Book · 1985
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Two aging Texas Rangers drive a stolen cattle herd a thousand miles north, hauling four decades of friendship and regret with them.
What does Reddit think of Lonesome Dove?
r/suggestmeabook does almost all the talking — 873 of the book's 957 mentions, dwarfing r/printSF (41) and r/Fantasy (32). And it's not casual chatter; Lonesome Dove keeps landing in the same breath as War and Peace, Anna Karenina, East of Eden, and The Brothers Karamazov in 'best books ever' megathreads, unusual company for a Western. One reader admits going in 'really reluctant to read a Western' and coming out with it in their top three favorites ever (↑159). The recurring joke is length and intimidation: 'finally gonna tackle Lonesome Dove' (↑132) reads like someone bracing for a marathon, and another commenter jokes about finishing 'a couple pages left for baggage claim' (↑156). Mentions have nearly tripled since 2022, from 84 to 242 in 2025, the steepest growth curve in this dataset — whatever's driving classics discovery on Reddit right now, this book is riding it hard.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · the Western genre reframed as literary fiction
- · friendship and mortality across a cattle drive
- · intimidating length as a badge of honor
- · canon-adjacent status next to 19th-century Russian novels
Common praise
- + Readers who go in skeptical of Westerns come out ranking it in their top three favorites ever (↑159).
- + It keeps getting slotted into 'best books ever' megathreads next to War and Peace and The Brothers Karamazov, not genre-specific lists.
- + The 2023–2025 mention spike (197, 221, 242) suggests new readers are actively discovering it, not just nostalgic longtime fans.
Common criticism
- − The recurring joke about finally 'tackling' it treats the book as an endurance test as much as a pleasure read (↑132).
- − Nobody in the top-quoted threads describes the plot itself — it's cited almost entirely by title-drop in list threads.
- − It barely registers outside r/suggestmeabook — 41 mentions in r/printSF and 32 in r/Fantasy combined against 873 in its home sub.
Who it's for
Approach it the way the ↑159 commenter did — skeptical of Westerns, ready to be proven wrong — and the odds favor you. If your reading list already includes War and Peace or The Brothers Karamazov, this slots onto that same shelf without irony, per the recurring megathread comparisons. Budget real time for it; the running joke about 'finally' getting to it (↑132) isn't decoration. Casual sci-fi or fantasy readers should know this barely registers outside r/suggestmeabook.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
Which Reddit comments matter for Lonesome Dove?
Top-upvoted quotes across the subreddits where this book is mentioned. Click through to read the full thread.
“I would bet my paycheck these would be top 5 lol East of Eden Lonesome Dove Pillars of the Earth I Have Never Know Men Parable of the Sower
“11/22/63 by Stephen King, Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry.
“jonathan strange and mr norrell by susannah clarke lonesome dove by larry mcmurtry game of thrones #2 the windup bird chronicle by haruki murakami midnight in chernobyl by adam higginbotham red comet by heather clark east of eden by john steinbeck women don’t owe you pretty by fl…
“Lonesome Dove. I was really reluctant to read a Western but wow, am I glad I did. It’s now in my top three favourites books ever.
“Lonesome Dove! You could maybe finish it too, a couple pages left for baggage claim possibly
“* Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Süskind * Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry
“In no particular order War and Peace. Shadow Country. The Count of Monti Christo. Lord of the Rings. Anna Karenina. Lonesome Dove. The Brothers Karamazov.
“Finally gonna tackle Lonesome Dove
Convinced? Pick up Lonesome Dove
Readers also mention
All books like Lonesome Dove →Books that share discussion threads with Lonesome Dove — counted from the comments, not curated.
The Brothers Karamazov
Fyodor Dostoevsky
A father is murdered, three sons are suspects, and the real defendant is whether God exists.
Blood Meridian
Cormac McCarthy
A teenage runaway joins a scalp-hunting gang across the borderlands, shadowed by a hairless giant who never loses an argument.
Shōgun
James Clavell
An English pilot washes ashore in feudal Japan and has to out-scheme daimyo, Jesuits, and his own crew just to stay alive.
The Master and Margarita
Mikhail Bulgakov
The devil throws a ball in 1930s Moscow, a man is committed to an asylum for writing a novel about Pontius Pilate, and a talking cat shoots at a chandelier.
The Remains of the Day
Kazuo Ishiguro
An aging butler drives across England to see an old colleague, insisting the whole way that he has no regrets about the life, or love, he didn't choose.
Catch-22
Joseph Heller
A bomber pilot tries to get grounded for insanity, only to learn that wanting out proves he's sane enough to keep flying.
Lonesome Dove — frequently asked
Is Lonesome Dove worth the length?+
By the numbers, yes — mentions climbed from 84 in 2022 to 242 in 2025, the steepest growth in its seven-year track record, meaning more people are discovering it now, not fewer. One reader who was 'really reluctant to read a Western' calls it a top-three favorite afterward (↑159).
Is Lonesome Dove actually a literary classic or just a good Western?+
Reddit treats it as the former. It keeps appearing in the same 'best books ever' lists as War and Peace, Anna Karenina, and The Brothers Karamazov (↑153, ↑168), rare company for a genre novel. r/suggestmeabook, responsible for 873 of its 957 mentions, treats it as canon rather than a Western specifically.
How long does it take to actually finish Lonesome Dove?+
Long enough that 'finally gonna tackle Lonesome Dove' (↑132) is a recognizable genre of comment on r/suggestmeabook. Another reader jokes about having 'a couple pages left for baggage claim' (↑156). Budget real time; nobody frames it as a quick read.
Why does r/suggestmeabook talk about Lonesome Dove so much more than other subs?+
Scale, mostly — 873 of its 957 total mentions come from there, against 41 in r/printSF and 32 in r/Fantasy. It's a recommendation-thread staple for readers building 'best books ever' lists rather than a genre-specific pick, which explains why the sci-fi and fantasy subs barely touch it.