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Blændende, spændende og rørende dannelsesroman om brødreparret Emmett og Billy, der sammen med vennerne Duchess og Wolly tager på et begivenhedsrigt road-trip langs Lincoln Highway i USA. Til alle romanelskere, men dog især til dem med en interesse for USA
What a fantastic story! I couldn't put it down. A journey across America from Nebraska to California goes awry. Emmett is forced to change his plans, and an adventure into 1950s NYC ensues. The characters experience a "one-of-a-kind" kind of day! The ending was a surprise, and I reread the last two chapters twice. The last scene is unforgettable! But I won't provide any spoilers.
Some touching quotes:
"The funny thing about a picture, thought Wolly, the funny thing about a picture is that while it knows everything that's happened, it knows absotively nothing about what will happen next. And yet, once the picture has been framed and hung on a wall, what you see when you look at it closely are all the things that were about to happen. All the un-things. The things that were un anicipated. And unintended. And unreversible." p. 498 How many of us have had an experience like this, looking at photographs of lost love-ones and lost times? "If you give a trait that by all appearances is a merit... and give it to some poor soul in abundance, it will almost certainly prove an obstacle to their happiness..." p. 495
"Wouldn't it be wonderful, though Wooly, if everybody's life was like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle? then no one person's life would ever be an inconvenience to anyone else's. It would fit just snugly in its very own, specially designed spot, and in so doing, would enable the whole intricate picture to become complete." p. 500
That's true! This is a book that made me laugh, cry, and think! " ( )
The Lincoln Highway is my second attempt at reading an Amor Towles literary work — and I am so glad I did. A coming of an age story which takes place during the simpler times of the 1950’s. Following the return home from a boys’ work camp, Emmett Watson finds himself in charge of his 8-year-old brother, Billy. Emmett, who has a strong moral compass, soon learns that two of his work camp mates, Woolly and Duchess, broke out of the camp and stowed away in the vehicle that brought Emmett home. The next ten days follows the adventures of Emmett, Billy, Woolly, and Duchess as they each make their way home, be it literally or figuratively.
Masterfully written, The Lincoln Highway winds and meanders as it tells the story of right from wrong, good, and bad, and how in the end, each man lives by a code enforced only by himself. Towles has an incredible way of weaving in the past with the present so that he meets the reader where they are while getting his point across. I can’t say I’m big on literary fiction, but The Lincoln Highway is one that I will proudly display on my shelf.
The page count feels daunting, but the story is riveting because of its affable characters. You will not regret the time spent on The Lincoln Highway. ( )
On his release from a reform school after the death of his father Emmett decides to leave Nebraska for California with his little brother Billy to find their mother. First, however, they have to help two absconders from the reform school, Duchess and Woolly, get to New York, where they are hoping to claim and divide Woolly's inheritance.
Great fun, with engaging characters I kept reading to learn more about. Ultimately, the book left me wanting to know what happened next, whether Emmett and Billy made it to California and whether they found their mother. ( )
The miles of fresh-plowed soil, Heavy and black, full of strength and harshness, The growing wheat, the growing weeds, The toiling horses, the tired men; The long, empty roads, Sullen fires of sunset, fading, The eternal unresponsive sky. Against all this, Youth . . . —O Pioneers, Willa Cather
He knew too that he had been an agent of misfortune rather than its author. But he didn't agree that his debt had been paid in full. For no matter how much chance had played a role, when by your hands you have brought another man's time on earth to its end, to prove to the Almighty that you are worthy of his mercy, that shouldn't take any less time than the rest of your life.
... through our misdeeds we may put ourselves in another person’s debt, just as through their misdeeds they put themselves in ours. And since it’s these debts – those we’ve incurred and those we’re owed – that keep us stirring and stewing in the early hours, the only way to get a good night’s sleep is to balance the accounts.
Regardless of who had been provoked by who, or whom by whom, when Emmett hit the Snyder kid at the county fair, he took on a debt just as surely as his father had when he had mortgaged the family farm.
I don’t blame Him. Whom I blame is Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and every other man who’s served as priest or preacher since.
To Emmett, all the houses in this part of the country looked like they'd been dropped from the sky. The Watson house just looked like it'd had a rougher landing. The roof line sagged on either side of the chimney and the window frames were slanted just enough that half the windows wouldn't quite open and the other half wouldn't quite shut.
Emmett could hear his father stirring in the next room, unable to sleep—and not without reason. Because a farmer with a mortgage was like a man walking on the railing of a bridge with his arms outstretched and his eyes closed. It was a way of life in which the difference between abundance and ruin could be measured by a few inches of rain or a few nights of frost.
Boys, she would begin in her motherly way, 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 wrongs you have done unto others will be bound to you in the form of guilt, and the wrongs that others have done unto you in the form of indignation. The teachings of Jesus Christ Our Savior are there to free you from both. To free you from your guilt through atonement and from your indignation through forgiveness. 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.
What wisdom the Lord does not see fit to endow us with at birth, He provides through the gift of experience.
—In that man's heart, said Ulysses, sliding the door shut, there is more treachery than preachery.
Oh, he enjoyed delivering that little speech. Standing there with his legs apart and his feet planted firmly on the ground, he acted as if he could draw his strength straight from the land because he owned it.
I felt bad for him. Not man enough to be a man, or child enough to be a child, not black enough to be black, or white enough to be white, Maurice just couldn't seem to find his place in the world.
—Questions can be so tricky, he said, like forks in the road. You can be having such a nice conversation and someone will raise a question, and the next thing you know you're headed off in a whole new direction. In all probability, this new road will lead you to places that are perfectly agreeable, but sometimes you just want to go in the direction you were already headed.
—Have you ever noticed, he said, have you ever noticed how so many questions begin with the letter W? He counted them off on his fingers. —Who. What. Why. When. Where. Which. He could see his sister's concern and uncertainty lifting for a moment as she smiled at this fascinating little fact. —Isn't that interesting? he continued. I mean, how do you think that happened? All those centuries ago when words were first being coined, what was it about the sound of the W that made the word coiners use it for all of the questions? As opposed to say, the T or the P? It makes you feel sort of sorry for W, doesn't it? I mean, it's a pretty big burden to carry. Especially since half the time when someone asks you a question with a W, they aren't really asking you a question. They're making a statement in disguise. Like, like ... —When are you going to grow up! And Why would you do such a thing! And What in God's name were you thinking!
Well, imagine all you like. It won't cost you nothing, and it'll cost me less. But later that night, after I'd served the chili, cleaned the kitchen, and switched off the lights, I knelt at the side of my bed, clasped my hands together, and prayed. Dear Lord, I said, please give my father the wisdom to be gracious, the heart to be generous, and the courage to ask for this woman's hand in holy matrimony—so that someone else can do his cooking and cleaning for a change.
Billy and Woolly both had big smiles on their faces, while Emmett, per usual, was acting like smiles were a precious resource.
Wouldn't it have been wonderful, thought Woolly, if everybody's life was like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle. Then no one person's life would ever be an inconvenience to anyone else's. It would just fit snugly in its very own, specially designed spot, and in so doing, would enable the whole intricate picture to become complete.
Many years before, Abacus had come to the conclusion that the greatest of heroic stories have the shape of a diamond on its side.
As Emmett walked out the door and climbed into his bright yellow car, I thought to myself that there are surely a lot of big things in America. The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are big. The Mississippi River and the Grand Canyon are big. The skies over the prairie are big. But there is nothing bigger than a man's opinion of himself.
Plain speaking and common sense. In my book, there's just no substitute.
And when the final chime sounded, I turned to them all in order to utter with my very last breath, The rest is silence, just as Hamlet had. Or was that Iago? I never could remember.
Blændende, spændende og rørende dannelsesroman om brødreparret Emmett og Billy, der sammen med vennerne Duchess og Wolly tager på et begivenhedsrigt road-trip langs Lincoln Highway i USA. Til alle romanelskere, men dog især til dem med en interesse for USA
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