Reviews

Faktotum by Charles Bukowski

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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.

a_ver's review against another edition

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2.0

There is a lot to uncover from this book, but I am definetely not the person to do it. Before reading this book I knew about Bukowski only a little bit, and what I knew was negative - that he was a mysoginist addicted to alcohol - and Factotum prooved that. Even though I find nihilism interesting in a way, it didn't work out for me here.

verapoyraz's review against another edition

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funny reflective fast-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

1.0

d_saff's review against another edition

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4.0

Review posted here: https://55booksin52weeks.wordpress.com/2017/03/19/review-factotum/

erik_gamlem's review against another edition

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3.0

It was after 11pm on a Sunday. My shoulder was broken. Suicide Squad was on the TV so as to distract the voice in my head reminding me of the pain. I hadn't done shit all day. Who wants to do anything when your all messed up. I had 20 pages left to go. I powered through, finishing the book as the Joker kissed Harley Quinn, the perfect Hollywood ending to ensure that a sequel can be financed. What a joke we've become. There may not be a lot of good in a Bukowski novel. In fact it's mostly bad most of the time, but at least Chinaski is an honest piece of shit. You never feel anything for him but contempt, but at least he's true to his misogyny, squalor and laziness.

I'm on to bigger things, brighter ideas. I'm gonna try one of those memoirs by a fat woman named Lindsay West. We can talk about liberation and pride and all that kinda shit in the next one. For now, I am glad I suffered through a book I started over a year ago and can now quietly put it on the shelf with all the other dusty novels. And even though I hate it, as much as I fight it, I know the next day, suffering the injury of an idiot, there is a little Chinaski in all of us. We are all the face of an ass inside. That's what the Buk reminds us of, we're all just miserable. No one can stand us, not even ourselves.