The Phoenix Crown

Lessons in Chemistry

Bonnie Garmus2022

A chemist in the 1960s loses her research job and becomes the host of a cooking show. She uses the platform to teach women science.

propulsive → wry, still historical fiction

pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

propulsive → bleak, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2

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.

propulsive → sardonic, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

Beloved

Toni Morrison1987

A mother in post-Civil War Ohio is haunted by the ghost of the daughter she killed to spare from slavery. The prose is dense and non-linear.

propulsive → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

David and Goliath

Malcolm Gladwell2013

A series of case studies arguing that perceived disadvantages can become strengths. It covers topics from dyslexia to the civil rights movement.

propulsive → earnest

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

King of Pride

Ana Huang2023

A buttoned-up billionaire heir falls for an impulsive bartender while trying to secure a CEO position. They navigate a forbidden workplace romance.

propulsive → playful

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

The Inspector and Mrs. Jeffries

Emily Brightwell1993

A Victorian housekeeper and her staff secretly solve crimes for their employer, a clueless Scotland Yard inspector.

propulsive → playful

pace-1·prose-1·bleak-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.

propulsive → sardonic

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

Same propulsive register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

The Martian

Andy Weir2011

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

propulsive → wry

pace+1·prose-1·bleak-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.

pace-2·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.

propulsive → playful

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

propulsive → clinical

pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

The Known World

Edward P. Jones2003

A black man who was once a slave becomes a slave owner in antebellum Virginia. The story follows the fallout on the plantation after his death.

propulsive → meditative, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

A Long Long Way

Sebastian Barry2005

A young Irishman joins the British Army to fight in the trenches of World War I while his home country moves toward rebellion.

propulsive → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

Brotherless Night

V. V. Ganeshananthan2023

A young woman in Sri Lanka tries to study medicine while her brothers join militant groups during the civil war. It covers a decade of conflict.

propulsive → elegiac, still historical fiction

pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2