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Diane Barnes's Reviews > The Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway
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What do I say about this book? It contains a little bit of everything; drama, comedy, irony, mythology, red herrings, mystery, throw in a little bit of magic, and a large and very wonderful cast of characters. The four main ones: Emmett, the dependable guy everyone can depend on.
Duchess, a wild card capable of anything. Wooley, the wisest slow-witted fellow you've ever met. And 8 year old Billy, no words to describe how intelligent and intuitive and kind he was, and in my opinion, the originator of all the action in this novel.
Then there were the special peripheral characters. Sally, Ulysses, Professor Abacus Abernathe
and his Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers, and many others too numerous to mention.
This is a road trip novel, and veers off into detours and side trips and takes us all over the place and into all sorts of situations. A lot of reviews complain about this fact and some readers give up entirely. All I can say is just put yourself in the capable hands of Amor Towles, ride along, and trust him to take you on a one-of-a-kind adventure. You'll be glad you persevered.
Duchess, a wild card capable of anything. Wooley, the wisest slow-witted fellow you've ever met. And 8 year old Billy, no words to describe how intelligent and intuitive and kind he was, and in my opinion, the originator of all the action in this novel.
Then there were the special peripheral characters. Sally, Ulysses, Professor Abacus Abernathe
and his Compendium of Heroes, Adventurers, and Other Intrepid Travelers, and many others too numerous to mention.
This is a road trip novel, and veers off into detours and side trips and takes us all over the place and into all sorts of situations. A lot of reviews complain about this fact and some readers give up entirely. All I can say is just put yourself in the capable hands of Amor Towles, ride along, and trust him to take you on a one-of-a-kind adventure. You'll be glad you persevered.
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Reading Progress
February 19, 2021
– Shelved
(Hardcover Edition)
February 19, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
(Hardcover Edition)
November 17, 2021
–
Started Reading
November 17, 2021
– Shelved
November 24, 2021
–
Finished Reading
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Charles
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Nov 24, 2021 03:27PM
Oh, I'm so happy to read this. The reviews really are all over the place. You make it sound fun, Diane!
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It is fun Charles. You just have to give Towles the leeway to take you there.
You make this sound really good, Diane, but I'm hesitant to try it after being underwhelmed by "Gentleman..."
I loved Gentleman unconditionally Jenna, but this book is completely different, and I think a lot of reviewers are comparing the two books, but that's just not possible.
I am so glad you enjoyed the road trip. I am eagerly watching my name inch up the wait list at the library.
I was way down on the list too Lisa, but my library had 65 copies, so it was faster than I thought.
Very nice review, Diane. I particularly disliked the ending and how he Towles dealt with Wooley. I felt everyone moved on way too fast.
This sounds like a nice little cocktail, Diane. I like the combination of all those elements and am looking forward to it! Marvelous review :)
I haven’t read this author yet but I think he’s suffering the effects of all the hype around his Gentleman. This kind of thing happens all the time. It happened to Donna Tartt after The Secret History and I can see it happening to Yanagihara as well after A Little Life. I love a good literary road trip, by the way.
Excellent review, Diane.
The ending was a little disconcerting Bianca, and bears some thinking about.
Candi, I completely understand the people who did not like it and why, but I think the timing was good for me. Cocktail indeed!
Thanks, Swaroop and Berengaria.
Pedro, I think a lot of successful authors suffer from readers comparing succeeding books to previous ones. I try to approach each book on it's own merits.
Nice review, Diane. I am reading this now and I was thinking about giving up. I needed your review to push me to finish. I will keep reading.Happy Thanksgiving!
Diane, glad to read your thoughts on this one. I’m definitely in for the ride. I adored Gentleman in Moscow, but that book has reviews all over the place as well. So I’m thinking, it’s Towles so there is merit in that alone!
Fair to say in someone else's hands, this would not have been handled as capably. Trust the driver I say.
Glad you enjoyed this one, Diane. I thought you would :)). I thought Sally was a hoot. I would love to read a sequel in which Emmett and Billy (and Sally?) actually take the Lincoln Highway to SF or somewhere on the way....a bit farther than they got in this book.
I was thinking the same thing Anne. I finished the book with a picture of the 3 of them sailing down the highway......
Diane wrote: "I was thinking the same thing Anne. I finished the book with a picture of the 3 of them sailing down the highway......"I love it! :)).
I have this one on my reading list, and am looking forward to it. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed this one, Diane :-)
Libby, just remember while reading that it's more about the journey than the destination.
I want to get to this so much! I am prepared for it not being Gentleman in Moscow, but I am still excited. I'm so glad you like it.
I think you'll like it Sara. No expectations works well here, just go with it.
Terrific review, Diane! Looking forward to reading this one.
I think you'll like it too Antoinette.
I’m reading this right now and loving it.I can’t explain exactly why but Towles makes me feel like a smart reader, and that’s always good, right?? 😉
I love authors who do that Camie. They tell you just enough and let you decide what it means. Yes, yes, always a good thing.
This will be put on back burner until first of year. I think it will need more attention than I can give right now. I trust the author and your review, so I’m in and then I can decide it’s fate.
I know how much you love a good road trip in person, so hopefully this will appeal to you. I'm not sure how it would be on audio; there are a lot of characters and chapters written from different points of view.
Diane, I definitely agree with one of your comments about people comparing it to A Gentleman in Moscow. These are very different books, as is Rules of Civility. I loved them all. Great review.
Thanks Angela. I try hard not to compare different books by the same author. It's hard sometimes, but not really fair.
Great review again Diane, hey one thing Towles does really well is characters I reckon - I have this one my list and must read it soon!!
These characters are one of a kind Mark, you will love them.
Diane, your description of Wooley is so spot on! Honestly, he and Billy were my favorite characters. Wonderful review of this beautiful book.
I felt like this was reading a Cohen brother's movie script. I found it delightful.
You're right about that Matthew. Maybe they'll take it on.
I agree. It's worth a read, although I got a bit bothered by the sidetracks. lol. Maybe too impatient. But I still enjoy the author's brilliant style. Love your review.
As they say Margitte, it's more about the journey than the destination. That was certainly true of this one.
Excellent review Diane
Thanks Margaret. I still think about these characters.
