After
The Canterbury Tales
Geoffrey Chaucer
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from, nothing denser
More like it
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Another roadside attraction
Tom Robbins1971
A group of eccentrics at a roadside zoo discover the body of Jesus Christ. The narrative is a philosophical satire of 1960s counterculture.
Same playful register, still satire
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak+1
The Yips
Nicola Barker2012
A professional golfer loses his swing and retreats to a small town. The book is a sprawling, multi-perspective satire of modern English life.
Same playful register, still satire
pace0·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Nice and the Good
Iris Murdoch1968
A civil servant investigates a colleague's suicide while navigating the romantic entanglements of an English estate.
Same playful register
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
A Confederacy of Dunces
John Kennedy Toole1980
An eccentric, misanthropic man living with his mother in New Orleans is forced to find a job. He encounters various local subcultures.
Same playful register, still satire
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-1bleak0
Loitering with Intent
Muriel Spark1981
A novelist takes a job editing memoirs for a strange society. She discovers that her employer is manipulating the members to mimic her fiction.
Same playful register, still satire
pace+1·prose-1·bleak0
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
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.
Same playful register
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-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.
playful → sardonic, still satire
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-3bleak+1
The Sun and Her Flowers
Rupi Kaur2017
A collection of short, illustrated poems organized into five stages of growth. It covers themes of loss, trauma, and self-healing.
playful → earnest, still poetry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-3bleak0
Pillow Thoughts
Courtney Peppernell2016
A collection of short poems and prose pieces organized by emotional state. It focuses on themes of heartbreak, healing, and loneliness.
playful → tender, still poetry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak0
- pace+2prose-2bleak+2
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
playful → tense
pace+2·prose-2·bleak+2
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak+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.
Same playful register
pace-1·prose0·bleak+1
- pace-1prose0bleak+3
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
playful → elegiac
pace-1·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
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.
playful → clinical
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
- pace-1prose0bleak+3
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
playful → bleak
pace-1·prose0·bleak+3
- pace-1prose0bleak+2
The Pale King
David Foster Wallace2011
An unfinished, experimental novel about the mundane daily operations of an IRS processing center in 1985 Illinois.
playful → sardonic, still satire
pace-1·prose0·bleak+2
Heavier
playful → sardonic, still satire
- pace+1prose-2bleak+3
Slaughterhouse-Five
Kurt Vonnegut1969
Billy Pilgrim becomes unstuck in time, experiencing his life out of order, from his chaplaincy in WWII to his abduction by aliens.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
Dorian
Will Self2002
A modern retelling of Oscar Wilde's novel set in the London drug and art scenes of the 1980s. A video installation ages while the subject does not.
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose-1bleak+3
The rape poems
Frances Driscoll1997
A collection of poems documenting the immediate and long-term aftermath of a sexual assault. It focuses on the clinical and personal details.
playful → elegiac, still poetry
pace-1·prose-1·bleak+3
- pace0prose0bleak+3
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.
playful → bleak
pace0·prose0·bleak+3
- pace+1prose-1bleak+3
The Underground Railroad
Colson Whitehead2016
Two slaves escape a Georgia plantation via a literal underground train system while being pursued by a slave catcher.
playful → bleak
pace+1·prose-1·bleak+3
