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Summary: Both Books by Ethan Hawke
Review: I have read both of Ethan Hawke's books Ash Wednesday and The Hottest State and LOVED them!! I read both in 3 days I just couldnt stop reading. I would say both books are worth reading and I really hope he keeps writing because I love the way he writes.
Rating:
Summary: Intelligent and Insightful
Review: I read this book in two days because I didn't want to put it down. I loved that the story was told from a male and female perspective. Many of the discussions and circumstances between the characters were both true to life and just felt familiar. I immediately gave it to my boyfriend to read. Hawke has some really great insight into the intense pain and sorrow that accompanies intense love.
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Summary: Life and Love and the Harrowing Pursuit of Happiness.
Review: I went to see Ethan do a reading of this book in San Francisco a couple of weeks ago, and was suprised to find him engaging and thoughtful and funny... I had gone with the expectation of seeing a typical evasive "poser" Hollywood publicity appearance, but he was great! Oh, and he wore WHITE socks with dark shoes and green pants. Such nerve. As a writer, I was encouraged when he said that this novel took five years to complete (good things take time, even when you have fabulous connections and a gorgeous wife! Imagine!). Even more heartening, this is a enormous leap forward from his first novel, which was stilted and difficult to finish. Ethan, you pressed on and created a second book that is *well* worth reading. I'm 29, so maybe it spoke perfectly to the angst about relationships and love that people my age have, but I've actually gone back and searched for certain thoughts since I finished the book a week ago... I don't usually do that. Bravo.
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Summary: not worth the time
Review: I was disappointed with this book and would not recommend it to my worst enemy.
Rating:
Summary: to keep it short and sweet -- i liked it.
Review: i've always been an ethan hawke fan. but it was of him the actor, not him the writer, not until i read this book. it reminded me of catcher in the rye in parts, especially in the first chapter...first page, actually. the way Jimmy talks to the reader without whining is almost impossible to find nowadays. i myself am a writer, and i know how hard it is to write good dialogue, strong dialogue, that keeps people entertained. WHAT I THOUGHT WAS AMAZING ABOUT THIS BOOK WAS THE FACT THAT I DIDNT REALLY LIKE THE CHARACTERS, AT CERTAIN POINTS HATED THEM, BUT STILL WANTED TO KNOW IF THEY MADE IT OUT OKAY. i was interested. thats all great writing is; it thrills you and takes you in and doesnt let you go until the last paragraph on the last page. this was my first ethan hawke novel, but i liked the short, non-detailed, to-the-point style of writing which reminded me, again, of catcher in the rye. he doesnt sound like a stuckup well educated man writing about people -- it sounds like the characters wrote the book themselves. his hand is perfect. bravo, ethan, on taking on a difficult field so fearlessly. PS: i loved reading the first chapter in Rolling Stone. i was in Rome at the time and was actually looking forward to coming home so i could buy the rest of it.
Rating:
Summary: great effort
Review: After enjoying The Hottest State, I looked forward to reading Ash Wednesday and was not disappointed.
The intriguing use of first person narrative works well, giving equal time to understanding the actions of the main characters.
Christy's voice is especially strong.
Highly recommended.
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Summary: I can relate.
Review: I just finished reading Ash Wednesday, and I am filled with all sorts of feelings. I really enjoyed both of the main characters and could relate to alot of thier feelings. The reality of the characters was sometimes unsettling and other times so familiar. I loved the fact that you got both the male and female points of view on the same situation. I don't think I've ever read a book about the twentysomething years that so wonderfully reflected the awsome horrible miraculous time that it is. This time, after high school and before the rest of your life-it must be one of the most chaotic and challenging. I would also love for my husband to read it and get his opinion. This author has captured life in a refreshingly real and uncensored way; I can't wait for book three.
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Summary: Not Again
Review: If the myth about 100 monkeys at 100 typewriters is true - then Ethan Hawke is monkey #1. Ethan Hawke types, he does not write (thank you Truman Capote). Once again, the idea of shaping language to be meaningful and unique is abandoned. This book is not a contribution to literature, it is a expression of vanity, ego and Hollywood name value.
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Summary: Just a very, very good book
Review: Face it. Ethan Hawke writes very well. And he writes dialogue exceptionally well. That's what good writers do. I didn't read this book in one setting because he was in some movie. I picked it up and was fascinated by the characters and kept reading because I wanted to know what happened to them. The book is stylish without trying to be outrageous. Okay, its a cliche, but Hawke seems to write from the gut. About how real people. Interesting people are not always nice people. People who are interesting to read about frustrate and disappoint us.
There are best-sellers out there about boring women who sew and sob their way through 300 pages. Some of them are artfully and gracefully written, and if folks want to read them, they deserve each other in the best sense. But Hawke writes tough because his characters are tough. If he keeps writing, and I assume he will, I hope that I don't have to ever read about him being an actor who writes. He's a writer. I don't care what else he does. Christy and Jimmy are young. They do stupid things and say stupid things to hurt each other, to hurt themselves and to test themselves. They are unsure about the relationship and hope desparately to find magic. If you have raised teenagers through early adult-hood, you know this is how things go sometimes. It's a good book. Maybe too rough for some tastes. But parts of life are like that.
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Summary: A REALISTIC, POIGNANT STORY
Review: What happened to actor/director/author Ethan Hawke between "The Hottest State" (1996) and his second novel "Ash Wednesday"? He became a writer of note. Hawke has fashioned a realistic, poignant story of two lovers, young lovers who must, of necessity, find themselves or lose each other. Staff Sergeant Jimmy Heartsock, a rather capricious Kent State dropout, has gone AWOL. He's also gone AWOL from Christy, his pregnant girlfriend, who issued him an either or - either come home with me to Texas or we're over. When Jimmy opted for the "or" she boarded a bus for the Lone Star state, after whispering, "You make me sick....People have always told me about this feeling, but I've never had it. It's awful." She spoke these words with "empty eyes, as if it were already two years later." While he is impulsive and immature, with drugs as "the most invigorating thing" in his life, Jimmy is given to introspection. After some mental reassessment he decides to go after Christy. He catches up with her, and they begin the cross country trip in his '69 Chevy Nova. It is during this journey that the pair reveal themselves to each other and to the reader through an interesting strategy - the use of dual first person narrators. It is very effective. As Hawke said in an interview he thought this was simply the natural way to tell his story of two lovers. "I think there's a value to having a dual perspective on a story," he added. There is value, indeed, as readers are privy to both the thoughts and words of Jimmy and Christy as they come to realize what is important in life and love. - Gail Cooke
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