After
Ironweed
William Kennedy1983
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Map of Salt and Stars
Zeyn Joukhadar2018
A Syrian girl flees modern civil war while her story mirrors a 12th-century mapmaker's apprentice. Both travel across North Africa.
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-2
Lincoln in the Bardo
George Saunders2017
Abraham Lincoln visits his son's crypt in 1862. The story is told through a chorus of ghosts trapped in a transitional state between life and death.
pace0·prose0·bleak-2
- pace0prose0bleak-2
The Snow Child
Eowyn Ivey2012
An aging couple in 1920s Alaska builds a child out of snow who appears to come to life. The story blends homesteading with folklore.
pace0·prose0·bleak-2
- pace0prose0bleak-2
North Woods
Daniel Mason2023
The story of a single house in the Massachusetts woods told through the lives of its inhabitants over four hundred years.
pace0·prose0·bleak-2
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Beloved
Toni Morrison1987
A mother in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to spare from slavery. The prose is dense and non-linear.
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
Beloved
Toni Morrison1987
A mother in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to spare from slavery. The prose is dense and non-linear.
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
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
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
To recover
elegiac → warm
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
While It Lasts
Abbi Glines2013
A college baseball player works on a farm over the summer to avoid jail after a DUI. He falls for a woman who is grieving her late fiancé.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Will
Kristen Ashley
A woman inherits a house and a family legacy in a small town. She enters a relationship with the man appointed as her protector in the will.
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Thoughtful
S.C. Stephens2015
Kellan Kyle falls for his best friend's girlfriend, Anna. The story retells the events of Thoughtless from Kellan's perspective.
elegiac → earnest
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
The time keeper
Mitch Albom2011
The inventor of the first clock is released from a cave to help two people in the modern world. He teaches them the value of their remaining time.
elegiac → earnest, still magical realism
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
This Girl
Colleen Hoover2013
A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.
elegiac → earnest
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
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+2·prose-1·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
Same elegiac register, still historical fiction
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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-1·prose0·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
elegiac → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
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-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
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-1·prose+1·bleak0
