The Lincoln Highway: A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)

Riveting, heartbreaking, funny, and compelling this beautifully written story tells the adventures of four boys as they come of age. on a journey to CA which begins in Nebraska and takes a long detour though NYC. I wish I had a child I could read it to. But for now I’ll read it again.

Before I get into my actual review of the book I have 2 caveats:1. I’m a firm believer that circumstance effects outlook. If you’re in a bad state or stressed out, chances are that circumstance will color your opinion on most everything…including the book your reading. I spent the majority of my 3 day reading time for this book in the hospital with my daughter. She’s totally fine, but nonetheless, I think that might have altered my perception of this book just a bit.2. I was a HUGE fan of both “Rules of Civility” and “A Gentleman in Moscow,” both by Amor Towles. Thus, I was super excited about “The Lincoln Highway” and had it very, very hyped up in my mind. Unfortunately, extreme book hype rarely delivers on par.The prose, per usual for Towles, is beautiful and borders wonderfully on folksy. For the first third of this book, I was hooked and sure it would be a top 10 for 2021. Unfortunately, the story constantly detours into run-on and incomplete tangents that reduce plot momentum. The quality of the writing is the standout attribute for this book.The characters are almost fascinating but not quite. Three of the main characters are 19 years old (or younger) but none of them talk, think and/or act that young. You have to suspend reality a bit to believe their actions. Billy, the 8 year old little brother, is an exception and a breath of fresh air. He holds the story together, but not enough to elevate things into “great book” territory.In my mind, the ending really sealed this book’s fate. The ending events are shocking but feel “wrong” as they change the overall tone of the book from old-fashioned storytelling to something entirely different. Due to all the plot tangents, there was so much incompleteness at the finish. Even an epilogue would have helped…anything to close a few loops.Like I said at the start, I feel my momentary life stress may have colored my opinion. Had this book been written by an author I’d never heard of, it would’ve received 3.5 stars. But it was written by Amor Towles so he gets an extra half star (💫) as a benefit of the doubt. It is good. You will enjoy it. From any other author, it might have been great. From Amor Towles, it’s just OK.

The time was June of 1954, the place was a bankrupt farm in rural Nebraska, and the two central characters in this work of fiction were the Watson brothers, Emmett who was eighteen and his little brother Billy, who was eight. Emmett had been serving a sentence at a boy's reformatory for his part in the unintentional death of a local bully, but when his father died of cancer, a decision was made to release Emmett so that he could return home to care for his little brother.Billy had been staying with neighbors awaiting his brother's return, while the bank had been preparing foreclosure documents on the family property. The neighbors were Sally, a nineteen-year-old friend of the Watson's, and her father. Sally was plainspoken to a fault and somewhat resentful of her lot in life - which seemed to be taking care of her father until some other man for her to take care of would come along, but she cared for Billy with the fierceness of a mother hen watching over her only chick.As the story opened, Emmett, who had been serving his sentence on a work farm in Salina, Kansas, was being driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the reformatory. Emmett had plans to pick up his brother, spend a final day or two in the farmhouse, and then head out to Texas with Billy where he would make his fortune buying, remodeling, and selling houses, all financed by the secret nest-egg of three thousand dollars that their father had managed to hide from his creditors at the bank.But Billy had a different plan. He had found a cache of postcards written by their mother just after she abandoned the family several years before - postcards that their father kept secret from the boys. The postmarks and notes on the cards indicated that after their mother left the family she had traveled along the Lincoln Highway, the nation's first transnational paved thoroughfare, headed for California. (The Lincoln Highway ran from Times Square in New York City to Lincoln Park in San Francisco. The Watson's farm was close to the halfway point on the highway.) Emmett had no interest in reconnecting with their mother, but Billy, who was little more than in infant when she left, did. He eventually managed to convince Emmett that California was growing faster than Texas and would be a better prospect for his home renovation plans.All of their plans, however, were thrown into a cocked hat when Duchess and Woolly, two other young men who were serving time at the facility in Salina with Emmett, turned up at the Watson's farm after having stowed away in the trunk of the warden's car just as the warden and Emmett were preparing to leave Salina and head for Nebraska. Duchess was the son of an itinerate vaudeville actor and spent a lot of time growing up on the road and in and around New York City. Woolly was the son of a socially prominent New York family. Duchess, a charming plotter and manipulator, wanted Emmett - who had his own car - to drive them to New York where Woolly would access a pile of cash ($150,000) which his grandfather had set aside for him in the family safe as a "trust fund." If Emmett would drive them, they would split the trust three ways and Emmett would be set for set up to be a major homebuilder in California.Emmett, who regarded himself as far more sensible than the other two former reformatory inmates, declined, but he eventually agreed to go out of his way and take them to the train station in Omaha where the escapees could board a train for New York City. However, while they were enroute to Omaha, Emmett managed to get distracted by another of Duchess's misadventures long enough for Duchess to "borrow" his car - and Duchess and Woolly headed off to New York leaving the Watson brothers stranded in rural Nebraska.Emmett called Sally who came and transported them to the train station in Omaha where Emmett intended to board a train and head to New York City to get his car back, But after Sally left them at the train station, Emmett realized that his money, the nest-egg of $3,000, was still in the trunk of his car under the spare tire. After some careful research, he found an express freight train that was headed to New York City, and he and Billy secreted themselves in a boxcar.And from there Emmett and Billy Watson began a journey which was marked by personal adventures and encounters with characters very reminiscent those experienced by Huck and Jim as they floated down the Mississippi on their raft in a bygone era.The Lincoln Highway is a character-driven tale that is and pulled along through narratives of each major individual in the story. The manner in which it is presented, through the varying viewpoints, enables readers to gain a fuller perspective of what is actually happening, and it adds to the compelling nature of story. The pages, nearly six hundred of them, turn quickly.While The Lincoln Highway, is a very satisfying reading experience, the plotting is far from predictable and it keeps the reader's attention with unexpected twists and turns, much like any drive along an unfamiliar road. It's a book that is hard to put down, and a story that is difficult to quit. While The Lincoln Highway almost begs a sequel, I hope that does not happen because a furtherance of this tale would only serve to dilute its magnificent impact.This is a wonderful story, Mr. Towles. Your countless accolades are well deserved!

The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles is yet another triumph from a masterful storyteller. From the very first pages, Towles draws you in with his graceful prose and irresistible sense of momentum. The novel is set in 1954 and follows 18-year-old Emmett Watson as he sets off on a journey with his younger brother, Billy, intending to head west and start a new life. But when two friends from a work farm derail their plans, the road leads in a very different direction—east, toward New York City.Towles has a gift for crafting characters who feel fully alive. I found myself deeply invested in each of them: Emmett with his quiet resolve, Billy with his precocious charm, Duchess with his cunning and contradictions, and Woolly with his heartbreakingly innocent view of the world. The alternating perspectives add depth and nuance to their evolving relationships and the moral choices they face.Though the story takes place over just ten days, it has the emotional richness of an epic. The themes of redemption, loyalty, family, and destiny are explored with subtlety and grace. Towles doesn’t just write a road trip—he gives us a moving meditation on the detours life throws our way and how we navigate them.Highly recommended for readers who enjoy character-driven novels that combine literary elegance with narrative drive. Towles proves once again that he knows how to tell a story that lingers long after the final page.

A decent read. Moved at a leisurely pace akin to the timeframe the story is set in. Step back in time and enjoy the character dynamics.

The book was well written and hard to put down once I got a few pages in. Although there were a few events were a bit far fetched, the storyline kept me fully engaged.Great read and Gentleman in Moscow is even better.

This book wasn’t what I expected, and that’s a good thing. I like surprises. The characters are very individualized and three-dimensional. The story had twists and turns, and by the end you realize there are deeper meanings to it. I found myself relating to the characters in different ways. 18-year old Emmett has lost his father, his mother, and then his father’s farm, all while dealing with having just been released from a juvenile work farm for unintentionally killing another boy in a fight. Now he has to make a plan for himself and his 10-year old brother, Billy, to make a new life together. But Emmett’s well-laid plans to travel the Lincoln Highway from Nebraska to San Francisco to start that new life are thrown into chaos by the unexpected appearance of two other boys his age, Duchess and Wooly, both of whom had been at the work farm with him and escaped. Duchess is mercurial and chaotic, though often well-meaning, and Wooly is intellectually challenged, but kind. Along the way, the four boys come to meet some other notable characters who sometimes help them and sometimes challenge them.There are some almost-spoilers below, so stop here if you worry about it….The name of the book is a bit misleading. The Lincoln Highway is really a “McGuffin” in that it triggers the plot but isn’t actually the planned route they ultimately follow. I didn’t mind that, but it did break the “contract with the reader” if you will, from the initial plan that was laid out early in the book. Really, the plot is driven by Duchess, a troubled boy who has his own motivations, which he justifies in different ways, that throws everyone else’s plans asunder. Frankly, all of the characters have tragic histories, which makes them very interesting. Another oddity about this book is that it starts sort of in the middle of the story (which is actually a plot point stated by Billy, who is obsessed with a book about heroes and their journeys), and at the end of the book you realize that the story hasn’t really ended for some of the characters yet. None of these things really take away from the quality of the story, it’s just something to note that sets this book apart from others and makes it unique. I will say, though, that Duchess was so much the driver of the story that all the other characters were a little weaker for it, where they were mostly reacting to Duchess in one way or another.One thing I definitely did not like, though, was that the dialogue is written without quotation marks. Rather, Towles uses a dash to signify when a speaker has started dialogue, but nothing to signify when they stop the dialogue. Thus, it was occasionally confusing when they stopped and the prose began. Towles also needed more dialogue tags, as sometimes I was confused who was speaking which sentences.Be prepared that this has a bit of a tragic ending that left me concerned for the motives of some of the characters I’d come to like. But overall, it was a worthy read.

I very much liked this novel. Amor Towles is an excellent author and I am a big fan. I have read his first three novels and really liked every one of them. His stories are very different than much of current American popular fiction. That is why one finds a wide range of reviews.I feel the story is only tangentially related to “The Lincoln Highway”. Therefore do not expect a road trip type story depicting all of the towns along the way. This is a very different modern adventure story.No matter the level of excellence, not everyone will enjoy this novel. It is a really a coming of age adventure novel set in the 1950s in the United States. There are shifting narrators. At times the story seems to meander, but I felt it mostly always came back on course and apparent diversions become woven into the story. In this context, one must pay attention.On the other hand, the story is clearly written. It is mostly modern American conversational English. As such it makes for a good, but not simple, candidate for an audiobook. I purchased the novel on Kindle and also the accompanying audiobook. I listened and read simultaneously. I am glad that I did both. Sometimes I purchase an audiobook and listen rather than read whilst commuting. This book is a bit too intricate for that as far as I am concerned. I gave it my full attention.In the event one enjoys this structure of a story, one may enjoy “A Man Called Ove” by Fredrik Backman. The stories are completely different. But the clever turns of phrase and story are part of that story also. Both also include a very interesting female secondary character.In summary I really like this book. I can completely understand how someone else might not. It is not a light work of simple fiction. With a book like this, if it gets slightly tedious I simply take a break and get back to it when I feel I am ready. Amor Towles is one of my favorite contemporary American authors. But his works are different. Thank You for taking the time to read this review.

Superbly written with a sprinkling of metaphors that make you smile with their originality and the immediacy of their imagery. A delight to read.

Thoroughly enjoyble. Packed with interesting and amusing characrers backed up by a great plot. Looking forward to Amor Towles' next offering.

This is another wonderful book from the author of A Gentleman in Moscow. Set in the US in the 50s, the story centres around two brothers who go on the road (willingly or not). Like "Gentleman", there are no villains - just characters who don't perceive the implications of their actions on others. The youngest of the characters, Billy, is a treat: wise beyond his years but still innocent. Each main character has their own sense of what's right and what's wrong and acts accordingly. The story is told from the multiple viewpoints of its characters and flows nicely towards the inevitable (and touching) end. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Scritto benissimo e ritengo possa rientrare nei "classici" che resistono nel tempo

It took a long time for me to make it to the ‘Lincoln Highway’ and what a long winding road / read it was, but what an adventure and what a touching exploration of human nature with this intricate character study from the master storyteller that is Amor Towles.A mix of very ordinary and extraordinary events shape the lives of two brothers and two uninvited travelling companions, and with a hint of tragedy looming and a sense of the inevitable you know fate will play its part.Once again, I find myself asking the same question about an Amor Towles book. Why do I love this so much and the answer is the same? I just do!! There is nothing sensational about the plot, the language, or its characters, but there is something sensational about the way the stories are perfectly nuanced, the characters are intimately observed, and the story is beautifully written.The Plot (skip if you have read the book)The year is 1954 when the story begins with a warden releasing 18 year old Emmett Watson from a detention centre for involuntary manslaughter. After serving 15 months, Emmett is released on compassionate grounds after the death of their father to care for his younger brother Billy.Deciding to make a fresh start, Emmett, and Billy plan to travel along the Lincoln Highway to California to locate their mother, who abandoned the family years earlier. That is until they meet up with two of Emmett’s fellow inmates and now escapees; the dangerous swindler that is Duchess Hewitt and Woolly Martin, a man addicted to prescription medicine.The story is a time capture odyssey of one week, with a smooth transition from one chapter to the next as the four main characters narrate in the first person providing the history to their story as they learn to live in the present, deal with the past and look forward to their future.The lives of the four males become so entwined and all of them are taken on a different journey and in a direction that has some devastating consequences. The road is perilous, their mission is thwart with obstacles and the outcome reflected the tragedy and justice you often get from Greek Mythology – which the book often references.Review and CommentsCharacterisation⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ was superb and the dynamics between the group and between individuals within the group make this such a unique and extraordinary story.With the 3 teenagers all aged 18, the perfect backdrop of people on a journey was created. Emmett, Duchess and Woolly were at that crossroads in life when they transition from boys to men but also an opportunity to put right the wrong start and decisions they had made to that point. However, with the desire for retribution, a past haunting them and an opportunity to make money fast, you are totally caught up in their dilemma between doing what is right and wrong. For themselves and the others in the group where the emotional intelligence seems to constantly work against them.The only character that jarred with me was Billy who was wise beyond his years, and although I enjoyed the character, I would have preferred he was cast a few years older. It would have avoided the constant eye roll from me, because sometimes he felt a precocious little twirp, but still adorable when his innocence shone through.The 3 star plot ⭐⭐⭐ was saved by the story telling. First of all, what was wrong with the plot? There was not much substance to the plot and events and conversations were often repeated. There is something wrong with the plot when I only decided I loved this book halfway in and then the ending felt a bit incomplete and lacked the closure I wanted for the four boys.Then I reflected on the closing chapters for a while and concluded that the ending was in fact perfect and did not need a contrived happy ending for everyone. The book is permeated with so much light and darkness, with loss and hope, that it would have been wrong to write the ending differently.Writing style ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 5 stars There is an understated elegance to the writing, brilliant in its simplicity and tragic with its constant referencing back to Greek mythology.There is no doubt that Amor Towles is the master storyteller who does not need the sensational twists or bold characters to tell a story. The mood and the relaxed tone of his writing together with the delicate way he deals with strong themes all create the right atmosphere and a fabulous reading experience.(4.5 stars rounded up) so 5 stars overall for a book that is incredibly touching in its sentiment and heart breaking in some of its story. A coming of age story that is not about adolescent outbursts but a story of 4 males trying to make life decisions in a world that they have not learned to live in yet.