I have an eclectic taste. From Dungeon Crawler Carl to nautical nonfiction to hard and weird sci fi. I read Lonesome Dove recently and it has become my favorite of all time. For other Lonesome Dove lovers, what book would you suggest? Thanks!
by bullman123
19 Comments
Maybe Little Big Man by Thomas Berger, sort of from the other side.
I have similar tastes.. and faced similar struggles trying to match LD… my best suggestion is to carve out aspects you enjoyed about LD and read based on those. If you’re looking for one book to capture everything you won’t find it (at least I haven’t)
East of Eden, Stoner, A Gentleman from Moscow, A Man Called Ove, and Shogun are some of my other favorites in character driven fiction.
I’ll second Little Big Man – it’s a great book.
I’d suggest also Shogun by James Clavell if you want another big, epic historical story, but set in a completely different time and culture.
Shogun.
I’m about 90% done with Matterhorn (harrowing on the ground Vietnam War experience) that’s very character driven.
Warning though, it feels like a deployment at times.
Little Big Man had been mentioned, that’s a good one.
I’d say read the rest of the sequels and prequels of Lonesome Dove. For me, they were all enjoyable, the original was the best though.
Mark Helprin is an incredible writer. Try A Winters Tale or Soldier of the Great War.
Larry McMurtrty has quite a few good books besides Lonesome Dove.
Good luck!
I liked the original Pillars of the Earth.
Another LD stan here. Suggestions for you:
Pillars of the Earth (you are not gonna believe how much you will enjoy this book reading its description. How in the world can cathedral building be interesting? Just trust me)
Blood Meridian
Jonathan Strang and Mr Norrell
The Color Purple
The Glass Castle
Geek Love
In Cold Blood
Sing Unburied Sing
James
Really tough question.
I can give you a few of my other favorite novels:
*Cryptonomicon* by Neal Stephenson
*Dune* by Frank Herbert
*The Satanic Verses* by Salman Rushdie
*Lord of the Rings* by JRR Tolkien
You should check out the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy.
All the Pretty Horses.
The Crossing.
Cities of the Plain.
Excellent reads.
Prince of Tides
The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell was the book that cured my LD book hangover.
Gone with the Wind, The Thorn Birds, The Hearts Invisible Furies, Pillars of the Earth, The Poisonwood Bible, The Prince of Tides, East of Eden, Watership Down
The rest of the series gets mixed reviews, but I personally loved jumping directly into streets of Laredo after lonesome dove. Picks up where it left off.
Tough one.
I made the mistake of reading east of Eden right after LD and I found it much much worse.
My recommendation is to go to something completely different so that it can’t be compared as any comparison will be painful.
Bridge of Sighs
You know, Larry McMurtry was hella prolific
I like Texasville alot
But try some of his other stuff
Grapes of Write. Travels with Charlie by John Steinbeck.
A Man Called Ove, Beartown and Us Against you by Fredrick Backman.
Indian Horse, The Moon of the Falling Snow and Moon of the Falling leaves are books from a First Nations point of view. (Native Canadian).
Out Stealing Horses. This one is set in Norway. Its short and it has that adventure feel to it.
Anything by Cormac McCarthy.
Anything by Annie Proulx or Barbara Kingsolver.