After
Study for Obedience
Sarah Bernstein2023
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing denser, nothing slower
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
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.
cold → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
Shroud
John Banville2002
An aging scholar with a stolen identity meets a woman who knows his secret. They travel to Turin to confront his past.
Same cold register, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Sea, the Sea
Iris Murdoch1978
A retired theater director writes a memoir in a house by the sea while becoming obsessed with a past lover he finds in the village.
cold → sardonic, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
The Conservationist
Nadine Gordimer1974
A wealthy white industrialist buys a farm outside Johannesburg. He struggles to maintain control over the land and the people on it.
Same cold register, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
The Woman Upstairs
Claire Messud2013
A schoolteacher becomes obsessed with the family of one of her students. She documents her growing resentment and their eventual betrayal.
cold → sardonic, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
- pace+3prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
cold → wry
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Thoughtful
S.C. Stephens2015
Kellan Kyle falls for his best friend's girlfriend, Anna. The story retells the events of Thoughtless from Kellan's perspective.
cold → earnest
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Redshirts
John Scalzi2012
Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.
cold → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
cold → propulsive
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-2
Fifty Shades of Grey
E.L. James2000
A college student enters a sexual contract with a wealthy businessman. The story focuses on their power dynamics and BDSM encounters.
cold → earnest
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-2
Faster
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
cold → playful
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+3prose-2bleak0
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
cold → tense
pace+3·prose-2·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+3prose-2bleak-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.
cold → sardonic
pace+3·prose-2·bleak-1
- pace+3prose-3bleak-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.
cold → propulsive
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
- pace+3prose-3bleak-2
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
cold → wry
pace+3·prose-3·bleak-2
Heavier
- pace+1prose-1bleak+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.
cold → elegiac, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
No Longer Human
太宰 治2024
A man describes his life through three notebooks, detailing his inability to connect with others and his social alienation.
cold → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The Lighthouse
Alison Moore2012
A recently separated man takes a walking tour of Germany while reflecting on his childhood abandonment and his failing marriage.
cold → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+1prose-1bleak+1
The White Hotel
D. M. Thomas1981
A woman's life is told through poems, a Freudian case study, and a narrative. It moves from her sexual fantasies to her death in the Holocaust.
cold → dreamlike, still psychological fiction
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
My Dark Vanessa
Kate Elizabeth Russell2020
Vanessa reflects on her teenage relationship with a teacher after he is accused of abuse. The narrative shifts between 2000 and 2017.
cold → bleak, still psychological fiction
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
