Ash Wednesday - T. S. Eliot

Advantages: Not your average sickly-sweet Victorian novel. Has passion!
Disadvantages: Long!

...In Middlemarch, George Eliot represents herself as writing a novel about a close semi-rural community, but in fact transcends this framework to concentrate on social and political questions that eventually propel her forward as one of the great dialectical writers of the Victorian era. Eliot's excitement and interest fails to be ignited by the gossip and politics of rural life, and her amused contempt, vacillating from the cynical to the scathing when describing the locals of Middlemarch points to the fact that Eliot requires intellectuals to act as the protagonists in her epic in order that her writing does not entirely descend into irony and condescension. Therefore, since Eliot seems not to be writing about the society of Middlemarch itself, the novel coheres, on the theme of marriage, and it is here that the disparate points... Read review

Ciao members have rated this review on average somewhat helpful

Advantages: Almost a good book
Disadvantages: Shallow narrative and two dimensional characters

...Ash Wednesday - Ethan Hawke I bought this on whim when I was recently stocking up on books for my daily commute. I had no idea that Ethan Hawke was now writing books but was swayed by the cover art and blurb and was intrigued to see the kind of work he was putting out. Pretty thin reasons for buying a book but there you go. Here's what I thought. As an actor Hawke has been around for many years now, first coming to prominence in the saccharine Robin Williams blub fest that was Dead Poet's Society. Since that time he has appeared in many Hollywood films of varying quality but has managed to build himself a solid reputation as a semi-serious thesp. As an author he published his first novel, 'The Hottest State', in the late nineties and followed it several years later with 'Ash Wednesday'. 'The Hottest State' is a tale... Read review

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Advantages: Excellent to study, brilliant to read
Disadvantages: Snobbery, too many allusions?

...I have to admit, I LOVE T.S. Eliot. He manages to create something magical with words, taking something very ordinary and twisting it in such a way that is perplexing and charming. The Waste Land is a bit of a mammoth of a poem, but takes you on a journey through despondency, hope and suffering, and is a must-read, taking up the Holy Grail Legend in a new light. His characters throughout are often depressed souls, whose lives have little purpose, and he tries to show you how spirituality can be your salvation from average, routine, mundane life. At times, however, Eliot loses us with his allusions to texts from all walks of history and cultures, which take some time to pick through; a result of his thorough education and snobbery.... Read review

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