The Dog Stars
The Dog Stars by Peter Hellerby Peter Heller
Shares rank 74 of 122 novels by recommenders
Readers call it a favorite and worth rereading, and one says the book is far better than the film adaptation.
Readers call it a favorite and worth rereading, and one says the book is far better than the film adaptation.
3 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 3
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 1 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: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 3 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 1 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
Worth rereading after a year
“somebody recommended The Dog Stars to me and I read it and then a year later re-read it”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Called a personal favorite
“Yeah, The Dog Stars is a favorite.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?” Book praised over the movie
“Awful movie, incredible book. Highly recommended.”
Comment from 30 Sep 2026 in “Ask HN: What are you reading?”
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 |
| The Dog Starsby Peter HellerThis page | 3 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
What people said
All 3 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Yeah, The Dog Stars is a favorite.”
“somebody recommended The Dog Stars to me and I read it and then a year later re-read it”
“Awful movie, incredible book. Highly recommended.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.