A challenging read but one with moments of wisdom and insight. The abundance of flaws among the characters stops short, barely, of portraying them as white trash and keeps the threat of tumult and the end of the relationship perilously close to ending at any given moment. It all seems a little more overwrought and melodramatic than it needs to be. Hawke started with the characters he did and set them on the road they followed. It would be interesting to see if he could have told this story in more subtle ways with the challenges to the relationship more existential without the constant threat of broad self-destruction.

Perché non si sente abbastanza parlare di questo libro?
Sono emotivamente sopraffatta dalla sincerità di due giovani che vengono a patto con il processo di crescita e maturazione, che si scontrano con il diventare adulti totalmente incapaci di avere a che fare con se stessi e con le atroci responsabilità di tutti i giorni. Sono sinceri nelle loro paure, nelle loro logiche disastrate, nelle loro incoerenze, nelle loro bugie sottocutanee. Sono sinceri nei loro difetti, nei loro errori, nelle loro incoerenze. E gli infiniti cambi di rotta, i tira e molla, i ti amo e ti odio, i bisogni pensati ma mai detti ad alta voce, i mille fraintendimenti e gli altrettanti piccoli traumi quotidiani.

Ethan Hawke (artista che sicuramente conoscete per via della trilogia cinematografica di Before sunrise, Before sunset e Before midnight) sa come parlare di giovani. Sa dar loro voce in modo estremamente genuino e verosimile, senza false costruzioni o riferimenti generazionali/lessicali poco verosimili. Sa farli parlare come parlerebbero nella realtà, sa esprimere il loro disagio generazionale in maniera limpida e a suo modo delicata, chiara, senza falsi fronzoli e senza luoghi comuni.

Jimmy e Christy sono due post adolescenti che non ne vogliono sapere di maturare e diventare adulti a tutti gli effetti. Lui arruolato nell'esercito per non perdersi nel labirinto senza limiti della propria esistenza totalmente disorientante e senza meta. Lei infermiera in preda a una crisi spirituale che ha paura (ed è incapace) di essere felice.
I due, incapaci di crescere, di capirsi, di accettare le mediocrità della vita e di scendere a patti con essa, si lanciano in un viaggio on the road per "tornare a casa" dopo la scoperta di una gravidanza inaspettata, amandosi enormemente, urlandosi addosso, urtandosi l'un l'altro con i propri intimi e spigolosi silenzi.

Non posso dire che sia bello, brutto, accattivante, noioso ... ognuno avrà un'opinione propria e unica in merito. Che è sincero sì, questo posso dirlo.

I really loved this book, my first of Ethan Hawke, I love Road movie, , and I adored this "road book"n the journey of Jimmy and Chrissy to marriage, true adulthood and parenthood. facing their feelings, their doubts and their dreams. facing their pasts and their longing for praise by her father (for Chrissy) or understanding. I loved the description of New Orleans and the different places. i was living their journey as if I was in a theater watching a movie.
really a wonderful read.

Ethan Hawke has made some interesting movies, and I've watched his chapter of Shakespeare Uncovered on PBS. Now I find that he has some serious writing chops. The young people he created for this story are so believable, their predicament so familiar and their pain and struggle so realistic that they seem drawn from life. I recommend this book.

DNFed at 20%. I couldn't get into it, I couldn't connect to any of it, I don't know exactly why.

3 stars! As you know, I have a soft spot for celebrity-written works...but this one is actually fiction, which piqued my interest even more! I've never read any of Ethan Hawke's work before, but I'm familiar with him (and his family) on the Hollywood scene. I don't know that I'd read "Ash Wednesday" again, because it was just a tad grittier than I usually like my books...but it was good enough as a one-and-done. A good majority of this story happens on the road, which is interesting. It's clear that Hawke has an eye and ear for characters, and the character of Jimmy Heartsock is at the forefront here. Really, this book touches on a variety of topics: army life, feeling directionless, love and relationships, cars, driving, road trips, marriage, religion, basketball...you almost get the feeling that Jimmy is struggling with his mental state, with the constant goings-on about random things. Oh, and we haven't even mentioned Jimmy's near obsession with marriage: specifically to Christy. It's a subject he debates pretty much on every page, over the course of 221 pages. It grated on my nerves a little by the end, and I really wanted him to:
1. Get his shit together
2. Take some anger management courses
3. Show up in an epilogue maybe a couple years on, so I could see for myself how the marriage to Christy turned out.

In the end, Jimmy does try for the first idea. Actually, in his defense, he appears sincere and very earnest. It's just those anger issues...feel borderline stalker-ish at times.

All in all, I liked the book, but I wouldn't call it a particularly uplifting read.

Bello aspetto psicologico

Stick to looking scraggly and hot in movies, Mr. Hawke. This book was godawful.

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.

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.

I LOVED this book. Maybe because it was read by Ethan Hawke. But, I’m telling you. This is a classic.

Again I received this book as a birthday present. It's on par with the first book. At it's heart it is a simple tale, but told in such a way that it keeps your interest. The only reason I gave it 3 stars instead of 4 is because there's a part where he descibes a character as wearing a blue and gold Michigan State sweatshirt. As someone who went to Michigan State I took offence - our colors are green & white - University of Michigan (our main rival) are blue & gold. This mistake is unforgivable so he loses one star.