- The Remains of the Day — Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989
A butler drives across England and slowly understands that the life he chose was a long detour around the life he might have had. Ishiguro is unbearably precise about the late recognition that a wrong turn was made early and quietly, and about the work of carrying that without collapsing under it.
- Sliding Doors — Peter Howitt, 1998
A film built on the conceit that we can see both paths. The interesting part, on rewatching, is how little the alternate life turns out to differ in the ways that matter, which is the more honest answer to the question the Companion is sitting with.
- After the Gold Rush — Neil Young, 1970
An album made by someone looking back at choices that cannot be unmade and choosing, mostly, to let them stand. The songs do not apologize and do not regret. They just acknowledge the road they are now on and keep playing.