After

The Known World

Edward P. Jones2003

pace
prose
structure
bleakness

5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier

More like it

Same meditative register, still historical fiction

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The Harmony Silk Factory
Tash Aw2005
Three people give conflicting accounts of Johnny Lim, a 1940s Malaysian businessman. Each narrator reveals a different version of his loyalties.
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The Ruby in Her Navel
Barry Unsworth2006
In 12th-century Sicily, a young man works in the king's finance office amid religious tension. He uncovers a plot while seeking his own knighthood.
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How to Paint a Dead Man
Sarah Hall2009
Four narratives spanning fifty years follow a dying painter, a landscape artist, a blind girl, and a curator. Their lives intersect through art.
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The Illusionist
Anita Mason1983
Simon Magus practices sorcery in the first century while following the rise of Christianity. It is a slow study of power and belief.
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1 more ↓

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The Refugees
Viet Thanh Nguyen2017
Eight short stories follow Vietnamese refugees and their families as they navigate life in America and their home country.
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Denser prose

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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.
meditative → propulsive, still historical fiction
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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.
meditative → sardonic, still historical fiction
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3 more ↓

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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, still historical fiction
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This Other Eden
Paul Harding2023
A multiracial community on a small island off the coast of Maine faces forced displacement by state officials in the early 20th century.
meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction
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The Wake
Paul Kingsnorth2014
A landowner in 1066 leads a guerrilla resistance against Norman invaders. The story is written in a modified version of Old English.
meditative → bleak, still historical fiction
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To recover

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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
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Neon Gods
Katee Robert2021
In a modern city-state, Persephone flees an arranged marriage to Zeus by entering the underworld. She strikes a deal with Hades to stay there.
meditative → tense
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3 more ↓

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Starter Villain
John Scalzi2023
A substitute teacher inherits his uncle's secret supervillain business, including a volcano lair and talking cats.
meditative → wry
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Playing with Fire
Gena Showalter2006
A barista gains elemental superpowers after being poisoned and must flee from a government agent. They eventually work together to escape.
meditative → playful
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Digital Fortress
Dan Brown1998
The NSA's code-breaking supercomputer encounters an unbreakable algorithm. A cryptographer and a professor race to find the kill code.
meditative → propulsive
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Faster

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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.
meditative → playful
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Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
meditative → tense
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3 more ↓

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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.
meditative → sardonic
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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
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The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
meditative → wry
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Slower

meditative → elegiac, still historical fiction

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A Month in the Country
J. L. Carr1980
A WWI veteran spends a summer in a quiet village restoring a medieval mural in a church. He reflects on his trauma while observing local life.
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Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

3 more ↓

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The English Patient
Michael Ondaatje1992
Four people shelter in a ruined Italian villa at the end of WWII. They care for a burned, anonymous man who recounts his past in the desert.
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Lila
Marilynne Robinson2014
A woman with a traumatic, nomadic past settles in a small Iowa town and marries a minister. She struggles to reconcile her history with his faith.
meditative → tender, still historical fiction
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Rhine Journey
Ann Schlee1981
A middle-aged woman travels by steamer down the Rhine in 1851. She observes her family and internalizes a chance encounter with a man from her past.
Same meditative register, still historical fiction
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