Reviews with content warning for Cancer - The Lincoln Highway

Disappointed! I love Amor Towles other books but this was not it. I found the dispensing of life advice from 18 year old convicts and an 8 year old who’s never left his home town to be trite. The writing was beautiful but the plot seemed to have no direction whatsoever. Characters seemed at once flat and also to be acting out of character. Sally’s character was so cliche. Reading it she seemed like a woman written by an out of touch man. She really bugged me. Does this book even pass the Bechtel test? Also a bit overly “ra ra America”. While Amors other books give you a feeling (the way true art does) and hide universal truths in a beautiful, enjoyable storyline, this book felt like a was being bludgeoned over the head with a message, characters and plot be damned.

Wtf was that ending! It was such a cliche “twist”, the everyone-dies-at-the-end has been done a million times. I found other musings to be cliche as well. For example, Maurice being not white enough and not black enough. The ending was just so unnecessary and pointless. It would’ve been less annoying had Dutches been left in the boat when it ended. Either way an unsatisfactory ending. Terrible! It was fine for the first 3/4 but after that it just went downhill. If the first 3/4 had continued could’ve been a 3.5 or 3.75 and with a good ending maybe a 4. But the bad rushed ending made me annoyed with the whole rest of the book and confused what all that setup was even for.

Content Warnings

alisonvh's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’m not sure how I feel about the ending of this book, but the whole book is so well written and the characters so well fleshed out that I can’t help but love it.

Content Warnings

thecriticalreader's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

4.5

Why I Chose to Read It: Although I disliked Rules of Civility, I thoroughly enjoyed A Gentleman in Moscow, so I picked The Lincoln Highway for my October Book of the Month.

Plot:

Since The Lincoln Highway constantly jumps between at least 6 points of view and various locations across the country, the plot is correspondingly erratic. Erratic seems an insufficient descriptor—more like dizzying. I had to put the book down several times just to remark how bonkers the plot was. Like a leisurely road trip, The Lincoln Highway takes whatever turns it pleases while at the same time moving towards its destination. However, the characters and writing are so fascinating that I could not be annoyed it. I decided to enjoy the ride, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that all of the seemingly pointless plot excursions reached toward a cohesive and impactful ending. It is brilliant.

Characters:

This story would not be half as compelling without its quirky, complicated, fascinating, and lovable characters. Just like the plot, the characters require a certain amount of suspended disbelief. Despite the large cast of characters, Towles is good at fleshing them all out and gives them all surprisingly in-depth backstories. Few if any are all good or all bad, but each exists on a spectrum between the two extremes.

Setting:

Despite the book’s title, very little of the story takes place on the Lincoln highway. Most of the story takes place in a small town in Nebraska and New York City. Towles never spends too much time describing his settings, but he gives enough to service the story.

Themes:

The Lincoln Highway covers a wide range of themes, but mainly focuses on the themes of justice/retribution and morality. Most of the characters have backstories in which they wrong others and are wronged by others, and the story explores these backstories shape their motivations and actions. Its three main characters, Emmet, Woolly, and Duchess were each sent to a juvenile prison labor camp for crimes they did not intend to commit or crimes they did not commit. It is fascinating to see how each character deals with the fairness (or unfairness) of their situation and the ending provides a satisfying conclusion to the thematic questions the book raises.

Writing Style:

Towles’ writing is a breeze to read. He’s good at capturing individual character voice. Despite the unwieldy plot, it was never too difficult to figure out what was happening and why.

Conclusion:

This book was not what I expected it to be, but I ended up enjoying it a lot. It requires patience and suspension of disbelief, but the journey and the destination are worth it. It is certainly better than Rules of Civility, and in my opinion, a step above A Gentleman in Moscow. Definitely worth the read.

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