After
Knowledge of Angels
Jill Paton Walsh1994
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
6 of 6 directions open
More like it
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Quarantine
Jim Crace1997
Five travelers, including Jesus, retreat into the Judean desert for a forty-day fast. The book follows their physical and mental deterioration.
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Narcissus and Goldmund
Hermann Hesse1971
Two friends in medieval Germany take opposite paths: one remains a cloistered monk, while the other wanders the world as an artist.
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
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- pace0prose0bleak0
The Good Apprentice
Iris Murdoch1985
Edward Baltram accidentally causes his friend's death and seeks redemption. His stepbrother tries to help him while navigating his own family drama.
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Harmony Silk Factory
Tash Aw2005
Three people give conflicting accounts of Johnny Lim, a 1940s Malaysian businessman. Each narrator reveals a different version of his loyalties.
Same meditative register, still historical fiction
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1 more ↓ ↑
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The Ruby in Her Navel
Barry Unsworth2006
In 12th-century Sicily, a young man works in the king's finance office amid religious tension. He uncovers a plot while seeking his own knighthood.
Same meditative register, still historical fiction
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Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
A Fable
William Faulkner1954
During WWI, a French corporal leads a mutiny that halts the fighting. The narrative mirrors the events of the Passion of Christ.
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose+1bleak+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.
meditative → propulsive, still historical fiction
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
meditative → dreamlike, still philosophical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
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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.
meditative → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
To recover
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
Astrophysics for People in a Hurry
Neil deGrasse Tyson2017
A summary of the origin of the universe, the laws of physics, and the nature of space and time.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
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Love Comes Softly
Janette Oke1979
A widow on the 19th-century frontier enters a marriage of convenience with a widower to survive the winter and care for his daughter.
meditative → tender
pace0·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+1prose-2bleak-2
The perfect Christmas
Debbie Macomber2009
A woman hires a grumpy matchmaker to find a husband. He assigns her three tasks to complete before he will introduce her to his chosen candidate.
meditative → warm
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
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Danger in the Shadows
Dee Henderson2002
A woman in witness protection hides from a kidnapper while a FBI agent works to keep her safe. The story incorporates elements of Christian faith.
meditative → earnest
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+2prose-1bleak-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.
meditative → sardonic, still philosophical fiction
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
meditative → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
meditative → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
Slower
Same meditative register, still philosophical fiction
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
A Fable
William Faulkner1954
During WWI, a French corporal leads a mutiny that halts the fighting. The narrative mirrors the events of the Passion of Christ.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
The Magic Mountain
Thomas Mann2019
A man visits a Swiss sanatorium for three weeks and stays for seven years. The narrative focuses on philosophical debates among the patients.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
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Elizabeth Costello
J. M. Coetzee2003
An elderly novelist travels the world giving academic lectures on animals, realism, and evil. The book is structured as a series of formal speeches.
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose0bleak0
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.
meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-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.
meditative → playful
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
Heavier
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Schopenhauer's Telescope
Gerard Donovan2003
Two men stand over a grave in a war-torn village, debating history and philosophy. One is the prisoner digging; the other is his executioner.
meditative → tense, still philosophical fiction
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- pace0prose-1bleak+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.
meditative → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
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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.
meditative → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
Same meditative register, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+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.
meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
