Nothing can compare to A Gentleman in Moscow and it's not fair to compare! At first, I was ready to give up on this book, but I am glad I did not. And I am ESPECIALLY glad that I borrowed the audiobook because it is amazing! Sometimes, I know I don't concentrate enough on the language and the nuance of the text when I read/ I get distracted, I go fold laundry, or I find something else to do. But when I am walking and I have a fantastic audio version of a book (Tess, Hamnet, On Becoming) the reading is so much more rewarding for me. And this is a great audiobook. I found out that one man narrates the whole thing. I was convinced that there were numerous narrators, of both genders.
Anyway, I really got into the book and wish I had the time to go back and start all over again. Towles takes a while to introduce the cast of characters (and that there is!), so in my early reading days, when I was not as engaged, I think I lost some of the essence of the many characters. And even following the story, and each of the characters' stories would have been better if I had started and stayed with the audiobook.
But don't take this as a reason NOT to read the printed book. It is great, but you must pay attention to the humor and the pathos involved.
It is a long book and took me a while, and it's one book that I really SHOULD read again.
From the NPR review:
The Lincoln Highway is, among other things, about the act of storytelling and mythmaking. The novel probes questions about how to structure a narrative and where to start; its chapters count down from Ten to One as they build to a knockout climax. Towles' intricately plotted tale is underpinned by young Billy's obsession with a big red alphabetical compendium of 26 heroes and adventurers — both mythical and real — from Achilles to Zorro, though the letter Y is left blank for You (the reader) to record your own intrepid quest.
