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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I really enjoyed the first half of the book but it started to feel quite repetitive towards the end.
Bukowski is a one-trick pony. But as tricks go, it's pretty good. The bottom line is: if you've read one book by Bukowski, you've pretty much read them all. It's essentially the same story of a dirty old man, a bastard drunk misogynist, who hates work and likes booze and women with fat arses (even though he's supposed to be in his twenties). And that's one of the main problems with his books, they're all written from a later perspective, when he actually was a dirty old perv, and so they struggle to evoke any real sense of him being a younger man (with the possible exception of Ham on Rye where he manages to elevate the quality of the writing). So you're basically saturated in middle-aged cynicism, bloatedness, and whiskey from the word go. And it's actually very entertaining.
But like I said, you've read one, you've read them all. Had I read this one first, I might have liked it a lot more but because I read Post Office, Ham on Rye, and half of Women (before getting bored halfway through), this one really did start to feel like more of the same. It's always easy to read, occasionally funny, always disgusting, and soaked in endless body fluids and wasted living. Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, goes from city to city, from dead-end job to dead-end job, from skanky whore to skanky whore. There are times when it's almost too absurd (such as the unrealistic boat sex with two women) and times when it's just a series of wasted experiences and relentless bleakness. The only part that has any romance or hope is his desire to be a writer, the section where he gets a short story accepted being a genuine moment of uplifting promise. Later to be followed by more drinking and downtrodden despair.
It's fun to read but ultimately nothing spectacular. My only major gripe is that he always says 'awakened' and never woke up. "I awakened this, I awakened that." Got on my nerves after a while but anyway... At the end of the day, all of Bukowski's books are essentially one long life story told in increments. This part was less interesting to me than the others. But as always, it's a life that feels lived, full of bland normal nothingness and disappointment, escapist binge-drinking, whores, and horse racing. It's hard not to like him. It's hard not to feel for sorry for him.
But like I said, you've read one, you've read them all. Had I read this one first, I might have liked it a lot more but because I read Post Office, Ham on Rye, and half of Women (before getting bored halfway through), this one really did start to feel like more of the same. It's always easy to read, occasionally funny, always disgusting, and soaked in endless body fluids and wasted living. Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski, goes from city to city, from dead-end job to dead-end job, from skanky whore to skanky whore. There are times when it's almost too absurd (such as the unrealistic boat sex with two women) and times when it's just a series of wasted experiences and relentless bleakness. The only part that has any romance or hope is his desire to be a writer, the section where he gets a short story accepted being a genuine moment of uplifting promise. Later to be followed by more drinking and downtrodden despair.
It's fun to read but ultimately nothing spectacular. My only major gripe is that he always says 'awakened' and never woke up. "I awakened this, I awakened that." Got on my nerves after a while but anyway... At the end of the day, all of Bukowski's books are essentially one long life story told in increments. This part was less interesting to me than the others. But as always, it's a life that feels lived, full of bland normal nothingness and disappointment, escapist binge-drinking, whores, and horse racing. It's hard not to like him. It's hard not to feel for sorry for him.
The phone rang. It rang several times before I could struggle out of bed and answer it.
"Mr Chinaski?"
"Yes."
"This is the Times Building."
"Yes?"
"We've reviewed your application and would like to employ you."
"Reporter?"
"No, maintenance man and janitor."
funny
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I would love to be alone with the protagonist and slap him around, knee him in the groin, and scratch up his face, but he’d probably like it and muse on my body shaking with each hit.
I do like themes of degeneracy and baseness, but this was shapeless. Exhausting to get through, hehe. I’ll probably still read post office.
I do like themes of degeneracy and baseness, but this was shapeless. Exhausting to get through, hehe. I’ll probably still read post office.
I had a mild Bukowski phase in high school, instead of an emo phase, and I know the latter would have been better for me. But I digress. This is fine. I read too much of him when I was 17 and now anything by him makes me think of that anxious, closeted bastard (me, for those of you giving me the benefit of the doubt). this could be called
The American Nightmare, maybe. or The horror of the mundane. A decent & miserable little book.
The American Nightmare, maybe. or The horror of the mundane. A decent & miserable little book.
I enjoyed reading the chapters but didn’t like the ending, I get it but I wasn’t satisfied by it. Probably the point
“My ambition is handicapped by laziness.”
Henry Chinaski - the author’s fictional alter-ego - is a general factotum, an alcoholic, and an oddly likable kind of asshole. Bukowski’s writing is so good, but very brash, crass, and sometimes pretty offensive, so definitely not for everyone.
Henry Chinaski - the author’s fictional alter-ego - is a general factotum, an alcoholic, and an oddly likable kind of asshole. Bukowski’s writing is so good, but very brash, crass, and sometimes pretty offensive, so definitely not for everyone.
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes