After
Schindler's Ark
Thomas Keneally1982
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak0
Lapvona
Ottessa Moshfegh2022
A shepherd's son navigates life in a medieval fiefdom during a famine. The village suffers under a cruel lord and a corrupt priest.
clinical → bleak, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Swans of Fifth Avenue
Melanie Benjamin2016
Truman Capote befriends and eventually betrays a circle of wealthy New York socialites in the 1950s and 60s.
clinical → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Paris Wife
Paula McLain2011
Hadley Richardson marries Ernest Hemingway and moves to 1920s Paris. The novel follows the dissolution of their marriage among the Lost Generation.
clinical → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Booth
Karen Joy Fowler2022
The story of the Booth family over several decades. It follows the siblings of John Wilkes Booth leading up to the Lincoln assassination.
clinical → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak-1
The Quickening Maze
Adam Foulds2009
Poets John Clare and Alfred Tennyson live near an Epping Forest asylum in the 1840s. The story follows their differing experiences of madness.
clinical → elegiac, still historical fiction
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
Denser prose
- pace0prose+1bleak-1
The Mirror and the Light
Hilary Mantel2020
Thomas Cromwell navigates the final four years of his life in Henry VIII's court. He attempts to maintain power as his allies and influence erode.
clinical → elegiac, 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.
clinical → 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.
clinical → elegiac, 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.
clinical → sardonic, still historical fiction
pace0·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.
clinical → bleak
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
clinical → playful
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
clinical → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
clinical → warm
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
On a Pale Horse
Piers Anthony1983
After accidentally killing the personification of Death, a man must take over the office. He navigates the bureaucracy of the afterlife.
pace+1·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.
clinical → 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.
clinical → 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.
clinical → 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.
clinical → 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.
clinical → wry
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
Slower
clinical → elegiac, 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.
clinical → 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.
Same clinical register
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.
clinical → bleak
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0