Book · 1985
Lonesome Dove
by Larry McMurtry
Two retired Texas Rangers drive a stolen cattle herd from the Rio Grande to Montana, and half of them don't make it back.
What does Reddit think of Lonesome Dove?
Every top-upvoted excerpt shown here comes out of one subreddit, r/suggestmeabook, and it's recommendation-thread weather: sunny, no clouds. The line that repeats as a small subgenre of its own is the genre-defector confession, "It's a western, and I hate westerns. It's that good" (↑287), which shows up often enough across different phrasings that it looks like a real pattern, not one person's joke. One reader (↑625) went in braced for an East of Eden retread and came out saying the sub had been right to insist otherwise. Another (↑296) puts it at the top of a best-of list with A Court of Thorns and Roses at the bottom, which says as much about that reader's taste as it does about McMurtry. r/booksuggestions carries the second-highest mention count in the aggregate data but supplies none of the quotes on display, so its actual opinion doesn't surface here. r/Fantasy, r/TrueLit, r/horrorlit, r/printSF, r/RomanceBooks, and r/YAlit all register too, thinly, which at least confirms the book travels outside its own genre.
Community feedback & reader fit
Themes
- · Genre-skeptics converted by a western
- · Best-of-my-life recommendation threads
- · Re-reading and aging into the story
- · Reach beyond genre and literary-fiction subreddits
Common praise
- + One reader expected an East of Eden retread and admits the sub called it correctly (↑625).
- + A self-described western-hater says the book beat the prejudice going in (↑287).
- + Threads rank it above A Court of Thorns and Roses and alongside The Secret History and Rebecca on personal best-of lists.
Common criticism
- − Every displayed quote comes out of r/suggestmeabook's recommendation threads, so nothing lukewarm or critical makes the sample.
- − r/booksuggestions holds the second-highest mention count in the data but contributes none of the quotes shown, so its actual read on the book is missing here.
- − None of the excerpts address pacing or the book's length, so readers weighing an 800-plus-page commitment get no data-backed answer in this sample.
Who it's for
Swearing off westerns on principle? Several commenters here say this is the one that broke the rule, ↑287 included. Keep a running best-of list? One reader ranks it above A Court of Thorns and Roses and beside Rebecca and The Secret History. Coming back for a second pass matters too: one quote claims it gets better on re-read as you age into it. What you won't find in this sample is a dissenting voice; everything displayed here is a recommendation, not a critique.
Mentions over time
Top subreddits
- r/suggestmeabook 6,504
- r/booksuggestions 2,456
- r/Fantasy 186
- r/TrueLit 110
- r/horrorlit 86
- r/printSF 43
- r/RomanceBooks 15
- r/YAlit 2
Which Reddit comments matter for Lonesome Dove?
The most relevant excerpts across the subreddits where this book is mentioned — opinionated, argued takes first, then top-upvoted mentions. Click through to read the full thread.
“I finally, reluctantly, started Lonesome Dove because of this sub. I’m less than a fifth of the way through and I know it’s going to be one of my favourite books ever. I just know. I read the first few pages and It reminded me of East of Eden ( my favourite book). I was wrong. You were all corre…
“Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier, The secret history by Donna Tartt, East of Eden by John Steinbeck. I’m also currently reading Lonesome dove by Larry McMurtry and it will most certainly be added to best books ever read. Honourable mention is Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte, and Pride and Predjudice by…
“Best: lonesome dove by Larry mcmurty - would erase this from my brain to reread again if I could. Worst: a court of thorns and roses by Sarah j maas - it was just bad fairy porn on a 4th grade reading level with really impossibly large plot holes.
“Lonesome Dove - it gets better every re-read, as you really start meditating on life and your take on the story and characters as you age
“Lonesome Dove. It's a western, and I hate western. It's that good
“Lonesome Dove! Annihilation is very very close to 5.
“Lonesome Dove. Gets mentioned constantly here. Finally decided to read it to see what the deal was. Absolutely incredible. I think about it daily still. The characters are deep. The flow of the story. The writing. The empathy. The everything.
“Maybe Lonesome Dove. It had for me around a thousand pages and I’m not a massive reader.
“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
“Lonesome Dove. Everyone keeps suggesting it so I broke down and read it. It’s now one of my favourite books
“I don't know how you managed to write this post without using the words "Lonesome Dove"
“Lonesome dove, everybody needs some Gus and Call. You see, life in San Francisco is still just life. If you want any one thing too badly, it's likely to turn out to be a disappointment. The only healthy way to live life is to learn to like all the little everyday things - like a sip of good whiske…
“The count of monte cristo and lonesome dove, both are quite long but fairly easy to read.
“Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty. This is a book about the characters. Get to page 100 and then tell me you don't want to finish. I named my cat after one of the leads. It's a western in genre but like I said that's just the back drop. The meat of the story is the people in it
“I just finished Lonesome Dove, could hardly put it down.
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.
Guides featuring Lonesome Dove
Ranked best-of lists and editorial guides where this book's tracked mentions place it.
Lonesome Dove — frequently asked
Is Lonesome Dove worth reading if you hate westerns?+
Yes, according to the highest-upvoted excerpt in this sample: "It's a western, and I hate westerns. It's that good" (r/suggestmeabook, ↑287). That's not an isolated line either, a second commenter (↑625) says they expected something closer to East of Eden and came away agreeing the recommendation held up. Both are single data points, but they're the two most-upvoted things Reddit said about the book in what's shown here.
What does r/suggestmeabook say about Lonesome Dove compared to other favorites?+
It's frequently placed at the top of personal best-of lists. One commenter (↑332) puts it alongside Rebecca, The Secret History, and East of Eden as certain to be added to their all-time favorites, and another (↑296) ranks it best against A Court of Thorns and Roses, called out as the year's worst. r/suggestmeabook drives nearly all of the aggregate mention volume, though volume alone isn't a verdict.
Does Lonesome Dove hold up on a re-read?+
One displayed excerpt (↑294) says yes directly: it "gets better every re-read, as you really start meditating on life and your take on the story and characters as you age." That's a single commenter's experience, not a sub-wide consensus, but it's the only re-reading claim in this sample, and nothing here contradicts it.
Is Lonesome Dove only a favorite in fantasy and western subreddits?+
No. The bulk of its mentions sit in r/suggestmeabook and r/booksuggestions, both general recommendation subs, and the aggregate data also shows smaller counts in r/Fantasy, r/TrueLit, r/horrorlit, r/printSF, r/RomanceBooks, and even r/YAlit. None of those smaller subs contribute a quote to this sample, so their specific take isn't visible, but the spread itself is notable for an 800-plus-page western.