LitQueuelitqueue

After

Something to Answer For

P. H. Newby1968

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Steppenwolf

    Herman Hesse2009

    A middle-aged man feels split between his humanity and a lupine nature. He wanders a city and enters a surreal 'Magic Theater'.

    Same dreamlike register, still psychological fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive, still historical fiction

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

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

    dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+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.

    dreamlike → sardonic, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

dreamlike → playful

3 more ↓

  • Mile High

    Liz Tomforde2023

    A professional hockey player and a flight attendant clash on the team's private plane during a season-long road trip.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • Behind the Net

    Stephanie Archer2024

    A former musician becomes the live-in assistant for a professional hockey goalie she knew in high school.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

  • She Went All the Way

    Meg Cabot2002

    A screenwriter and an actor survive a helicopter crash in the Alaskan wilderness and must hike to safety while being pursued by a killer.

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    dreamlike → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    dreamlike → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    dreamlike → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2

Slower

dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

3 more ↓

  • Tinkers

    Paul Harding2009

    An elderly clock repairman lies dying while his thoughts drift through his father's life as a peddler. The prose focuses on nature and mechanics.

    dreamlike → meditative, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • February

    Lisa Moore2009

    A widow in Newfoundland moves between her quiet daily routines and the memory of her husband's death on a sunken oil rig decades earlier.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Wilderness

    Samantha Harvey2009

    An architect with Alzheimer's attempts to reconstruct his life story. The narrative fragments as his memory and sense of time dissolve.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • American Pastoral

    Philip Roth1997

    A successful businessman's life collapses when his daughter commits a political bombing in the 1960s. It tracks the decay of his family and ideals.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+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.

    dreamlike → bleak, still historical fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+1

  • The Gathering

    Anne Enright2007

    A woman gathers with her siblings in Dublin for her brother's wake. She reconstructs a childhood trauma to understand his suicide.

    dreamlike → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1