prose-1bleak-2
Love Bites
Lynsay Sands2004
A vampire turns a coroner into an immortal to save her life after an accident. They navigate their new bond while being pursued by others.
pace0·prose-1·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
elegiac → playful
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
elegiac → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose0bleak-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.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-1bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2
Slower
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-2prose+2bleak+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.
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-2prose+1bleak0
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-2·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-2prose+2bleak-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.
elegiac → playful
pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1
- pace-2prose+2bleak0
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.
elegiac → clinical
pace-2·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-2prose+2bleak+1
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
elegiac → bleak
pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
elegiac → bleak, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
Young Mungo
Douglas Stuart2022
Two teenage boys from rival religious gangs fall in love in 1990s Glasgow. Mungo is sent on a fishing trip with two men to 'make him a man.'
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
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.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
The Known World
Edward P. Jones2003
A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.
elegiac → meditative, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+1
A Long Long Way
Sebastian Barry2005
A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1
