I really enjoyed this book. I found it incredibly insightful and had me thinking back in my own life. I was really zigzagging as to how I wanted things to turn out for the two characters who are struggling to be mature without a history of good role models.
This is probably a story that has occurred in real life too many times to count, but the first time I've read a fictionalized account and enjoyed every inch.
I will be looking for more of his books.

It’s a good story, you can really see the early beginnings of a great author. Hawke excels in great dialogues but the descriptions in between seem choppy.

Mi capita di comprare un libro, ma poi passa del tempo, a volte anni, prima di leggerlo.
Alcuni se ne stanno lì in attesa del momento giusto. Così è successo con Mercoledì delle Ceneri di Ethan Hawke: è un libro che era là non ricordo più da quanto tempo. Immagino mi sia piaciuto il titolo all'epoca. Mercoledì delle Ceneri è il giorno in cui finisce il Carnevale e inizia la Quaresima. Il tempo della rinuncia, della purificazione e della preparazione al rinnovamento della spiritualità.
Qui è narrata la storia di due ragazzi Christy, un’infermiera troppo dura con se stessa, e Jimmy, un sergente interessato più alle droghe e alle bravate con i commilitoni che a servire l’esercito. Alternando il proprio punto di vista i due raccontano la difficoltà di un legame, la loro fragilità, il senso di inadeguatezza, il loro passato che influenza il presente. In un viaggio on the road, da Albany a Houston passando per New Orleans si amano, si detestano, si lasciano, si uniscono nella speranza di riscattarsi e mettere ordine nelle loro vite. Mi è piaciuto? Credo di essere sempre più sensibile alla lingua, alla sua costruzione e alla capacità di sostenere il racconto che quando è elementare, semplice, ma non incisiva, alla lunga, anche se ha il fine di essere realistica e mimetica, la scorrevolezza si trasforma in viscosità- ho bisogno di essere ipnotizzato e avvolto - se poi la storia perde vigore, il vortice dei sentimenti, dei desideri, gira sempre intorno allo stesso punto: non vedo l'ora che il tutto si risolva come ormai è prevedibile che si risolva. I titolo rimane affascinante, così come il tentativo di raccontare Il Mercoledì delle Ceneri dell’età adulta dopo il Carnevale della gioventù.

So, Ethan Hawke's a pretty good writer. I didn't know he had written several novels until recently, and with "Ash Wednesday" now behind me, I'll likely check out his others. The story is nothing groundbreaking, a young man goes AWOL from the army and has a serious of tense conversations with his pregnant girlfriend as they plan to get married and drive from New York to Texas, but the characters are well drawn and the dialogue pops fairly well off the page. Hawke sets himself up for a challenge early on, having his lead character deliver the news of an army man's death to the dead man's family, all while hopped up on cocaine. He comes off like a real P.O.S., and in some ways he is one of those, but the guy opens up to you as you continue, and Hawke conjures up some honest sympathy for the man.

The book switches between POV's, the guy's and his girlfriend's, and I do think the guy is written a little better than the girl, but she's got more than one dimension, and her character becomes more interesting as the story progresses.

"Ash Wednesday" is funny, too, this isn't some dreary slog through a couple days in the lives of two bums. I'm always impressed when rich, famous people branch out from their fields. Sometimes it works, but usually you're more like, Well, he's an actor not a writer . . . I'm not suggesting Hawke should depart from his day job duties any time soon, but he's definitely got some talent with a pen.

When I first read this book years ago I was very surprised about how much I like it.Having just Re-Read it, I still do. This book follows a young coulee going through life finding out what they want and what's good for them. Well written and for a story that is now 18 years old it is still very current.

Knowing Ethan Hawke as an actor, I was surprised and delighted to discover that he has written and published three works of fiction. The first I recently read, Ash Wednesday, was everything I had been waiting for in a novel for a long time. It was as natural as breathing. Hawke is one of my favorite actors. If I see him in the line up for a film, I trust that it will be fantastic work. Now I know that his name on the front of a book cover means the same thing.

i love ethan hawke and think that his dilettantish pursuits (see: writing and directing) have become far, far more interesting and successful in recent years. but man oh man, this isn't very good. lotta bad dialogue that'll make you forget he's been nominated for screenplay oscars twice and a pretty satisfying plot resolution. if you're gonna get into ethan hawke's writing see blaze, before sunset, or before midnight.

Dies war mein zweites Buch von Ethan Hawke, den ich als Schauspieler sehr bewundere, und ich hatte mich sehr auf seinen nachdenklichen Schreibstil gefreut.
Die beiden Protagonisten Christy und Jimmy sind auch ziemlich gut gezeichnet. Besonders Jimmy hat seine Fehler, aber auch sehr liebevolle Charakterzüge.
Mit Christy hatte ich aber auch meine Probleme, die das Buch für mich sehr anstrengend gemacht haben.
Denn im Grunde geht es in dem Buch darum, wer man eigentlich selbst ist, wie man seine eigene Zukunft sieht, wie man liebt und ob man den Partner an seiner Seite auch wirklich liebt.
Und Christy war in dieser Hinsicht ein einziges Hin und Her. Das Schlimme war, dass sich ihre Ansichten innerhalb weniger Sätze geändert haben, einfach nach Lust und Laune, sodass ich sie schon nach wenigen Kapiteln nicht mehr ernst nehmen konnte.
Dazu kam noch, dass Hawke hier einige Textpassagen hatte, die ich nur als Geschwafel abtun kann. Sie taten kaum was für die Story oder die Charakterentwicklung und waren wohl einfach Dinge, über die er gerne mal schreiben wollte.
Ich finde es schade, dass mir diese Geschichte nicht viel gegeben hat, würde aber jederzeit ein weiteres Buch von Hawke lesen.

Much like Hawke’s 2021 novel A Bright Ray of Darkness, Ash Wednesday reads like a series of monologues. However unlike ABROD, Ash Wednesday is unoriginal and uninspiring. I would’ve quit if his audiobook performance hadn’t been so enthusiastic.

If you’re curious about Hawke’s writing, skip this and go straight for the 2021 novel - or better yet, the audiobook.

n  ’Will-They-Won’t-They?’ On the Road n

Those au fait with Ethan Hawke’s ‘philosopher groovy syndrome’ breed of intelligent, dreamy slackers in movie roles such as Reality Bites, Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, will find more than a hint of them repeated in this sophomoric tale. The only problem is that, though all those characters are likeable guys with interesting ideas, they might not be the tautest of storytellers.

Army fuckup Jimmy Heartsock finds himself going AWOL to propose to/win back his better half, girlfriend Christy Walker. Christy is thinking it’s time to call it a day at around exactly the same moment she finds herself pregnant. It’s will-they-won’t-they on the road. The narrative is told in first person by both Jimmy and Christy. Though Hawke does an admirable job telling Christy’s side of the story – a woman fond of, but frustrated and reaching breaking point with, her slacker of a fella – it’s the male voice which rings truest throughout. Channelling a beatnik/gonzo 20th Century classics American voice, everything is a sports analogy or a pyrotechnic of some description: Christy has ‘a dynamite ass,’ and a ‘fireball mind,’ sending Jimmy into inferiority about his (insert sports analogy here.)

Generally I did like this novel a lot, but more for the moments it contained than for the piece overall. It’s a very humanist narrative which takes in a lot of the history and flaws of two people who love each other but don’t agree about everything, and are suddenly are trying to decide ‘what next?’

The plot ties in the couple’s interaction (and copious copulation) with the symbolic background of Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. An appearance by a cat named Grace just as one character is seeking the concept of grace is also a little... I’m not sure. I veer between finding it all very clever one moment and finding it too heavy-handed the next.

I found my faith in the book faltered most when Jimmy (who, let’s be honest, is Hawke) is so madly in love with Christy (Ethan Hawke’s then-wife Uma Thurman, perchance?) that she can talk the most faux-philosophical bullshit while consuming a root beer float – and the next few paragraphs will be Jimmy raving about how fantastic, smart and sexy she is, based on what she just said. If the audience hasn’t had the character’s sexiness or intelligence proven to them by what she said/did – the subsequent praise will not add anything further.

Also, Ethan Hawke: I think you’re a lovely guy. In another life I’m sure I would’ve fallen for you in a coffee shop somewhere. But please, when you’re writing fiction as an already a high-profile guy, put a bit more distance between your real life and the ‘fictional’ characters you write. Make Kristy shorter than Uma, give her a different colour hair. Something. When the audience is likely to know a little bit about your love life already; you have to tread carefully and make sure your fictional voice is truly fictional, otherwise it gets distracting.

A good novel, but not fabulous. A lot of interesting moments and observations strung together. Without the name Ethan Hawke to help market it, I doubt it would be in print - but that's not saying much. Also – at the risk of being extremely cruel – I think I’d rather see this filmed by Richard Linklater than read it on the page. Some good cinematography could tighten up/shine over all the dull bits, and bring emphasis to the dialogue which is one of the strongest points.

The book really only starts getting into gear around the halfway mark. It's not badly written but a little too self-indulgent at the start. However, the second half is nice, plot evolves more fluently, observations are held in line. The characters develop a little sluggish for their plain background. They managed to hit their tone for me only in the last quarter really, which is where the book comes to its cinematic development. It's a road trip after all.

Man verfolgt ein Pärchen auf dessen Reise zum gemeinsamen Glück und zu sich selbst.
Der Schreibstil ist meiner Meinung nach etwas besonderes, zumindest habe ich sowas zuvor noch nicht gelesen (abgesehen von den anderen Romanen des Autors). Der Schreibstil verbirgt sehr viele Weisheiten und kluge Gedanken, die einen zum nachdenken anregen und über sein eigenes Leben nachdenken lassen.
Das Buch ist an sich sehr ruhig. Es gibt keine große Spannungskurve, aber man möchte ab einem bestimmten Punkt trotzdem erfahren, wie es mit dem Paar zu Ende geht, sodass man weiter liest.
Es ist interessant zu sehen, wie beide sich entwickeln und sie sich auch zusammen entwickeln.
Entweder man mag solche Geschichten bzw so eine Art von Roman oder nicht.