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nthingrid 's review for:
The Lincoln Highway
by Amor Towles
What a truly ridiculous and whimsical tale. My first reaction is that I enjoyed this book an awful lot and the ending was *chef's kiss.* If you like the bow tied on your endings, you may feel differently.
I haven't read Towles before, but I am tempted now to seek out more of his books (especially because I am seeing some people say this doesn't live up to his others?!). The characters were all extraordinarily original, except Sally being the token female... I am a little peeved about that part. There was such an innocence to Billy, Woolly, and Duchess, all different sorts, that forced me to keep remembering that these were mostly young adults, not early teens, out on an adventure. It would feel Tom Sawyer-esque and then BAM adult themes. Not that it's bad, just part of why this book kept me on my toes with the unexpected.
The plotline was anything but linear and this book teased out a lot of information over time, encouraging the practice of empathy for learning about others' perspectives. So carefully did Towles build up the story of Duchess, especially. I loved Duchess' character the way I loved Dwight Schrute's character in The Office--the more you learn about them the more you understand why they act in ways with which you don't agree.
I think I smiled to myself more often reading this book than any other book I can remember, and actually had laugh out loud moments, which has only previously happened with an Allie Brosh book. It's just really rich in character contributions and approaches to life and the learnings and accidental wisdoms of youth.
Favs to not forget--
Sister Agnes: "In your time you shall do wrong unto others and others shall do wrong unto you. And these opposing wrongs will become your chains. The wrong you have done to others will be bound to you in the form of guilt, and the wrong that others have done unto you in the form of indignation... Only once you have freed yourself from both of these chains may you begin to live your life with love in your heart and serenity in your step."
Woolly's approach to the stress of keeping up with the news: "What a difference three days made. Not only did the news seem much less pressing, if you chose your headlines carefully, the stories often had a touch of the fantastic."
Professor Abacus Abernathe, AbC, PhD, Lmnop: "The manner in which the convergence takes you by surprise, that is the cruelest part. And yet it's almost unavoidable. For at the moment when the turning begins, the two opposing rays of your life are so far from the other you could never discern the change in their trajectory. And in those first years, as the rays begin to angle inward, the world still seems so open, you have no reason to suspect its diminishment."
Duchess: "That's what rattled people do. They point a finger. They point a finger at whoever's standing closest--and given the nature of how we congregate, that's more likely to be friend than foe."
I haven't read Towles before, but I am tempted now to seek out more of his books (especially because I am seeing some people say this doesn't live up to his others?!). The characters were all extraordinarily original, except Sally being the token female... I am a little peeved about that part. There was such an innocence to Billy, Woolly, and Duchess, all different sorts, that forced me to keep remembering that these were mostly young adults, not early teens, out on an adventure. It would feel Tom Sawyer-esque and then BAM adult themes. Not that it's bad, just part of why this book kept me on my toes with the unexpected.
The plotline was anything but linear and this book teased out a lot of information over time, encouraging the practice of empathy for learning about others' perspectives. So carefully did Towles build up the story of Duchess, especially. I loved Duchess' character the way I loved Dwight Schrute's character in The Office--the more you learn about them the more you understand why they act in ways with which you don't agree.
I think I smiled to myself more often reading this book than any other book I can remember, and actually had laugh out loud moments, which has only previously happened with an Allie Brosh book. It's just really rich in character contributions and approaches to life and the learnings and accidental wisdoms of youth.
Favs to not forget--
Sister Agnes: "In your time you shall do wrong unto others and others shall do wrong unto you. And these opposing wrongs will become your chains. The wrong you have done to others will be bound to you in the form of guilt, and the wrong that others have done unto you in the form of indignation... Only once you have freed yourself from both of these chains may you begin to live your life with love in your heart and serenity in your step."
Woolly's approach to the stress of keeping up with the news: "What a difference three days made. Not only did the news seem much less pressing, if you chose your headlines carefully, the stories often had a touch of the fantastic."
Professor Abacus Abernathe, AbC, PhD, Lmnop: "The manner in which the convergence takes you by surprise, that is the cruelest part. And yet it's almost unavoidable. For at the moment when the turning begins, the two opposing rays of your life are so far from the other you could never discern the change in their trajectory. And in those first years, as the rays begin to angle inward, the world still seems so open, you have no reason to suspect its diminishment."
Duchess: "That's what rattled people do. They point a finger. They point a finger at whoever's standing closest--and given the nature of how we congregate, that's more likely to be friend than foe."