Dieses Buch habe ich schon einmal gelesen, vor langer, langer Zeit. Jetzt habe ich es in einem
Bücherschrank gefunden und es war wie „nach Hause kommen“, einige Sätze und Passagen hatte ich noch im Kopf.
Eine Liebesgeschichte über das erste, richtige Verliebtsein und die Tragik des Scheiterns. Aus nostalgischen Gründen habe ich jeden einzelnen Satz von Ethan Hawke genossen und bin „Hin und weg“! Ich werde definitiv weitere Werke des Schriftstellers/Schauspielers lesen!

A lot of people wouldn’t pick up this book after reading who the author is, and with great confidence, they would say that actors should just leave literature to writers. But this is no Paris-Hilton-esque novel of egotism. American actor Ethan Hawke is best known for his lead roles in “Reality Bites,” “Before Sunrise,” its sequel “Before Sunset,” and “Hamlet,” but he decided to make room for one more skill in his biography, and that is writing.

In his debut novel, he sketches the story of William Harding, a young man who had just moved to New York trying to make it as an actor. He then meets Sarah, a songwriter and a singer, in a bar called The Bitter End, and soon the two began a relationship. It might be any other kind of love story, with Hawke portraying scenes from a reality-checked relationship: the obsessive, unhealthy kind of love; the anguish of loss; and the ins and outs of a relationship.

He pens with wit and a poetic, cliche-free style the complicated ways and behaviors of women and how they twist an average man’s mind. He effortlessly but dramatically drags the story of William and Sarah from New York to Paris where they unofficially got married, for after which, William would have to leave for a month’s acting. But when he returns to NYC, Sarah wasn’t the same, confused, and was ready to leave him.

The last chapters evoke how William struggles to deny and then accept this bitter truth, emerge from the downfall, and know his best self in the worst times. While Hawke has written a second novel entitled Ash Wednesday, I think that nothing of his work in the future would ever compare to how personal The Hottest State has made readers feel, with its vividly real characters and heartbreaking yet moving twists.

Quanto è difficile innamorarsi e capire la persona che si ama? Quanto è difficile distinguere i sentimenti presenti da quelli che ci hanno segnato nell'infanzia? Si inizia a leggere e si fa fatica a smettere. Si ama e si odia Sarah, ci si innamora delle fragilità di William. Ci si dimentica che l'autore è un blasonato attore. Merita la lettura.

I loved it.