I imagine that when Dennis first introduced himself to Woolly, he did so in a somewhat pompous fashion, and Woolly has called him Dennis ever since, imitating the pompous tone. So, when I sit down to write the first chapter of a book, Ive spent years imagining it already. The relationships between husband and wife, between parents and children, and among siblings are omnipresent, governing habits and behaviors, influencing perspectives and emotions. In the case of this novel, the single biggest surprise was the Lincoln Highway itself. No doubt he would be clear that destructive weather extremes wouldnt be good for the overall economy, but how would he assess what these extremes meant for the economics of carpenters? The warden in charge when Emmett arrived in Salina. To say that it was not for everyone is quite the understatement. Girls came to mind while reading Highway because for a variety of reasons, three of the novel's main characters (Emmett Watson, Duchess Hewett, and Woolly Martin) are in the proverbial pawn. 'A Gentleman In Moscow' Is A Grand Hotel Adventure, Idea For 'Gentleman In Moscow' Came From Many Nights In Luxury Hotels. How have you set them down or shared them? Lennie wants George to tell him about living off the fat of the land out west, while Woolly wants the streetwise Duchess to tell him about Leonellos, the Manhattan-based Italian restaurant that doesnt take reservations. The last gift that Wallace prepares is this officers watch, which he takes from his wrist and wraps for his young nephew and namesake. Who were the people in your life that most influenced your character and helped you learn what is right and wrong? Emmett and Billy hop a train hobo style in order to get the car back, and thus begins a story that takes place over 10 adventure-filled days. As Emmetts neighbor Sally Ransom puts it about Emmett late in the novel, he acts like smiles are a precious resource. Emmett is a serious, moral person; albeit one with a past thats not all of his own making. In the universe of this novel, grit and integrity and determination matter, not because they get you where you want to go but because they allow you to persist when youre inevitably blown off course by chance, vicissitude and the disruptive schemes of fellow questers. As it turned out, they were all released in 1953in April, August, and December, respectivelyless than a year before the events in the story. How does your code align with these two versions of morality? Emmett ultimately concludes that his father came from a family like Woollys. So I hope that the following resources, character list, timeline and thematic topics will help you on your own journey deeper into the novel and its connections to your life. As Duchess says, We both knew that his problem was one of plenty theres something about all that good fortune that can become too much that the whole pile of houses and cars and Roosevelts is going to come tumbling down on top of him. chapter Ten Duchess. But when I finished the first draft, it seemed to me that the reader deserved to have the same experience while reading the book that I had while writing it: of knowing that the story was not open-ended, but ticking down day by day to its inescapable conclusion. As I was reviewing them, I was amazed by a story on June 14th announcing that all activity in New York City would stop for ten minutes on the following day as part of a nuclear attack simulation. But heres my take, for those who want it: As Billy is cleaning the library, Emmett has placed Duchess in the boat and set him adrift in order to buy himself some time. Hes understandably terse with Tom Obermeyer, the banker overseeing the foreclosure. The novel shares light moments in the travels of the four main characters alongside some very deep, troubling and tragic moments. Bush went to Midland to seek his fortune or place, but oil was a lucrative business when he went against type and headed to Texas. Who do you know who exemplifies kindness? Then say hello to New York. Note that this guide, like all of the guides, may contain spoilers. Yet were supposed to believe Emmetts parents chose Morgen? The novel offers a glimpse into who each of these individuals will become what each sees as right and wrong, what each is willing to do and unwilling to do. As Duchess explains it, You open a place that no one can get into, and everybody wants to be there. Theres a genius to scarcity in the economic space, but like charm its in a sense elusive. AKA: Woolly. Entrepreneurs require unspent wealth to prosper. Like his first two novels, The Lincoln Highway is elegantly constructed and compulsively readable. The nun at the foster home where Duchess lived. Billy befriends a Black veteran named Ulysses who has been riding trains for years since returning from the war, his homecoming persistently deferred. As previously mentioned, Emmett returns from Salina to a farm that is being foreclosed on. The episode mentioned came to mind while readingThe Lincoln Highway, the latest novel by mega-bestselling author Amor Towles. Shortly after the warden drives off, two fellow inmates turn up, stowaways from the warden's trunk trouble-maker Duchess and his hapless but sweet proteg, Woolly. Theres a very uplifting story of a black man by the name of Ulysses who saves Billy from being robbed (and arguably worse) in a box car on the train ride to New York. The bet here is that he would question Emmetts logic. I suppose thats because they have such strong and vocal personalities. When I finish writing a novel, I find myself wanting to head in a new direction. The Lincoln Highway, the path west, represented Billys dream in particular and more generally our desire to dream and follow our dreams in Abernathys case his literal dream to live life fully and go on an adventure. Charles Watson has died and his young son is left alone at home. Except for when Towles wanted him to not be. Can you tell us something about the origin of the story? . When I began writing the book, it was laid out in sections titled Day One, Day Two, Day Three, and so on. The two boys are alone, but have each other. Think about it. He and Billy will go either to California or Texas in order to start a new life. Now that the book is done, its hard for me to imagine it could ever have been told from the perspectives of just Emmett and Duchess. Where have you seen a father who was able to balance shaping a sons character in a positive manner while providing room for the son to create his own life? The power which resides in him is new in nature, and none but he knows what that is which he can do, nor does he know until he has tried.. Back toGirlsand the pawn shop, Towles writes Emmett, Duchess and Woolly as though their work-camp misfortune was all the doing of others. More on what bothered me later on. Having witnessed his fathers ineptitude that was exacerbated by nature, he chose carpentry work that welcomed the extremes of nature. While schizophrenic weather was the enemy of the farmer, and weather extremes potentially bankrupting, these natural forces were the friend of carpenters and builders because they slowly but inevitably undermined the integrity of the house. So true, but in reading this I found myself wondering what 19thcentury French political economist Fredric Bastiat would say about Emmetts assessment. As he says later, A fresh start requires the cleaning of the slate and that means paying off all that you owe and collecting all that youre due my unsettled debts three of them in all, one I would have to make good on and two I would have to collect. chapter Eight Duchess. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make your own. His interest is in those whose zeal has not yet been tamped down by what Duchess (the only first-person narrator) describes, with improbable flair for a poorly-educated 18-year-old, as "the thumb of reality on that spot in the soul from which youthful enthusiasm springs." What do you aspire to in telling your story and having your story told after your life ends? Escaped prisoner. In the same pan, fry the bacon with the bay leaf until the bacon is brown but not crisp. The bet here yet again is no, but this doesnt alter fact that there are economic and political truths uttered withinHighway. But when I was about halfway through writing the first draft, I became frustrated. thissection. Emmett is the central character in the novel as he goes on both a literal and figurative journey as he learns to control his anger. You can find my brief history of the highway here. Can you talk about some of the movies that are mentioned in the book? Certainly not. Emmett has big reasons to leave the state, and a plan. When I was first drafting this scene, I came up with Duchesss upside-down notion that sometimes the one being beaten up is the real man. Fifteen years later, the Billboard charts would be dominated by the likes of the Beatles, the Doors, the Rolling Stones, Steppenwolf, and Sly & the Family Stone. refrigerated boxcars in America. With the Korean War having concluded in July 1953, America was at peace in 1954; but the countrys entanglement in the Vietnam War was about to begin. Do the alleged demerits mentioned call for not reading the novel? With A Gentleman in Moscow, I was walking into a hotel in Geneva in 2008. As so many do in real life, she was looking to shift the blame for her declining situation to others only for a grizzled, one-time character to tell her something along the lines of Ive never seen anyone at the pawn shop because of what others did.. To this day they promote what defies common sense; that loan sources quite literally targeted those incapable of paying them back. Listening to the novel on Audible, I thoroughly enjoyed the retelling of many of the scenes from the perspectives different characters. Emmet's mother vanished eight years ago and has never been found. As opposed to a pejorative, its actually a very bullish sign that wildly skilled entrepreneurs are able to meet the needs of more and more people. While Im writing chapters, I am constantly revising the back half of the outline or adding to it, as I gain a better understanding of my 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. Web design by Adrian Kinloch, You can find my brief history of the highway. Prof. Abacus: Abernathe: An author Billy likes. I only remember being struckmore than a decade agoby the notion of an honorable young man being driven home from a juvenile work program to the family farm only to discover that two of his fellow inmates have stowed away in the wardens car. Seemingly touched (slow maybe?) Anyone can read what you share. The novel begins with the warden of a juvenile work camp in Salina, Kansas taking Emmett back to his familys farm in Morgen, Nebraska. (Add a little more chicken broth as necessary, if the sauce is drying out.) (And along the way, Duchess hopes to even a few scores, including one with his father.) The Lincoln Highway Character List These notes were contributed by members of the GradeSaver community. The 3,300 mile Lincoln Highway and other "National Auto Trails" grew out of the late 19th century's "Good Roads Movement.". Though capable and self-reliant, Emmett is hardly the master of his own destiny. When we were boys in the 1970s and Claudio would come to New England for the summer, he would be horrified by the American insistence upon drowning all pasta in a thick red sauce. "Most of us shell our days like peanuts. On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court handed down its landmark decision on Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, initiating the end of legal segregation and the concept of separate but equal, at least on paper. With The Lincoln Highway, from the first I imagined a story told over ten days. Why is the dialogue in the book indicated by em dashes rather than quotation marks? Towles has snipped off a minuscule strand of existence 10 wayward days and when we look through his lens we see that this brief interstice teems with stories, grand as legends. Amor Towles ' new Great American Road Novel tails four boys three 18-year-olds who met in a juvenile reformatory, plus a brainy 8-year-old as they set out. His and Duchess's intent is to get the money, divide it up, and then get on with their lives. Emmett, Duchess, Woolly and Sally are all in the process of moving on from the family structure in which they were raised to some unknown world of their own fashioningwith all the challenges and opportunities, all the insights and illusions that the transition implies. Its certainly possible, but then as has already been written at length, to varying degrees Towles draws Emmett, Duchess, and Woolly as victims of simple bad luck. We are thankful for their contributions and encourage you to make yourown. As a reader you really need to pay attention as the story moves from one characters perspective to anothers. How did they become lore? The matter of ethics in the book is closely related to the youth-to-adulthood transition described above. The Lincoln Highway is a character-driven tale that is and pulled along through narratives of each major individual in the story. The conflict of interest is evident in the book as Emmet and Billy decide to go to San Francisco. Though Texas presently outpaces California in population growth (the statistics can be misleading, but thats another column), the Golden State was well outpacing the Lone Star state in the first half of the 20thcentury. How do you think these two reflections played into Woollys choice at the end of the novel? It thrives because it doesnt. I suppose its worth noting that Duchess isnt angry with Emmett in the last chapter because he recognizes the ingenuity of what Emmett has done, and he knows his own culpability in the final outcome. . Duchess is a persuasive and original figure, an avenging moral accountant with a ledger of debts to collect (and occasionally to pay). If you want to make God laugh, Towles suggests, consult the Encyclopaedia Britannica for population statistics, unfold your map, plan your route. Applied to the Lincoln Highway, Towles writes that Carl G. Fisher built the first sections in 1913 with the help of donations from prosperous individuals like Teddy Roosevelt and Thomas Edison. Do you differentiate between life ambitions and dreams? What about you, do you like surprises? Obermeyers line is a corrective of the laughable commentary from the Left back in 2008 that predatory lenders essentially forced money on unsuspecting borrowers with no means to pay monies borrowed back. The novel is full of heroes from the heroes in the chapters of Billys book to characters performing heroic acts to save anothers life to characters believing they are acting heroically. Absent the federal government, the profit motivations or private motivations to build that which connects us would still be great. One episode toward the end of the shows run had Marnie (one of the Girls) in a bad spot. And so they are. Your premise could have been realized in many different decades. Duchess, the engine of the book, seeks his father, seeks atonement and retribution, seeks that safe full of money in the Adirondacks. In the case of The Lincoln Highway, I have no idea where I was or what I was doing. And to what degree do we fashion it on the fly based on our own instincts and experience? Precisely because bank loans dont have an equity quotient, banks need them toperform. Abacus Abernathe, the author of Billys beloved compendium, is found on the 55th floor of the Empire State Building and coaxed from his narrative perch back into the world. The Lincoln Highway is a joyride. Woolly comes from a prominent and well-to-do family, and theres $150,000 in the safe at the familys camp up in the Adirondacks. Can you talk about the structure of the book? Can you comment on that? The Lincoln Highway is, among other things, about the act of storytelling and mythmaking. It is very much on porpoise. Why did you decide to set the story in 1954? To ready Woolly inHighwayis for Lennie in John SteinbecksOf Mice and Mento come to mind. As a subscriber, you have 10 gift articles to give each month. Escaped prisoner. Ludwig von Mises always described the rich as individuals whose commercial advances had removed unease from the lives of others. To what degree does it spring from our communityfrom the shared traditions and mores that define our clan? Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. The Lincoln Highway is a journey in multiple layers the escapades of a road trip, coming of age passages and a storytelling odyssey. How did the community in which you were raised guide who you became? AKA: Professor Abercrombie, Sam. Hither and yon. About his mothers remarriage to Richard after his fathers death, the supposedly vacant of mind Woolly has enough mind to acidly comment on their mothers commitment to her first marriage as till death do them part but not for a minute longer.. He convinces Emmett to travel to San Francisco and seek out their mother, who abandoned them eight years prior. Though dark shadows fall across its final chapters, the book is permeated with light, wit, youth. Do our parents serve as an influence, or counter-influence in its formation? By eliminating the quotation marks in Rules, I was forced to abandon these little clarifications and write conversation in such a way that the dialogue would do most of the work on its own. 1954 was the year that both McDonalds and Burger King were launched. Its hard to say. A household should serve pasta in twenty different ways, he would argue, and each preparation should highlight a few essential flavors through intensity rather than volume. You can help us out by revising, improving and updating The Wolcotts camp in the Adirondacks also figures prominently in Rules of Civility as the retreat where Katey goes to meet Tinker in seclusion. On their adventure to California, and trickery by Woolly and Duchess, Emmett is careful of not committing the same mistakes again, and disappointing his little brother. Towles's third novel will satisfy fans of his multi-layered literary styling while providing them an array of new and richly imagined settings, characters, and themes. The novel takes places in the mid-1950sa period of peace, prosperity, and upward mobility in the United States; a period in which television was in its infancy, and which came just before the advents of rock 'n' roll, the modern civil rights movement, and the "sexual revolution." How does the era shape the journeys of the characters, if at . Amor Towles, author of RULES OF CIVILITY and A GENTLEMAN IN MOSCOW, has decided to make his own contribution to that genre in his third novel, THE LINCOLN HIGHWAY. Mrs. Simpson's husband. Billy is determined to follow the Lincoln Highway west to San Francisco, where he hopes to find his mother, who abandoned her family when he was a baby and Emmett was 8. Copyright 1999 - 2023 GradeSaver LLC. The President of Lion's Club. There are many. The largest operator of The boy had been taunting Emmett. Again, one of the ideas Towles explores is how evil can be offset by decency and kindness on any rung of the socio-economic ladder. 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