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Anne 's Reviews > The Lincoln Highway
The Lincoln Highway
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by
It is hard for me to rate this book because I loved the first third and was extremely disappointed by the rest.
While listening to the first 30% of this book I was so enamored with the writing and the characters I was sure that this novel was going to be my favorite book of the year. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. As soon as the boys hit the road toward the Lincoln Highway Amor Towles' brain was taken over by a much lesser writer who specializes in stories for teenage boys and loves tangents. Many new characters are introduced, none of whom grabbed my interest. The story lost momentum and I began to skip the chapters which were not narrated by the 2 main protagonists and Sally. I loved Sally. She had some of the best lines. After praying to God for months that her father will marry the woman he is dating and therefore have someone other than herself responsible for cooking and cleaning for him she is sorely disappointed when they stop dating. And she quips:
"They say the lord answers all prayers ....but sometimes he answers 'no.'"
I was shocked by the ending. Where did that come from? It changed the tone of the book from folksy, old fashioned story telling to... well, telling would be a spoiler.
I loved Rules of Civility but nothing of Towles' since, including A Gentleman from Moscow. I know. I know. I tried to read it twice but it never captured my attention. I'm sure it was all me. One day I will try again. I was definitely in the minority on "Gentlemen" just as I seem to be in the minority on The Lincoln Highway.
While listening to the first 30% of this book I was so enamored with the writing and the characters I was sure that this novel was going to be my favorite book of the year. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to be. As soon as the boys hit the road toward the Lincoln Highway Amor Towles' brain was taken over by a much lesser writer who specializes in stories for teenage boys and loves tangents. Many new characters are introduced, none of whom grabbed my interest. The story lost momentum and I began to skip the chapters which were not narrated by the 2 main protagonists and Sally. I loved Sally. She had some of the best lines. After praying to God for months that her father will marry the woman he is dating and therefore have someone other than herself responsible for cooking and cleaning for him she is sorely disappointed when they stop dating. And she quips:
"They say the lord answers all prayers ....but sometimes he answers 'no.'"
I was shocked by the ending. Where did that come from? It changed the tone of the book from folksy, old fashioned story telling to... well, telling would be a spoiler.
I loved Rules of Civility but nothing of Towles' since, including A Gentleman from Moscow. I know. I know. I tried to read it twice but it never captured my attention. I'm sure it was all me. One day I will try again. I was definitely in the minority on "Gentlemen" just as I seem to be in the minority on The Lincoln Highway.
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Reading Progress
February 19, 2021
– Shelved as:
to-read
February 19, 2021
– Shelved
October 8, 2021
–
Started Reading
October 8, 2021
– Shelved as:
2021
October 8, 2021
– Shelved as:
audio
October 9, 2021
–
55.0%
"The first 30% was wonderful. I was smiling ear to ear adoring the writing and the characters. But once the boys hit the road I've become bored. The strings of new characters and adventures just aren't interesting or captivating for me."
October 9, 2021
–
63.0%
"Sally finds out that her father is seeing a woman and prays to God that her he "will ..marry this woman so that someone else can do his cooking and cleaning for a change."
But soon she learns that there will be no marriage.
"You can ask God for anything but sometimes his answer is 'no.' ""
But soon she learns that there will be no marriage.
"You can ask God for anything but sometimes his answer is 'no.' ""
October 10, 2021
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-50 of 76 (76 new)
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Regina
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Oct 11, 2021 05:14PM
Very fair review, Anne! I’m on the fence about picking this one up.
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Anne , I reading this starting this weekend as a buddy read . I’ll come back to read your review when I finish .
Regina wrote: "Very fair review, Anne! I’m on the fence about picking this one up."Regina, thank you. Many people loved this book. Again, I'm in the minority.
Angela M wrote: "Anne , I reading this starting this weekend as a buddy read . I’ll come back to read your review when I finish ."Angela, good idea to read reviews later.
Elyse wrote: "Wow — you expressed almost word for word ( but better) exactly the same process I went through - with THIS BOOK ….Hi Elyse. Wasn't that switch after 1/3rd a huge disappointment? And that ending. What? I'm happy to hear that I'm not alone in how I experienced the book. We're in minority jail together. :))
I'm intrigued by your response to this one, Anne! I haven't read it yet, but I did love both of Towles' other novels. Now I wonder where that will put me in regards to this one :) Great review!
Candi wrote: "I'm intrigued by your response to this one, Anne! I haven't read it yet, but I did love both of Towles' other novels. Now I wonder where that will put me in regards to this one :) Great review!"Thanks, Candi. I wonder the same thing. It'll be interesting to see how you and other GR friends react to this book.
Terrific review, Anne. You have voiced your feelings for this one very well. I can’t say I am dying to read it based on reviews.
Being one of those who loved A Gentleman in Moscow, I'm pleased you give me some hope at the end. But, knowing that you and I so often agree on the books we read, it makes me wary. I will read it eventually, but I will try to go in without any huge expectations.
I don’t think you are an outlier on this one. It’s getting very mixed reviews. It has to be hard to keep up the level of his two previous books.
Antoinette wrote: "Terrific review, Anne. You have voiced your feelings for this one very well. I can’t say I am dying to read it based on reviews."Antoinette, thank you. I'd hate to warn someone off this book since many people did not have the same issues with the book that I had. I'm sure other GR friends will read and rate this book so you'll have more opinions to go by. .
Sara wrote: "Being one of those who loved A Gentleman in Moscow, I'm pleased you give me some hope at the end. But, knowing that you and I so often agree on the books we read, it makes me wary. I will read it e..."Sara, I've read several other reviews now and some people state that they loved "Gentleman" but couldn't get into this book. Either way, you should read it. Many people gave this book 4 or 5 stars, having no problem with 2/3rds of the book.
Judith wrote: "I don’t think you are an outlier on this one. It’s getting very mixed reviews. It has to be hard to keep up the level of his two previous books."Hi Judith. There are so many 4 and 5 star reviews on GR so I assumed most people didn't have issues with the book as I did. But thank you for letting me know that it's getting mixed reviews. It's always nice not to be alone in the minority. :)). I agree. It must be impossible to meet the same high bar with every book an author writes. We've all seen that with many authors, including our favorite authors.
My thoughts exactly, Anne! I was really looking forward to the release of this book and for the first 100 pages I was enchanted. I loved Towles previous novels so I was ready for a great read. You are right, the story lost momentum pretty early :(
Debbi wrote: "My thoughts exactly, Anne! I was really looking forward to the release of this book and for the first 100 pages I was enchanted. I loved Towles previous novels so I was ready for a great read. You ..."Debbie, thank you for your comment. It's nice to know that someone else had the same experience with this book. "Enchanting" is the just the right word for those first 100 pages.
Terric review, Anne. I haven’t read anything by this author yet, and now I think I’ll back-burner his books for a while. Too bad the book fell apart. I wouldn’t like the religious stuff.
Debbie wrote: "Terric review, Anne. I haven’t read anything by this author yet, and now I think I’ll back-burner his books for a while. Too bad the book fell apart. I wouldn’t like the religious stuff."Hi Debbie. Thanks. There isn't religious stuff as far as I can recall other than that one line which I thought was funny. Maybe it's all in the delivery - I was listening to the audio book and the narrator was great. I'm not sure how you got away with never reading a novel by Towles. :))
Oh dear Anne, shame it fell apart - I'm with you on Rules of Civility, I might just have to fight you over AGIM, because I LOVED that one (I'll have to check out your review, if I haven't already). Funny how you say Towles' brain was taken over by another writer - I was tempted not to read your review as I'm gonna read this one soon - now I'm really intrigued :))
Mark wrote: "Oh dear Anne, shame it fell apart - I'm with you on Rules of Civility, I might just have to fight you over AGIM, because I LOVED that one (I'll have to check out your review, if I haven't already)...."Mark, I'm very interested to see what you think of this novel. I think you'll like it. I really wanted to like AGIM. I tried twice. DNF'd twice.
Anne, your review is very helpful in letting me know what to expect with this one. I loved both of Towles books and would naturally assume I'd love this one as well. I've been seeing so many mixed reviews which makes me wonder and uncertain. We shall see, but thanks for your honesty!
Nothing is worse than I novel that starts out strong and then collapses. It is especially painful when it is an author you are hoping will shine. I will read it because I have liked Towles, but it will be with your fine review in the back of my mind.
Interesting! I have the paperback of Rules of Civilty Tried to read that twice and gave up. Maybe I should try again.
An easy pass for me, as I was also underwhelmed by A Gentleman. Thanks for the warning.
Anne, so comforting to see I'm not unreasonably harsh with Towles, after all. Rules of Civility didn't really do it for me (and you know how much I love the setting and retro atmosphere) and all the raving reviews make me even more reserved. He just doesn't convince me as a writer of substance - and by substance I only mean genuineness. Thanks for a sharp, genuine write up ;-)
A very good review, Anne. It confirms my long held suspicions of Towles, so now I can delete him from my To Read list.
Lori wrote: "Anne, your review is very helpful in letting me know what to expect with this one. I loved both of Towles books and would naturally assume I'd love this one as well. I've been seeing so many mixed ..."Lori, I think you will enjoy this novel more than I did. I look forward to reading your review.
Barbara wrote: "Nothing is worse than I novel that starts out strong and then collapses. It is especially painful when it is an author you are hoping will shine. I will read it because I have liked Towles, but it ..."Barbara, what you wrote is so true. I loved this novel at the beginning. Then it fell off a cliff. Sooooo. disappointing.
Left Coast Justin wrote: "An easy pass for me, as I was also underwhelmed by A Gentleman. Thanks for the warning."LCJ, you are welcome. Though some of your other GR friends may give it 5 stars.
Violeta wrote: "Anne, so comforting to see I'm not unreasonably harsh with Towles, after all. Rules of Civility didn't really do it for me (and you know how much I love the setting and retro atmosphere) and all th..."Violeta, well I'm glad that my review fits with your overall view of Towles as a writer. All of his books are romances, at least in part, and I don't mean that in the usual way. His main characters are romantic figures with whom Towles and his readers fall in love. That's the best way I can describe his writing which fits all 3 books. I guess this style doesn't appeal to you. I was completely taken with RoC and the first 1/3rd of this book.
David wrote: "A very good review, Anne. It confirms my long held suspicions of Towles, so now I can delete him from my To Read list."David, thank you. Happy to help minimize your TBR. :))
We didn’t agree on this one, Anne , but as we know we can’t all see a story in the same way. I do appreciate your genuine thoughts.
Angela M wrote: "We didn’t agree on this one, Anne , but as we know we can’t all see a story in the same way. I do appreciate your genuine thoughts."Angela, I'm very glad that you enjoyed it so much. Somehow, I knew you would.
I'm in the minority with you--loved Rules of Civility but was disappointed in The Lincoln Highway. So it goes. BTW, like you, I started A Gentleman in Moscow twice without going very far; however, on the third try, I did like the book but not nearly as much as Rules of Civility.
Mac wrote: "I'm in the minority with you--loved Rules of Civility but was disappointed in The Lincoln Highway. So it goes. BTW, like you, I started A Gentleman in Moscow twice without going very far; however, ..."Mac, thank you for your comment. Maybe if I try Gentleman again I'll get engaged. Third times the charm?
Are there not more worthy literary hills to take other than Towles' mediocre attempts? I'm always on the lookout for superior works, the very reason that I joined GR.
David wrote: "Are there not more worthy literary hills to take other than Towles' mediocre attempts? I'm always on the lookout for superior works, the very reason that I joined GR."David, sure there are.
Anne (On semi-hiatus) wrote: "David wrote: "Are there not more worthy literary hills to take other than Towles' mediocre attempts? I'm always on the lookout for superior works, the very reason that I joined GR."David, you might consider Wallace Stegner, perhaps his Crossing to Safety. If nonfiction interests you, Into Thin Air is a favorite of mine.
Thank you, Anne, I'll check these out. Please take a look at my review of "Beyond the 100th Meridian: John Wesley Powell" by Stegner. I also tried Angle of Repose which I put aside long ago, but may try again. I enjoy your reviews.
Anne (On semi-hiatus) wrote: "His main characters are romantic figures with whom Towles and his readers fall in love."That's a very astute remark, Anne. Yes, maybe that's why I can't take to his writing: there are great expectations for a love affair that eventually deflates ;-)
Debbie wrote: "Terric review, Anne. I haven’t read anything by this author yet, and now I think I’ll back-burner his books for a while. Too bad the book fell apart. I wouldn’t like the religious stuff."I have never read Towles' work, but from reviews here it seems to me that there might be more than one author writing or perhaps 2 or 3 personalities. I'm pretty sure that I will never read his books. What real life experience does he have? Just academic?
Just finished the book and was embarrassed that I didn't love it like others do. But I agree completely with your review. Thanks for making me feel better.
Monica wrote: "Just finished the book and was embarrassed that I didn't love it like others do. But I agree completely with your review. Thanks for making me feel better."Monica, I'm glad that my review helped. I don't like being in the minority but I too often find myself there. :))
Anne, I liked this better than you but agree with most of your review. I didn't get the ending either and too many tangents.
Lisa wrote: "Anne, I liked this better than you but agree with most of your review. I didn't get the ending either and too many tangents."Lisa, I saw that you were reading this and was waiting to hear your reaction. I'm glad that we don't really disagree. I responded more strongly (negatively) to the tangents and the ending.
I'm so sorry that you didn't like this, Anne. It sounds like there are others who agree with you. I hope that I like it better since I pre-ordered the hardcopy and have been dying to get to it. I did love both his other two with Gentleman in Moscow being my favorite so there is some hope that I will like this.
Sue wrote: "I'm so sorry that you didn't like this, Anne. It sounds like there are others who agree with you. I hope that I like it better since I pre-ordered the hardcopy and have been dying to get to it. I d..."Sue, I hope that you love it. Many people have.
I just want to say that if you can't get into "Gentleman" in print, please try it on audio! It's so incredibly well read and a thing of beauty! When I tried to read it, I was a little bored and tended to skip over paragraphs, but on the audio version, I hung on every word.....
Susan wrote: "I just want to say that if you can't get into "Gentleman" in print, please try it on audio! It's so incredibly well read and a thing of beauty! When I tried to read it, I was a little bored and ten..."Susan, thanks for your comment. My two tries were on audio. :))
After seeing your review, I reconsidered. I'm now waiting for the library.
PyranopterinMo wrote: "After seeing your review, I reconsidered. I'm now waiting for the library."I hope you enjoy it. :))
