LitQueuelitqueue

After

Mongrels

Stephen Graham Jones2016

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Sightseeing

    Rattawut Lapcharoensap2005

    Short stories set in contemporary Thailand explore family dynamics, tourism, and coming-of-age against a changing cultural landscape.

    Same tender register, still coming of age

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

Denser prose

tender → dreamlike

3 more ↓

  • Gormenghast

    Mervyn Peake1950

    A young heir and a social climber navigate the rigid rituals of a decaying, labyrinthine castle. The prose is dense and descriptive.

    tender → dark

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner

    James Hogg1824

    A religious fanatic becomes convinced he is predestined for salvation and commits crimes at the behest of a mysterious stranger.

    tender → cold

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Ghost Stories

    Henry James2001

    A collection of Victorian tales where the existence of ghosts is often left to the reader's interpretation.

    tender → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Going Cowboy Crazy

    Katie Lane2011

    A woman travels to a small Texas town to find her secret twin sister and is mistaken for her by the local residents and her sister's ex-flame.

    tender → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Marrying Mr. Wrong

    Claire Kingsley

    Two rivals wake up married in Las Vegas and decide to stay together to help their respective careers.

    tender → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Hot Number

    Carly Phillips

    A sports publicist undergoes a physical makeover to shed her tomboy image. She attempts to catch the attention of a professional ballplayer.

    tender → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    tender → bleak

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    tender → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    tender → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → playful

    pace-1·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.

    tender → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Flowers in the Attic

    V.C. Andrews1979

    Four children are hidden in an attic for years by their mother and grandmother to secure an inheritance. They face gradual poisoning and abuse.

    tender → elegiac

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Hamlet

    William Shakespeare

    A prince of Denmark is told by a ghost that his uncle killed his father. He feigns madness while deciding whether to take revenge.

    tender → meditative

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Terror

    Dan Simmons2007

    Two British ships searching for the Northwest Passage in 1845 become trapped in ice and are hunted by a creature.

    tender → bleak

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2