After
The Sound and the Fury
William Faulkner1929
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
4 of 6 directions open — nothing heavier, nothing denser
More like it
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
Same elegiac register, still southern gothic
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose-1bleak0
The Summer that Melted Everything
Tiffany McDaniel2016
A boy claiming to be the devil arrives in a small Ohio town during a 1984 heatwave. His presence triggers a series of local tragedies.
Same elegiac register, still southern gothic
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak0
The Crossing
Cormac McCarthy1994
A teenager makes three trips between New Mexico and Mexico, starting with an attempt to return a trapped wolf to the wild. The prose is dense.
Same elegiac register
pace0·prose0·bleak0
- pace0prose0bleak-1
Book of Doors
David Ralph Williams2017
Same elegiac register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose0·bleak-1
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose-1bleak0
Frankenstein
Mary Shelley2017
A scientist assembles a living being from scavenged parts and abandons it. The creature seeks revenge through the murder of his creator's family.
Same elegiac register, still unreliable narrator
pace0·prose-1·bleak0
To recover
elegiac → propulsive
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Lost Symbol
Dan Brown2009
Symbologist Robert Langdon follows a trail of Masonic puzzles through Washington D.C. monuments to save his kidnapped mentor.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Walking Disaster
Jamie McGuire2013
This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
This Man
Jodi Ellen Malpas2013
An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.
elegiac → tense
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
Ready Player One
Ernest Cline2008
A teenager in a dystopian future hunts for a digital easter egg inside a massive simulation. The quest relies on 1980s pop culture trivia.
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+1prose-3bleak-3
Real Murders
Charlaine Harris1990
A librarian in a small Georgia town belongs to a club that studies famous crimes. A real murder occurs that mimics a historical case.
elegiac → wry
pace+1·prose-3·bleak-3
Faster
- pace+2prose-3bleak-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.
elegiac → playful
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-2bleak-1
Child 44
Tom Rob Smith2008
A Soviet security officer investigates a serial killer in a state that officially claims murder does not exist.
elegiac → tense
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-2bleak-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.
elegiac → sardonic
pace+2·prose-2·bleak-2
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
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.
elegiac → propulsive
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
- pace+2prose-3bleak-3
The Martian
Andy Weir2011
A man does arithmetic to stay alive on Mars. Problem, attempt, result, repeat.
elegiac → wry
pace+2·prose-3·bleak-3
Slower
- pace-1prose0bleak-1
To the Lighthouse
Virginia Woolf1927
A family and their guests visit a house in the Hebrides. The narrative follows their internal thoughts over two days separated by ten years.
Same elegiac register, still modernist
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose0bleak0
Absalom, Absalom!
William Faulkner1936
The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.
Same elegiac register, still southern gothic
pace-1·prose0·bleak0
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose0bleak-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.
elegiac → clinical, still modernist
pace-1·prose0·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-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.
Same elegiac register
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
- pace-1prose-1bleak-1
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong2019
A son writes a letter to his illiterate mother, recounting his family's history in Vietnam and his own experiences growing up in America.
Same elegiac register
pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1
