Amor Towles, The Lincoln Highway

 

- I have to say this - I'm so sick of thick, brick-like books. Why are so many novels these days over 600 pages? The problem is unless the prose is captivating or the narrative exhilarating you're wasting days of your life.

- After thoroughly enjoying Amor Towles' last novel A Gentleman in Moscow I was really looking forward to this one. It would surely be a perfect January read. 

- Well it wasn't. Towles has written a classic American story in the tradition of Mark Twain. It's a bit The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, a very modern YA trope. The hero, Billy, is a very likeable and sympathetic boy, as is his older brother Emmett. They embark on a road trip across America in search of their missing mother and father. Odd characters are met along the way. 

- As a narrative style road trips are generally a pain in the arse. New characters keep popping up, unconnected things keep happening, etc. All the characters are wanderers and lost souls, or innocents who've been wronged. They're seeking connection or they're seeking retribution. Every bit of evidence would suggest that the will to be moving is as old as mankind.

- Towles imbues this tale with a very patriotic, American tone. He takes every opportunity to celebrate America's heroes and founding principles. The boy Billy is captivated by American history, especially Abraham Lincoln and the Declaration of Independence. The fourth of July is of particular significance.   

- Of course there is a lot of charm in this novel. It's saccharine-like, piled on and on. Although there is violence and tragedy sprinkled throughout, the sentimentality rules supreme.

- Read something else.