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donnaadouglas's review against another edition
3.0
The central character is like an older, more degenerate Holden Caulfield. This book should be compulsory reading for any kids wanting to drop-out of education. A humorous read, but incredibly depressing when you think about it.
tessa_del's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
hhcharlesb's review against another edition
3.0
La visión de Bukowski sobre la otra América, la sombra que no se exhibe, a Chinaski no lo admiten en el ejército y deambula entre trabajos pésimamente pagados y su búsqueda inconstante de ser escritor, me gusto la descripción de los bajos mundos de Los Ángeles y diversas ciudades norteamericanas en ocasiones es muy repetitivo, si se muda, consigue un empleo y pierde ante el alcohol, desgrana bien algunos problemas de la sociedad en el 44.
bonsai_leaf's review against another edition
4.0
You will hold this book in one hand and shake your fist with the other, as Bukowski's stellar writing does not aim to hide his rotund selfishness.
briandice's review against another edition
4.0
"What kind of job you looking for?"
"Stockboy, shipping clerk, janitor."
The denizens of Bukowski's fictional world encompass the marginalized chaff of mid-20thcentury America. Barely a step ahead of abject vagrancy, Bukowski's protagonist and alter-ego Henry Chinaski is the everyman of our species comfortable asking the bare minimum of this world.
When you drank the world was still out there, but for the moment it didn't have you by the throat.
Chinaski's story isn't pretty, but Bukowski isn't concerned about offending a reader's middle-class American sensibilities. If the reader comes to this text with our typical baggage: work issues, money problems, familial strife - Chinaski's search for his next drink and fuck can be jarring. It's a credit to Bukowski's genius that he can make a character and not a caricature.
How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?
sofiamarielg's review against another edition
4.0
Factotum is one of my favorite Bukowski works so far. The storytelling is dazzling (albeit in a grimy, gut-churning way), pulling you along state lines with nearly every chapter. Even though he can be so despicable, you root for Henry Chinaski because he seems like the type of person who truly knows himself in this calm, assured way. Thus, no matter how badly he fucks up or how deep he digs himself into the gutter, he'll come out of it through one of his old tricks. What I love about Bukowski is that he makes you care about the type of people who are often discarded, or not even noticed at all. He depicts their lives in such an honest, unflinchingly measured way that you feel as if you have lived those lives, too. It's escapist literature, though he takes you to places that, without him, you wouldn't have realized were worth going to in the first place.
colinhdempsey's review against another edition
3.0
Factotum, a book dedicated to the boys, for the boys.
maxstone98's review against another edition
4.0
This book was basically like being immersed inside a very different person, one that you don't particularly like but you are still intrigued with how different his experience of the world is. Basically he doesn't care about anything, he's the least introspective person you can dream of, there's never any point where he actually thinks about what is happening or has happened, he's always just plodding directionlessly into the next thing that happens (which is usually pretty similar to the last thing that happened, the book is mostly a long series of short menial jobs).
there are occasional hints that at times he cares about something (he wrote a lot of stories and submitted them to magazines) but even then he's just kind of dashing something out, not looking back, trying to not care so he can not be disappointed (that's my interpretation; he certainly doesn't look at it that way).
People I discussed it with were annoyed that the same thing kept happening, there was no plot and no ending, etc. that is basically the point though, and personally I thought that the book was short enough and engagingly written enough that I didn't have a problem with it that way. In general I liked the spare writing style.
there are occasional hints that at times he cares about something (he wrote a lot of stories and submitted them to magazines) but even then he's just kind of dashing something out, not looking back, trying to not care so he can not be disappointed (that's my interpretation; he certainly doesn't look at it that way).
People I discussed it with were annoyed that the same thing kept happening, there was no plot and no ending, etc. that is basically the point though, and personally I thought that the book was short enough and engagingly written enough that I didn't have a problem with it that way. In general I liked the spare writing style.