LitQueuelitqueue

After

The House of the Seven Gables

Nathaniel Hawthorne1981

5 of 6 directions open — nothing denser

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Manuscript Found in Saragossa

    Jan Potocki

    A Walloon officer in the Napoleonic wars discovers a manuscript that leads into a complex web of stories within stories.

    meditative → dreamlike, still gothic fiction

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1

  • 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.

    meditative → earnest

    pace+1·prose-3·bleak-1

  • The Martian

    Andy Weir2011

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

    meditative → wry

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Rising

    Brian Keene2003

    A father travels across an apocalypse where the dead are possessed by malevolent, intelligent demons. The world is ending permanently.

    meditative → bleak

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak+2

  • Shattered

    Dean Koontz1973

    A man and his future stepson drive across America while being stalked by the woman's vengeful ex-husband.

    meditative → tense

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak0

  • The Executioner

    Chris Carter2010

    A Los Angeles detective hunts a serial killer who murders victims using their specific phobias. Each crime scene features a blood-scrawled number.

    meditative → tense

    pace+2·prose-3·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    meditative → playful

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

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

    meditative → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    Same meditative register

    pace-1·prose0·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Wieland and Memoirs of Carwin the Biloquist

    Charles Brockden Brown2009

    A religious man hears mysterious voices that drive him toward violence and madness. It is an early American gothic told through letters.

    meditative → tense, still gothic fiction

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2

  • Vathek

    William Beckford1929

    An Arabian caliph builds a giant tower and commits atrocities to gain supernatural power. He eventually descends into a subterranean hell.

    meditative → sardonic, still gothic fiction

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+2

  • Frankenstein

    Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley1818

    Victor Frankenstein assembles a living being from scavenged parts. The narrative follows the creature's rejection and its violent revenge.

    meditative → elegiac

    pace0·prose-1·bleak+2