6.14.2012

Ham on Rye by Charles Bukowski


What a weary time those years were - when you had the desire and the need to live, but not the ability.

This book was on a staff recommendation shelf at Half Price Books awhile back and after reading the synopsis I decided to buy it. I went into it without any expectations, which I've come to learn is the best way to go into reading any novel, really. Ham on Rye is a semi-autobiographical novel of Bukowski's own life, which makes the book all the more fascinating. We follow Henry Chianski, Bukowski's alter-ego, grow from a child into a young man during the Great Depression. It's a coming-of-age novel, but it's quite different from most other novels I've read in that genre. Bukowski's prose is straighforward but powerful, the diction is crude but intriguing. I have to say Henry Chianski is a character I won't soon forget. The majority of his childhood is filled with uncertainty and loneliness and even though he is a prick most of the time, I still wanted him to succeed in life.

This book is not for the fainthearted, as it's soaked with profanities, dirtiness, and violence; masturbation, impromptu trysts in the backseat of abandoned cars, and drunken brawls. About halfway through my reading of Ham on Rye, I actually stopped and thought to myself, there is no way teenage boys think about sex and women's anatomy that much. The subject permeates a good portion of the novel. But it's about more than that; it's about the awkwardness that is adolescence and growing up in a time when there was little opportunity and making the most out of it.
We were the way we were, and we didn't want to be anything else. We call came from Depression families and most of us were ill-fed, yet we had grown up to be huge and strong. Most of us, I think, got little love from our families, and we didn't ask for love or kindness from anybody. We were a joke but people were careful not to laugh in front of us. It was as if we had grown up too soon and we were bored with being children.
In addition, I felt that Bukowski's outlook on life, or at least the outlook he related through Chianski, is somewhat Vonnegut-esque. As Vonnegut stated, "We are here on Earth to fart around, and don't let anybody tell you different," Bukowski writes, "The whole earth was nothing but mouths and assholes swallowing and shitting, and fucking."It's all just a deconstruction of the wonderful beings we believe ourselves to be and a reminder that at the end of the day, we are all human, stinking, sweating, germy people just trying to make it through.

I ended up liking this book a lot, which was actually a bit of a surprise to me. I wasn't surprised in the way that I feel like I'm too good for the book and all this crudeness is just absurd (I actually rather intrigued by it). Instead, I was surprised in the sense that a novel that included such low morals and a lack of a plot could communicate such universal issues that felt so relevant to me. That is what surprised me. But I think we can all relate to coming-of-age stories, not matter how great or how little.

Though the novel isn't super short, it's actually a quick read. Highly recommended.

Publisher: Rebel, Inc, 1982

13 comments:

  1. This book is definitely too gross for me, but I kind of think I need to read it -- expand my horizons -- and since you made it through this and enjoyed it -- well -- that says a lot!

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    1. I mean it's not gross gross just for the sake of being gross. I did get a bit squeamish at parts, but all in all, it's worth it!

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  2. Great thoughts! I think you sum it up quite well. Ham on Rye was my first Bukowski (I then went on to read Hot Water Music, which I didn't enjoy as much). Bukowski led me to John Fante, too, who I'm also glad to have "discovered."

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    1. I haven't heard of John Fante. I need to know more! I think from here I'd like to read The Post Office next, or maybe some of his poetry.

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  3. I went through a huge Bukowski phase in college - mostly his poetry and his short stories. I liked his novel POST OFFICE, about his days working there... but I haven't yet read this one. Thank you for reminding me!

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    1. That's so cool! I'm so happy I came across him, myself. I'm thinking of Post Office next since it's kind of like the next phase of his life. I know it's opposite chronologically though.

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  4. Great review. I haven't read any Bukowski yet but even with a lack of plot and low morals this sounds interesting.

    Also I'm a little afraid however much he talks about sex is how much teenage boys think about it

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    1. Thanks, Alley! I'm pretty sure you would enjoy Bukowski.

      And seriously! The sex! And it's not even really sex as in the act of sex, it's the amount they think about it. They see legs and go off on a tangent about what's in between them...

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  5. I found a copy of Bukowski's WOMEN in a junk box in college and loved/hated it. I later read POST OFFICE, HAM ON RYE, and FACTORUM and liked them much, much more than WOMEN.

    Something I noticed about Bukowski's characters is that they never change. They never grow as a traditional character might grow over the course of a novel. Chianski is who he is and that's it.

    ...and I hate to burst your bubble, but teenage boys think about sex and women's anatomy far more than you could possibly imagine.

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    1. That's a good point about his characters never really changing or evolving. I wonder if that's how he saw himself. Obviously he ended up making it as a writer, but maybe a part of him still felt the same afterward.

      Also, I really had no idea. I guess it's something people always say, that young men think about sex and women a lot, but I really wasn't even exposed to the true extent until now!

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  6. I've had this book on my shelf for the longest time and haven't yet got round to reading it, so thanks for reminding me! I quite enjoy slipping into a male mindset in books sometimes, so, considering your comments, I'd likely read this as a refresher in amongst the books I normally read. And yep, I second the comments above, teenage boys are gross :)

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  7. Welcome to the world of Charles Bukowski. Very gritty, very in your face, very perfect. I adore him so hard!! Glad to hear you liked the read.

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  8. I love Charles Bukowski! Now I have to dig up some of his work because I'm going to think about him for weeks now that you've reminded me!

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