I love Towles' writing. Rules of Civility blew me away and A Gentleman in Moscow is one of my all time favorites. They are both very different and set over different time periods (Civility was about 24 hours and Gentleman was over a year I think). So I was really anticipating this new one (set over 10 days)!
Before I read it, I saw an interview with Towles online. What an interesting guy! He talks about his approach to new stories and the connections between his books - did you catch the Easter Eggs? I would not have without that interview! View it for yourself here: Amor Towles | Friends & Fiction #109 - YouTube
Ok, let's get going! Which is what poor Emmett must be thinking throughout this whole story. Four boys, a road trip, family drama and dysfunction, juvenile detention, unfinished business (which was the original title here), a man named Ulysses, a compendium and a professor, and a girl who just wants to get the hell out of dodge, right after she dons her apron and makes more strawberry preserves. THAT is The Lincoln Highway.
Towles is a genius of character. His voice for Duchess and Emmett especially is so clear, you really feel like you know them. And Billy! He might be my favorite. He brings road trip planning and counting to ten to a whole 'nother level. I was so excited that Billy got to meet his hero - probably my favorite scene. Towles switches perspectives among characters and even revisits scenes that already happened in the book from another character's point of view to give you, as Paul Harvey would say, The Rest of the Story. While it took some time to get used to there being no quote marks over conversation (which Towles explains in his profuse reader notes on his website), I really enjoy how he writes.
And there are SO MANY interesting characters here!!! I think Towles probably had the most fun with Duchess, or maybe Sally. The two brothers, Emmett and Billy, decide after their father's death to go find their absent mother in California via The Lincoln Highway, and young precocious Billy has it all mapped out. Of course, unexpected passengers and delays and side trips - going the exact opposite way- happen and so we have adventures, some finished business, some debts paid, and the two other teenage boys who have such wild stories I cannot even go there without spoilers. Duchess and Woolly bring so much to this story that it becomes as much about them as about the brothers. Their pasts, their families, their direction and motives. Duchess is a great character with a theater background that serves him and his audience/friends well - he does everything with a flourish! Even beating someone up! I am still not sure if I liked Duchess in the end or not. I really wanted to. Such a cute con. And sweet Woolly - sigh. His sister is so good to him!!
So that is a lot of comment that you won't understand until you read this one, and I definitely encourage you to do so. My Beloved Book Club had a GREAT discussion about this one, so much to talk about. Father figures, how the way you are raised truly shapes you, and how or whether you can escape that past. One book club member listened to this one instead of reading the actual book and she really enjoyed the audiobook. If your book club likes themes, there is a recipe here that you can make and postcards along the Lincoln Highway you can print, get a BIG APPLE and make cookies with strawberry jam.
Quotes:
87 If we've got unfinished business, let's finish it. (Emmett)
You could wait your whole life to say a sentence like that and not have the presence of mind to say it when the time comes. (Duchess)
409 There are few things more beautiful to an author's eye, he confessed to Billy, than a well-read copy of one of his books.
435 We were off to Arthur Avenue, driving at a speed of three hundred questions an hour.
467 Who WAS that (first) person who had the audacity to eat an artichoke?
549 He kicked me in the shin. Isn't that priceless?
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