After
The New Wilderness
Diane Cook2020
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier
More like it
- pace0prose+1bleak0
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.
Same bleak register, still survival
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
- pace+1prose0bleak0
An Untamed State
Roxane Gay2014
A woman is kidnapped for ransom in front of her family in Haiti and endures weeks of brutal captivity. The narrative focuses on her survival.
Same bleak register, still survival
pace+1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Lord Grizzly
Frederick Manfred1954
After a grizzly bear attack, a scout is abandoned by his peers. He crawls two hundred miles through the wilderness to seek vengeance.
bleak → meditative, still survival
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
- pace0prose0bleak0
J
Howard Jacobson2014
In a future where a past catastrophe is never named, two people with mysterious origins begin a relationship under constant surveillance.
bleak → cold, still dystopian
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
A Little Life
Hanya Yanagihara2015
Four friends in New York over thirty years. One of them is being destroyed, and the book does not look away.
Same bleak register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
Denser prose
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace0prose+1bleak-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
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose+1bleak0
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.
bleak → propulsive
pace+1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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
- pace0prose+1bleak0
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner1929
The decline of a Southern family told through four perspectives, including a non-linear stream of consciousness from a man with a disability.
bleak → elegiac
pace0·prose+1·bleak0
To recover
bleak → playful
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
The Kaiju Preservation Society
John Scalzi2022
A food delivery driver joins a secret organization that travels to an alternate Earth to care for massive, dinosaur-like creatures.
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-2bleak-3
Smokin' Seventeen
Janet Evanovich2011
A bounty hunter investigates bodies found in her boss's lot while choosing between three suitors. The story follows her daily mishaps in New Jersey.
pace+1·prose-2·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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
- pace0prose-2bleak-3
The Comfort Book
Matt Haig2021
A collection of short reflections, lists, and anecdotes intended to provide mental support. It is a non-linear book of philosophy and memoir.
bleak → warm
pace0·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
Odessa Sea
Clive Cussler2016
Dirk Pitt investigates a ghost ship in the Black Sea and discovers a conspiracy involving a lost Romanov secret. It is a high-speed adventure.
bleak → propulsive
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-2bleak-3
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.
bleak → playful
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Pines
Blake Crouch2012
A Secret Service agent searches for missing colleagues in an Idaho town he cannot leave. The townspeople and physics itself seem to work against him.
bleak → tense, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-2
Get Jiro!
Anthony Bourdain2012
In a future Los Angeles, master chefs rule as warlords. A sushi chef who kills rude customers is caught between two warring food factions.
bleak → sardonic, still dystopian
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-1bleak-1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
bleak → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace+2prose-1bleak-2
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
Slower
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Translated Accounts
James Kelman2001
Anonymous witnesses describe life under a military regime. The prose uses broken, bureaucratic syntax to mimic a literal translation.
Same bleak register, still dystopian
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-2
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
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+1bleak0
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
bleak → elegiac
pace-1·prose+1·bleak0
- pace-1prose+1bleak-1
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.
bleak → clinical
pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
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.
bleak → elegiac
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
