History Literature / UponThisPaleHill

* InspirationNod: The original cover featuring a lone figure in the snow surrounded by darkness is similar to the poster shot of the Kurosawa film Film/''Ikiru'', which is both mentioned in-passing and shares obvious existential and personal significance themes. There's also a subtle reference to all 11 songs on U2's The Joshua Tree, a theme of which is the dark side of America.

* RealityIsUnrealistic: Being autobiographical fiction, much is "inspired by" the author's life, but WordofGod is that this book is significantly toned ''down'' compared to the inspiring events as to avoid this trope and TooBleakStoppedCaring.

** Syandene, Germy's eventual steady partner, means "arriving on time".

* BluntNo: From Germy as his parents berate him for not wanting their upper-class life. "Don't you want to live like this?" "Not particularly."

* BluntNo: From Germy as his parents berate him for not wanting their upper-middle class life. "Don't you want to live like this?" "Not particularly."

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After the careening Third Act of getting rejected by his new friend Randall for being ''too politically left'' and by his love interest Sarah for being ''too politically right'' (among other reasons), culminating with The Reveal and averted suicide attempts by both Brandon ''and'' Janelle with ThePowerOfLove, Brandon gets fired from his cushy job for correcting their dishonest data (in a professional way, even taking the blame). He lands a meager one with the kind-hearted Conrad and Vicki, accepting Germy's advice from the beginning that something like this was the way to do good, albeit without a family of his own. Janelle starts a wounded vet nonprofit and meets a future mate, Germy quits his office job but finds one he enjoys in construction and also finds more permanent love, and Marianne struggles but raises two successful kids. Ends with a SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoment on connectedness of all people of goodwill.]]
* BlatantLies: Sarah preaches "compassion, understanding, and forgiveness" an awful lot for someone who roughly never practices these things. Apparently she doesn't hear herself being dismissive of people with disabilities and mental health issues, especially depression. She fools the ever-eager Brandon (while treating him with suspicion for his "grumpy" side and being contemptuous when she gets him to admit his crush) while his friends are skeptical.

* BittersweetEnding: [[spoiler:After the careening Third Act of getting rejected by his new friend Randall for being ''too politically left'' and by his love interest Sarah for being ''too politically right'' (among other reasons), culminating with The Reveal and averted suicide attempts by both Brandon ''and'' Janelle with ThePowerOfLove, Brandon gets fired from his cushy job for correcting their dishonest data (in a professional way, even taking the blame). He lands a meager one with the kind-hearted Conrad and Vicki, accepting Germy's advice from the beginning that something like this was the way to do good, albeit without a family of his own. Janelle starts a wounded vet nonprofit and meets a future mate, Germy quits his office job but finds one he enjoys in construction and also finds more permanent love, and Marianne struggles but raises two successful kids. Ends with a HeartwarmingMoment on connectedness of all people of goodwill.]]

* DaylightHorror: [[spoiler:The memory of The Reveal, the worst event of Brandon’s life, took place during daytime. Unaware classmates played at recess. And the Sadist Teacher would hear none of it.]]

* MeaningfulName: Brandon means "hill" in Old English. Germy is obviously indicative of his "dirty" nature (while Jeremy would be an ironic Biblical name, as Germy isn't religious). Both Marcel and Kuhn surnames refer to thinkers with similar philosophies as the characters. Indeed, Brandon's "Manna Gainst" username refers to Gabriel Marcel's ''Man Against Mass Society''.