I’m not even really sure what I’m looking for, but I’ll try to explain it. Sorry if I’m not using the right terms, here’s what I mean by literary and grounded:
Literary:
– Interesting themes
– Interesting characters
– Beautiful prose (doesn’t need to be fancy though, I love simple prose when it’s beautiful)
Grounded:
– No big stakes like saving the world
– Somewhat regular people
I like it when the stakes are relatively small and limited to the “world” of only a few characters or a small city, but everything still feels very important because it’s just written very well and the characters are important to you.
With drama/thriller I mean that it should be suspenseful, for example because the characters get into very dangerous situations or because of interesting conflicts in general.
Some examples (from other media too) and what I liked about them:
– Breaking Bad
– Amazing protagonist and premise
– Interesting family drama (Walt and Skyler, Walt and Hank)
– Walt gets into dangerous situations (for example >!when he walks to Gus’ house, love that scene!<)
– Fargo Seasons 1&2
– Beautiful atmosphere
– Small town conflict
– Suspense and occasional action
– Philosophical
– Regular people get into trouble
– In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
– The effects of the murders on the small town
– Beautiful prose
– Crime and Punishment
– Philosophical
– Very emotional
– Very suspenseful
– Deep insight into the characters
by VravoBince