Ham on Rye: A Novel
by Charles Bukowski
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Read in May, 2008
This is only the second novel I have read by Bukowski. I'm more a fan of his poetry. His poems are like his novels but condensed onto one page so they seem to carry more weight, more truth. His novels are like his poems but spread out over hundreds of pages so they seem a bit repetitive and watered down. The first half of the book was really good, recalling his childhood and abusive family life. The second half of the novel lost momentum as he describes his life after high school which fore...more
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Read in March, 2008
The thing I like about Bukowski is that he doesn't use violence to enforce his moral code. Violence happens, often -- but neither as reward or punishment. The hero loses as many fights as he wins, or more. Good deeds go both unpunished and everpunished because punishment is simply the wrong dimension on which to weigh a good deed. Or an evil one.
Same with sex. It just is - natural and mechanical but not moral or immoral. It just is.
Don't get me wrong, Bukowski's writing has fights ...more
Same with sex. It just is - natural and mechanical but not moral or immoral. It just is.
Don't get me wrong, Bukowski's writing has fights ...more
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Read in April, 2008
After reading "Women" I knew that I had to have more Bukowski. I can relate in so many ways. In this book I related to being a strong kid but being an outsider at the same time. I also related similarily to the acne problems. I didn't have it as bad but still it affected my childhood.
Bukowski writes it as it is. There is no holding back. He blatantly lets you know how he felt about pussy, about alcohol about pain and growing up. It is somewhat of a history lesson as ...more
Bukowski writes it as it is. There is no holding back. He blatantly lets you know how he felt about pussy, about alcohol about pain and growing up. It is somewhat of a history lesson as ...more
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Read in September, 1990
Charles Bukowski is one of my favorite writers. This is one of his best books. It follows him from the age of 5 to his early teens. Heartbreaking and hilarious, this book was written at the perfect time by the man himself--if he had been younger it wouldn't have had the wisdom that it contains---this is probably Bukowski at his finest; all of the foundations for his later life and work are laid here: His father's thuggery, his mother's complacency, the cruelty of his classmates and his rejection...more
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
Angry Teenagers
I understand why angry teenage boys loved Bukowski and why they continue to have such a fondness for him in their adult lives. Really, I do. But I take a couple of issues with this book. First, unlike MY Angry Youth Bible, Catcher in the Rye, it never really goes anywhere. I understand that we are supposed to view Henry Chinaski (the thinly veiled counterpart to the author) as a lost soul who doesn't have any plans himself, but Holden was a lost soul too, and I didn't have to keep flipping throu...more
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Read in November, 2007
Charles Bukowski’s semi (or mostly) autobiographical tale spans from his main character Henry Chinaski’s first remembrance as a child through his college years. As a self-imposed social outcast, Chinaski realizes early in life that the lower class will always be as such, and any attempt to climb the social and economic strata can only lead, at best, to a lifetime of servitude to society’s privileged. Henry rejects the box that he sees society forcing him into (a wife, kids, a mortgage, and...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
Anyone Who Feels Disaffect
For anyone who feels disconnected or disaffected “Ham on Rye” is a great first person coming of age story. The book revolves around Henry Chinaski, Charles Bukowski’s alterego, as he goes through childhood, adolescence and young adulthood, in LA through the Great Depression and World War II. The book ends around 19-20, after Henry graduates High School works a dead-end job and dropping out of community college.
The book is autobiographical material funneled through a fictional char...more
The book is autobiographical material funneled through a fictional char...more
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Read in April, 2008
It was a quick read, a first hand account of an abused child growing up during the depression. I can maybe see the appeal for teenaged boys: it had the same type of humor as the movie "Superbad," with more crudeness and violence added in. However, it was little too adolescent and immature for my taste. The first half was basically potty humor interspersed with moments of Henry either getting into fights or being abused by his dad. The second half described Henry's life of self-loa...more
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recommends it for:
the morbidly curious, anyone who kind of likes Jack Kerouac
I read this book years ago, but most of it still sticks with me. I have a hard time giving it more than three stars because Charles Bukowski is such an asshole. It is also true though that he is an amazing writer. All of Bukowski's work is highly autobiographical (part of being a huge jerk is naricism) and this is his best. It deals with his horribly abusive childhood and adolescence is a way that is honest while pushing away all sympathy, a combination that creates a false intimacy. Reading Ham...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
truth seekers
It is true that Ham on Rye lacks a serious plot. It is also true that Mr. Bukowski writes in a crude, whiskey soaked style. However, the novel makes up for its deficiencies with a well-honed theme on the bullshit realities of middle-class existence and the ugly truth of how our society deals with those who reject that path. Such a novel should necessarily cause the reader to taste a tinge of bile in his or her throat. If you don't finish the book weary and angry, then you missed the point. ...more
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Read in April, 2008
recommended to Tiffoknee the 3rd by:
Linky Dinkrecommends it for: not sure
I read this book on the recommendation of my friend Lincoln. Lincoln could not stop going on and on about how fantastic Bukowski is so I thought I'd give him a go. Of course, Lincoln is also a 23 year-old wet behind the years youngster. Nevertheless, I take book recommendations where I can find them.
Now, I like a good vagina joke as much as the next person, but otherwise, this book didn't leave me very curious or fulfilled. A little too macho for my tastes and I rarely, if ever, reached...more
Now, I like a good vagina joke as much as the next person, but otherwise, this book didn't leave me very curious or fulfilled. A little too macho for my tastes and I rarely, if ever, reached...more
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Read in January, 2006
recommends it for:
everyone
this is my favorite bukowski novel and also one of my favorite novels EVER.
it takes a certain type to appreciate the writing style and humor of c. bukowski. i'm typically anti-convention in general, so it comes as no surprise that i idolize this man.
i wrote a research paper in college about why bukowski's poetry is good. poetry is so hard for me to latch on to because as frilly as writing can be, frilly writing doesn't interest me enough to try and deduce some poetic code. the types of ...more
it takes a certain type to appreciate the writing style and humor of c. bukowski. i'm typically anti-convention in general, so it comes as no surprise that i idolize this man.
i wrote a research paper in college about why bukowski's poetry is good. poetry is so hard for me to latch on to because as frilly as writing can be, frilly writing doesn't interest me enough to try and deduce some poetic code. the types of ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Going into Ham on Rye I was very skeptical, having not liked Women, my only other Bukowski read. After the first fifty pages, I was completely rethinking my feelings about the drunk, vulgar woman obsessed Bukowski.
Ham on Rye gave me reasons as to why He was so F***ed up. Understanding that Bukowski's work is FICTION based on his life, I still felt sorry for the guy. Even if it is all fiction, it must be hard walking around with a mind that can come up with some of those ideas. One examp...more
Ham on Rye gave me reasons as to why He was so F***ed up. Understanding that Bukowski's work is FICTION based on his life, I still felt sorry for the guy. Even if it is all fiction, it must be hard walking around with a mind that can come up with some of those ideas. One examp...more
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In classic Bukowski fashion, this book works as a book of fiction but is painfully autobiographical. It casts shadows along the same archetypes as This Boy's Life, by Tobias Wolffe, but there is a much less forgiving tone in the writings, much less sentimental feel which could come from the distancing of Bukowski through the fictionalization. This book is humorous, dark, and relentless. The main character is mean, ugly, and misogynistic. But still, in all that, there is a pull towards...more
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Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
people who don't have a weak stomach
This was a good, solid book. I love Bukowski's poetry, but I wasn't sure how I'd feel about his novels. I still think I prefer the poetry, the boiled down nature of the poems seems to suit his voice much better, but this novel was still pretty engaging. I mean, I pretty much hated the main character and those around him much of the time, but then there would be some amazing moments of clarity and beauty that were all the sweeter, for their contrast to the rest of the book. And despite the drinki...more
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Read in May, 2008
Fuck. This book made my me want to drink never-ending bottles of red wine the same way my body craved a ton of blow and crystal the first time I watched "Boogie Nights." My first Bukowski read, and I look forward to many others. I felt that the miserable main character was a direct mirror to Bukowski himself, and left no "happy ending" to look forward to from page one. I knew where this was going from the beginning and felt a connection with sad Henry throughout. White p...more
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Read in August, 2007
Bukowski, he was a real "Human Being". His alter ego Henry (Hank) is completely unlike me and yet alike. I identify in the book dozens of real characters I have known. Desperate unseeing adults, status grabbing monsters in both the professions and amongst the children; users and abusers.
Precocious pugnacious kids, predators, in-groups, outsiders, hopelessness, cruelty and random hurt rubbing shoulders in a world full of new beginnings, old pain, glimpsed humanity and moments of wonde...more
Precocious pugnacious kids, predators, in-groups, outsiders, hopelessness, cruelty and random hurt rubbing shoulders in a world full of new beginnings, old pain, glimpsed humanity and moments of wonde...more
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Read in April, 2007
recommended to Blande by:
i love yourecommends it for: those not too sensitive to his mysogonistic proclivities
I finished this book in the best way possible. Highly recommended for any book you fucking fall in love with: walking around the exact same neighborhood that he notes in the book. Purely coincidence, but soooo good nonetheless. I mean you already feel really familiar with the setting, like it's yours. I wished this book would never ever end. I like to absorb his melancholy and malaise. I liked it when he was on the bus with his face wrapped in bandages, and that he felt somehow better or mo...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommended to Henry by:
Jen
It's a good book. I don't know what I'm getting out of it, if anything, but I enjoyed the read. Basically, it's about how fucked up Bukowski's life was— which is to say, a lot. There are moments where he describes the (ahem) adolescent male psyche pretty accurately. There's tons of crude shit in there too that, while funny, can be so goddamn gross— though, I must say, nothing that the American Pie series hasn't touched on. Like I said, dunno what I'm getting out of it, it's an entertain...more
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Read in November, 2007
Charles Bukowski rocks! This was the first book I had read from him. (I had read random poetry and writings of his and liked it.) For people interested in checking him out, I recommend to start at this book as well. He has what I would describe as a "rough" writing style. And it's just freaking hilarious! "Ham on Rye" starts with his counter-ego, Henry Chinaski, as a young boy growing up, causing chaos, and getting into random mischief. The stories he tells from his childhood...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 4.11 (2402 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 4.11 (2075 ratings) number of reviews: 209popular shelves
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"When good shit happens we drink to celebrate. When bad shit happens we drink to forget. When no shit happens we drink to make shit happen."
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