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A review by bmarchman
Post Office by Charles Bukowski
dark
emotional
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
4.0
I have never believed that you have to love the main character of a book in order to enjoy it. In fact, some of the books that have changed me for the better were those that had protagonists which were terrible human beings. I think that has been the appeal of Bukowski for so long. He is not someone that you would probably want to be related to, or friends with, or really know in reality, but his drunken and gritty stumblings through our society do reveal some things. I think that is the case with Post Office, too.
Chinaski is by all measures a drunk, violent, misogynist who seems to care nothing for the people in his life. But through his warped prism he does raise important questions about modernity and capitalism. His job at the post office and its physical and mental toll over a span of 11 years does not seem much of a far cry from some even more mechanized back-breaking work of today. We cannot help but think of how the blind adherence to deadlines and rules in Chinaski’s time has morphed into today’s surveillance and obsession with workplace efficiency.
In other words, we can hate the guy, hate the fact that Bukowski was probably no better than his character, and still recognize some of the truths that have emerged into the light.
Chinaski is by all measures a drunk, violent, misogynist who seems to care nothing for the people in his life. But through his warped prism he does raise important questions about modernity and capitalism. His job at the post office and its physical and mental toll over a span of 11 years does not seem much of a far cry from some even more mechanized back-breaking work of today. We cannot help but think of how the blind adherence to deadlines and rules in Chinaski’s time has morphed into today’s surveillance and obsession with workplace efficiency.
In other words, we can hate the guy, hate the fact that Bukowski was probably no better than his character, and still recognize some of the truths that have emerged into the light.