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After

Olga Dies Dreaming

Xóchitl González2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Almost Sisters

    Joshilyn Jackson2017

    A graphic novelist discovers she is pregnant after a one-night stand. She returns to Alabama to handle a family secret found in her attic.

    sardonic → wry, still contemporary

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    Same sardonic register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • 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.

    Same sardonic register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+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.

    sardonic → propulsive

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To recover

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  • Ayesha at Last

    Uzma Jalaluddin2019

    A modern Muslim retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in Toronto. A poet and a conservative man clash over their differing values.

    sardonic → playful, still contemporary

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Rich People Problems

    Kevin Kwan2017

    An extended family gathers in Singapore as their matriarch lies dying. They scheme against one another to inherit a massive estate.

    sardonic → playful, still contemporary

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Someday, Someday, Maybe

    Lauren Graham2013

    A young actress in 1990s New York City gives herself a three-year deadline to find professional success before her money runs out.

    sardonic → playful, still contemporary

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Faster

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  • 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.

    Same sardonic register

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

    A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.

    sardonic → wry

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

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  • 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.

    sardonic → clinical

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Translated Accounts

    James Kelman2001

    Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+2

  • History of the Rain

    Niall Williams2014

    A bedridden girl in Ireland tells the story of her family and her father's obsession with finding a specific book. It is a history of a lineage.

    sardonic → elegiac, still family saga

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • I'll Go to Bed at Noon

    Gerard Woodward2004

    The Jones family spends a decade succumbing to alcoholism. The book tracks their physical and social disintegration in 1970s Britain.

    sardonic → bleak, still family saga

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Road

    Cormac McCarthy2006

    A father and son walk through a landscape of ash and scavengers toward the coast. They carry only what fits in a shopping cart.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

  • The Underground Railroad

    Colson Whitehead2016

    Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.

    sardonic → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2