LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Elected Member

Bernice Rubens1969

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Fixer

    Bernard Malamud1966

    A Jewish handyman in 1911 Russia is imprisoned for a ritual murder he did not commit. He remains in a cell as the state builds a case against him.

    Same bleak register, still scapegoat

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → cold, still psychological fiction

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Study for Obedience

    Sarah Bernstein2023

    A woman moves to a remote northern country to care for her brother. The local community grows hostile as she observes them.

    bleak → cold, still psychological 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.

    bleak → sardonic

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Assistant to the Villain

    Hannah Nicole Maehrer2023

    A woman takes a job as an administrative assistant to a local villain to support her family. She manages his office while ignoring his evil deeds.

    bleak → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Marriage Bargain

    Jennifer Probst2012

    A bookstore owner enters a one-year contract marriage with a billionaire to save her family's land. They must follow a set of rules to stay platonic.

    bleak → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

  • A Quick Bite

    Lynsay Sands2005

    A vampire who faints at the sight of blood finds a psychologist tied to her bed as a gift. They navigate his kidnapping and her family dynamics.

    bleak → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3

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.

    bleak → sardonic

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-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.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    bleak → wry

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    bleak → elegiac, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Study for Obedience

    Sarah Bernstein2023

    A woman moves to a remote northern country to care for her brother. The local community grows hostile as she observes them.

    bleak → cold, still psychological fiction

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-2