Ethan Hawke, "Rules for a Knight"

Ethan Hawke-Academy Award-nominated actor (star of Dead Poets Society through Boyhood) and the co-founder and artistic director of the New York-based Malaparte Theater Company-draws on fables, chivalric codes, and a wide range of Eastern and Western philosophical and literary traditions for his third novel, Rules for a Knight. Set in 1483 on the eve of battle, the narrative takes the form of a letter written by Sir Thomas Lemuel Hawke to his four children; fearing he won’t survive, he leaves twenty virtues to see them through in his stead.
Hawke is in conversation with Margaret Talbot.
Founded by Carla Cohen and Barbara Meade in 1984, Politics & Prose Bookstore is Washington, D.C.'s premier independent bookstore and cultural hub, a gathering place for people interested in reading and discussing books. Politics & Prose offers superior service, unusual book choices, and a haven for book lovers in the store and online. Visit them on the web at www.politics-pr...

[@emlynlewis2830]

infectious charisma, excellent interview. I've loved the movies I've seen with him, especially the Linklater collabs, I didn't know he wrote the "Before" trilogy so this makes me idolise him even more. I also didn't know he wrote books, this being his third already, it makes me intrigued and he's such a good interviewee and storyteller that they must be good novels.

[@demiroezden]

I live in Germany and knew all of it

[@cloroxbleach6344]

Julie Delpy and Richard Linklater co-wrote it with him

[@bigyellowplum]

They are good novels!

[@dinab7852]

I love this man! One of the sexiest, nicest, most down to earth and talented actor and he has one of the coolest names ever just like River Phoenix & Keanu Reeves.

[@hilsmoore1416]

What a good interview! Both Margaret Talbot and Ethan Hawke.

[@Lushy260]

Great interview, he seems so nice

[@mehkhasur]

Loved it !

[@kathyhays2516]

Love him!

[@kellykitkat40]

On pages 30 and 31, is written : There is no dirt in Heaven, and we are here to make the earth as much like Heaven as we can. A knight is the best kind of servant, leaving every space he enters brighter and cleaner than when he arrived. His surroundings reflect his state of mind. ... My thoughts : that passage, sounds like the thoughts of they who work in posh hotels. Clean up a room, and then, to make it cleaner, go away. This, does not sound right. But one should be the brightest thing in the room rather. And whether your presence causes the atoms in your environment to rearrange themselves into a more pleasant arrangement, or not, is not on you. Neither a victim, nor a victimizer be. The emphasis in this passage seems to be on the visual, rather than on the invisible. .. You may make the outward part of a cup clean, but break it, and look inside. Maybe it was only "plated onyx"? .. I like that music video by Billy Idol, Dancing with Myself - that, to me, is being knightly (the attitude, not so much the dancing - for a knight should be a pillar) : With the record selection, And the mirror's reflection, I'm a dancin' with myself.

[@kellykitkat40]

The book contains a lot of references to Eastern philosophy. And hence, the teachings or morals may not be Judaic. The story of the three little pigs - is that Judaism? It seems to be a story that extols the virtue of technology, but Judaism teaches that the Jew is not to put their trust in learned men or chariots. A swordfish may look like a fish but it is still a sword. A passage : Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. - proverbs 23 : 31-32, kjv. That said, Gattica, is one of my favourite movies.

[@rainynight02]

I'm looking for actual rules for knights, and knightly virtues and whatnot. Realizing this wasn't that, I glanced at the comments and thought "this may be worthwhile after all." But halfway through there is little mention about the topic of the video.... Just not for me I guess.

[@craigj.7035]

Maybe cuz that’s the name of the book guy