Banning's review of Ham on Rye: A Novel
Ham on Rye: A Novel by Charles Bukowski
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 a steady, although crappy, job) and chooses instead to drink, write, and fight his way through life, from flophouse to flophouse, working only enough to sustain his meager, meaningless existence. What surprised me, however, was the timelessness of this novel. Although set in the1920s and 30s, Bukowski’s chronicling of Henry’s life focuses on the man more than the era, making it relatable to any boy or man who has ever felt like an outcast or lived, mentally or physically, on the fringes of ...more
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