50/100 or 2.5 stars

1. Writing: 7. I did enjoy Hawk’s writing style in the story. It’s definitely the strong point of the book.

2. Character Development: 5. The two main characters don’t really change much.

3. Plot: 5. It was kind of boring to be honest. If it weren’t such a quick read I would have DNF’d it due to a lack of interest.

4. Plausibility: 8. Most things in the story seem realistic.

5. Originality: 4. There isn’t all that much in here I haven’t already read many times.

6. Concept/Execution: 4. I think the summary/synopsis isn’t quite accurate. I was hoping for more road trip vibes than I got. There’s a lot of religious aspects to the story that I didn’t really care for, as it didn’t progress the story or feel necessary.

7. World-Building: 5. Some of the chapters felt like they dragged on. I felt like Hawk was speaking through the characters instead of the characters speaking for themselves (if that makes any sense).

8. Atmosphere: 4. Some parts were solid, but I didn’t feel very connected to the places or people.

9. Ending: 6. It was predictable and not very climatic. Not a terrible ending though.

10. Changed Perspective: 2. Eh. Not really. I will give him two points for the effort to make this book deep, however, the multiple forced attempts at depth fall flat.

I'm giving this book four stars because it has believable characters and a fun, obnoxious writing style that successfully reflects the honest passion this book so naturally exudes. The only trouble I had with this book is that the main two characters were clearly based off Ethan Hawke himself and of course his then-wife Uma Thurman. To some this might be an added bonus, but to me it just distracted from the story as I kept trying to ask myself which parts of the fictional relationship were a realistic portrayal of their own marital issues that led to their divorce, etc. Ultimately the story felt too personal/autobiographical for me to find it enjoyable, but it was some great writing.

"People can mean so well and want the same end results and still miss each other by such a cavernous margin. When we fell in love it was like I could only see the gorgeous top part of Jim, but now with the introduction of adversity I could only see his ugly pulsing sinewy underside. I knew they were both true, but I could never see them both at the same time."

I so badly want to not to want to give Ash Wednesday a 5/5 just because it's written by Ethan Hawke, my ultimately revered indie film King. But goddam knowing who he is as an artist, and as a huge fan of his films, I just couldn't help it.

One main reason I tried so hard to convince myself that it doesn't deserve a 5 star rating is that this novel disregards the golden rule, "Show, not tell," when it comes to writing (and filmmaking). And also simply because the whole premise of the story is just plain boring: Two complicated lovers pregnant with their first child, driving across the US as they take the biggest leap in their relationship.

But you see, that is what's on the surface, and that's where I got it wrong. Their driving across states is not just driving for no reason. And a story is never boring with very much unlikeable, but also complicated, intricately layered and ironically eccentric characters. One couldn't just fit them in a box for their sprawling philosophy and stupidly profound éxchange of dialogues. Which reminds me of characters played by Hawke and Julie Delpy with director Richard Linklater in the Before Trilogy (which I *adore* religiously).

Maybe it's just me, but I enjoyed how Ethan wrote the alternating POV of our two main characters, Jimmy and Christy, in a specific parts of the story where it would highlight their vulnerability the most.

It also got me wondering whether or not the tone and stance of characters throughout the book reflect Ethan's core beliefs and values on a more personal level rather than him as a writer simply drawing fiction from other people's real life experiences independent of his own. I'm romanticizing the idea that I got to see him eye to eye, subtly peering in through his mind and soul, just by reading this book. Or maybe I'm just being inappropriately nosy.

Anyway, nothing much really goes on throughout the book. It's a character driven story (and a character study, if you're into that kind of stuff) instead of hooking readers in for a spectacular storyline. Overall, I understand that this novel won't be everyone's cup of tea. But I find Ash Wednesday like a cerebral film on a crisp 200 page-novel format. I freaking loved it.

And yes, if it were a movie I want Richard Linklater to direct it.


******

BTW this concludes my 2020 Reading Challenge aaaaaaaaahhhhh I'm so happy

I didn't like either of the main characters and the story line was boring and unoriginal. Ethan should stick to acting.

So real! Jimmy and Christy could be the couple next door, your parents, or friends. As Jimmy and Christy travel to Texas they make choices, grow, and question their lives. Such a real, heartfelt book full of inspiration and hope.

Tell me, how many Hollywood actors can write novels? Especially ones who are still active in movies? Especially if there is no co-writer beside his/her name?

Ethan Hawke (born 1970) has written two decent novels: The Hottest State (1996) and this book, Ash Wednesday (2002). When these books came out, I was not yet into heavy reading so these did not interest me. But a couple of years back, a member in our Filipinos group here in Goodreads favorably commented on these books so when I saw them in my favorite second-hand bookshop, I bought them right away. Then I realized that it will be Ash Wednesday tomorrow, March 9, 2011 so I finally opened and started reading this book open last Sunday night.

I am not really a Hawke’s fan. However, I liked him in Robin Williams-starrer Dead Poets Society (1989) where he played as one of the students and the first to stand up on the desk in the ending scene. Who can forget how he and the beautiful Julie Delphy talked endlessly but intelligently inside the train in Before Sunrise (1995) and again in Before Sunset (2004)? I also enjoyed watching him in the science-thriller Gattaca (1997) faking his inclusion in that training school where only people of superior genes live. However, what really caught my attention was when he sensitively read Fable of the Mermaid and the Drunks, one of Pablo Neruda’s featured poems in the movie soundtrack of Il Postino (The Postman) (1994). The young man has beautiful mind inside his equally beautiful head so it did not really come as a surprise when I saw that he has also authored two novels.

Ash Wednesday is a gritty love story between an AWOL soldier, Jimmy Heartsock and his girlfriend Christy. With his angst, Jimmy is half-Cauldfeld and with his Catholic beliefs, half-preacher. I thought I would like this character because it seems to be multi-dimensional but when I finally closed the book, it just did not make any imprint in my mind especially with the contrived ending where Jimmy decides to stay in the middle between the two obvious choices. The character of Christy makes more sense not only because she knows what she wants but once she makes a decision she goes for it no matter what the odds are. She does not vacillate unlike Jimmy who, despite being a military man, keeps on changing his mind, refuses to give up drugs, and goes fucking girls left and right.

However, Hawke’s storytelling has a distinct style: straightforward, cocky yet sincere. It does leave you with a feeling that you are taken for another ride just like after closing and finishing a Nicholas Sparks book. It is not at all mushy like how love stories normally are. Some lines are with sprinklers of Hawke’s own brand of philosophical musings that proves his sensitivity and self-awareness as a person. Good thing that those musings do not go overboard so as to give his readers the chance to have a little room for interpretation and draw out conclusions. Had it gone overboard, I would put a comment here that Hawke has that fondness to state the obvious. An example of this is that the book’s ending is set on an Ash Wednesday (time for reflection and prayers) which ends the Mardi Gras (time for merriment, booze, drugs) in New Orleans. Jimmy got incarcerated the eve of Ash Wednesday and got freed the following day which means that he is a new man and ready to face his responsibility as soon-to-be father and husband to Christy.

Despite those weak points, this is still a good read if you are looking for a fresher approach in telling a truthful kick-ass love story. I also had an easy time imagining the characters. I thought of Ethan Hawke as Jimmy and Uma Thurman (to whom he dedicated this novel) as Christy and any of those road-trip American movies and I can say that the book is movie-perfect. Too sad that the movie adaptation of his first novel, The Hottest State did not fly and Hawke is now 41 years old (too old to play Jimmy).

Still, the novelist Ethan Hawke can hold a candle for Nicholas Sparks, that one I can assure you.

Ok so after people kept saying how great of a writer Hawke is, I risked a library loan.
Eh. On one hand, I actually really liked his style and prose. But also, the story never really happens. Both the main characters, while trying to be the "average disillusioned folks of their times", are painfully too ordinary and sometimes annoying and idiotic.
It's literally just two people, that really shouldn't be together but you also don't really care about enough to care, driving across the country having flashbacks of their uneventful relationship. Well written but pointless and dull.

Sprvu kniha pripomína Na Ceste od Kerouaca, vďaka čomu ma prvá polovica knihy veľmi nebavila. Knihy o road tripoch proste nie sú moja šálka kávy.
Je ale zaujímavé, že obaja hlavní hrdinovia sú tridsiatnici a nehľadajú slobodu, ale hľadajú cestu, ako sa vyrovnať s neistotou vo svojich životoch. Druhá polovica ma bavila viac, a páčilo sa mi aj, že Hawke písal jednotlivé kapitoly z pohľadu oboch hlavných hrdinov.

3,5*

This was my first experience listening to an audio book which I only did because it was read by the author. He did an excellent job in differentiating the voices without making it seem too much like a performance.

The book feels old fashioned, like it’s set in the 60s or something, but it isn’t. It’s just a very classic story that can happen any time I guess. Jimmy and Christy are both kind of idiots but it seems like they need each other. I definitely cared for both of them. Hawke writes women very well. His writing is funny and soulful. He balances long, poetic descriptions with stark and crude dialogue. It was fun listening to him bring his story to life.

I might be the only person who preferred The Hottest State to this book. I didn't care too much about these deadbeat characters and their bad choices.

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.

mumblecore v knize, jeden příběh, co skončí dobře i když to tak celou dobu rozhodně nevypadá
začít věřit na dobrý konce je trochu jako vstát z mrtvých