After Lonesome Dove: why Cormac McCarthy’s Border Trilogy is the Western to read next

For many readers, Lonesome Dove is not simply a favourite novel but a defining one. It leaves such an indelible impression. 

It certainly did for me. It arrives with deceptive ease, settles in slowly, and leaves behind the feeling of having lived another life. Its greatness lies not only in its characters, vast landscape and epic scope, but also in its sense of finality. It says what it needs to say, fully and generously.

Which is precisely why it is best left alone.