LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Right Stuff

Tom Wolfe

5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from

More like it

1 more ↓

  • The Woman's Hour

    Elaine F. Weiss2018

    This history chronicles the final six weeks of the fight to ratify the 19th Amendment in Tennessee. It follows the leaders of both sides.

    Same propulsive register, still history

    pace0·prose-1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Discipline and Punish: The Birth of the Prison

    Michel Foucault

    A philosophical history examines the shift from public torture to modern prison surveillance. It analyzes how power controls the body.

    propulsive → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • The Gulag Archipeligo 1918-1956: An Experiment In Literary Investigation I - Ii.

    Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

    A history of the Soviet forced labor camp system based on survivor reports and the author's own imprisonment. It documents state-run repression.

    propulsive → bleak, still history

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+3

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry

    Neil deGrasse Tyson2017

    A summary of the origin of the universe, the laws of physics, and the nature of space and time.

    propulsive → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

  • Steal Like an Artist

    Austin Kleon2012

    A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.

    propulsive → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak0

  • Bad Blood

    John Carreyrou2018

    A journalist tracks the rise of Elizabeth Holmes and the eventual exposure of her multibillion-dollar blood-testing startup as a fraud.

    Same propulsive register, still journalism

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak+1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • The Frontier in American History

    Frederick Jackson Turner1920

    A series of essays arguing that the American character and democracy were shaped by the continuous expansion into the western wilderness.

    propulsive → clinical, still history

    pace-2·prose0·bleak0

  • Confessions

    Augustine of Hippo

    A 4th-century bishop writes a spiritual autobiography addressed to God. He recounts his sinful youth and his eventual conversion to Christianity.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak0

  • How to Read a Book

    Mortimer J. Adler1940

    This is a guide to active reading techniques for different genres. It outlines levels of reading from basic literacy to syntopical analysis.

    propulsive → mysterious

    pace-2·prose+1·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee

    Dee Alexander Brown

    A chronological history of the displacement and systematic destruction of Native American tribes in the late 19th century.

    propulsive → elegiac, still history

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak+3

  • Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West

    Dee Brown

    A chronological account of the displacement and slaughter of Native Americans by the U.S. government in the late 19th century.

    propulsive → elegiac, still history

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak+3

  • Auschwitz

    Laurence Rees2005

    A chronological history of the camp's evolution from a Polish barracks to a site of mass industrial murder, based on archival research.

    propulsive → clinical, still history

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak+3