Suttree
Suttree by Cormac McCarthyby Cormac McCarthy
Shares rank 109 of 122 novels by recommenders
Recommended for dense, vivid prose that paints scenes with words and hooks readers early; one commenter calls McCarthy the best living fiction author.
Recommended for dense, vivid prose that paints scenes with words and hooks readers early; one commenter calls McCarthy the best living fiction author.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 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
Exceptional prose painting scenes with words
“just an exceptional polymath capable of painting complicated scenery with words dozenly scattered throughout paragraphs”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Half million 'Words with Spaces' missing from dictionaries” Author called best living fiction writer
“Cormac is best fiction author alive in my lifetime”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “What Does It Mean to "Write Like You Talk"?” Hooks readers by page 100
“By page 100 of Suttree you are hooked”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Half million 'Words with Spaces' missing from dictionaries”
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 |
| Suttreeby Cormac McCarthyThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
3 of the 4 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Cormac is best fiction author alive in my lifetime”
“By page 100 of Suttree you are hooked”
“just an exceptional polymath capable of painting complicated scenery with words dozenly scattered throughout paragraphs”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.