All the Pretty Horses
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthyby Cormac McCarthy
Shares rank 40 of 122 novels by recommenders
Readers call it a modern classic and say they liked it even more than The Road; the most approachable book in McCarthy's trilogy.
Readers call it a modern classic and say they liked it even more than The Road; the most approachable book in McCarthy's trilogy.
5 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Readers praise it strongly, want rereads
“Could be that I liked "All The Pretty Horses" even more than "The Road".”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cormac McCarthy's Library” “Incredible book. I could read it 100 times.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Good entry point to the trilogy
“probably the most approachable and satisfying of the trilogy”
Comment from 28 Oct 2026 in “The Style Is Father of the Man” “If you liked Pretty Horses , you'll probably like them, too.”
Comment from 30 Oct 2026 in “Cormac McCarthy's Library”
Other novels people recommend
The four most recommended other novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Crime and Punishmentby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 39 | 9 | 81% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Brothers Karamazovby Fyodor Dostoevsky | 28 | 8 | 78% | 5 | — | Approved |
| Infinite Jestby David Foster Wallace | 26 | 5 | 84% | 9 | 10 yrs6 owners | Approved |
| The Great Gatsbyby F. Scott Fitzgerald | 24 | 9 | 73% | 6 | — | Approved |
| All the Pretty Horsesby Cormac McCarthyThis page | 5 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 5 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“If you liked Pretty Horses , you'll probably like them, too.”
“Could be that I liked "All The Pretty Horses" even more than "The Road".”
“probably the most approachable and satisfying of the trilogy”
“Incredible book. I could read it 100 times.”
“I'm not into westerns, but I really liked that one. A modern classic.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.