Reality is a slippery concept.
In the best science fiction, romanticism and rationality are allowed to twine in complementary strands that give rise to a complex and multifarious Universe not unlike the one in which we exist. That's a lot to ask of any work of fiction, and I suspect the effect would be hard to accomplish on the scale of a suburban novel, or a detective story, or a cocaine chronicle. This is only an assertion that nobility of character and purpose can illuminate a story in an unforgettable way. I'm going to bend the rules a bit and mention three stories. These are three very different stories in both style, subject and pacing, but to my mind they all share a sense of lyricism and a respect for the passions of their characters.