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4.13 AVERAGE
4.13 AVERAGE
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The Lincoln Highway reads like Mark Twain if Huck Finn had a Studebaker, not a raft. It's a road trip novel that's more about the people than the places. It's engrossing, peculiar, and empathetic. Emmett is fresh out of a juvenile work camp for something like involuntary manslaughter. Two of his fellow inmates, Wooley and Duchess, have escaped and join 18-year-old Emmett and his wise 8-year-old brother on what is supposed to be a road trip on the Lincoln Highway west to San Francisco. When the brothers have to head east instead because Wooley and Duchess have absconded with the Studebaker. The brothers follow, hitching a ride on boxcars and adventures ensue. Part road story, part inheritance tale, part adventure the novel is larger than the sum of its parts and arrives at an unexpected destination.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a digital ARC.
Great book. Had a soggy bottom boys feel to it. Prob 4.4 rounded down. Probably a fun conversation about it with a booKer would push me to a 5
adventurous
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A delight. I love books that resist categorization but still could comfortably wear many genre descriptions. Road trip? Mystery? Detective? Coming of age? Sure, all sort of pertain, sort of not. I also liked Towles's playful use of technique; it added a layer of puzzle without getting coyly postmodern (chapter numbers counting DOWN?!).
I really thought highly of A Gentleman in Moscow, but I had a lot of trouble with the vocabularies of these characters. Billy speaks like an educated adult and Emmett talks and acts like he’s 50. Sally was a mere stereotype. The introduction of Father John made me stop then and there.
If the book had focused on Duchess and Woolly it would have been much more interesting.
If the book had focused on Duchess and Woolly it would have been much more interesting.
Really enjoyed this. I loved [b:A Gentleman in Moscow|34066798|A Gentleman in Moscow|Amor Towles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1551480896l/34066798._SY75_.jpg|45743836], so I was excited to pick this up. I didn't love it as much as "Gentleman" but I still enjoyed it. The beginning kind of gave me [b:The Catcher in the Rye|5107|The Catcher in the Rye|J.D. Salinger|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1398034300l/5107._SY75_.jpg|3036731] vibes, but the plots are not similar at all, so it might just be because it's a young-man coming-of-age sort of story? Very vintage Americana. As it went along I got a bit of a [b:Looking for Alaska|99561|Looking for Alaska|John Green|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394798630l/99561._SY75_.jpg|919292] feel, probably as we get to know Duchess.
I noticed that Amor Towles has a third book that I haven't read yet ([b:Rules of Civility|10054335|Rules of Civility|Amor Towles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311705045l/10054335._SY75_.jpg|14950407]), so that'll probably go on my to-read list. =)
I noticed that Amor Towles has a third book that I haven't read yet ([b:Rules of Civility|10054335|Rules of Civility|Amor Towles|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1311705045l/10054335._SY75_.jpg|14950407]), so that'll probably go on my to-read list. =)
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character