The novel's first pages are filled with overblown emotion and lots of sex. In the Nova, mostly. But for all my stubbornly held expectations, Jimmy and Christie turn out to be interesting, if not profound, personalities. The change begins in a scene in which the 29-year-old Jimmy challenges a teenager to a furious match on a wintry basketball court. Christie watches from the car, fighting her own battle with the cigarette in her hand and wincing as she hears her hot-tempered husband-to-be cursing a 12-year-old.
In those few minutes of sweat and anxiety, both young people start to turn from children to adults themselves. Jimmy wins but returns the $100 the teenager bet him. Christie throws the cigarette out of the window. From then on, the story takes on new momentum.
Hawke has a sharp eye for detail that enlivens the many landscapes of the novel, from Albany to New Orleans. However, to move the plot along he relies heavily on odd characters who pop up when needed: a blind man on the Greyhound bus, an escaped convict, an old, tough-talking priest. The role of these characters is to spontaneously expound on life, prompting Jimmy and Christie, in turn, to do a little soul-searching.
In the end, "Ash Wednesday" is a stirring story when read quickly. If you stop to think hard about what is said, much of the dialogue sounds artificial. If you immerse yourself in the tale, the story roars along like a, well, like a souped-up Chevy Nova. Melissa Scott Sinclair
Murder in the Bayou
In those few minutes of sweat and anxiety, both young people start to turn from children to adults themselves. Jimmy wins but returns the $100 the teenager bet him. Christie throws the cigarette out of the window. From then on, the story takes on new momentum.
Hawke has a sharp eye for detail that enlivens the many landscapes of the novel, from Albany to New Orleans. However, to move the plot along he relies heavily on odd characters who pop up when needed: a blind man on the Greyhound bus, an escaped convict, an old, tough-talking priest. The role of these characters is to spontaneously expound on life, prompting Jimmy and Christie, in turn, to do a little soul-searching.
In the end, "Ash Wednesday" is a stirring story when read quickly. If you stop to think hard about what is said, much of the dialogue sounds artificial. If you immerse yourself in the tale, the story roars along like a, well, like a souped-up Chevy Nova. Melissa Scott Sinclair
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