Absolutely loved it! A beautiful perspective of an introvert child who could see the real face of the world, up young, and sunder out all the bullshit that one has to go through growing up. The coming-of-age story is basically all the thoughts we had as we were forced to take that bandwagon to adulthood.
It was amazing to read Bukowski’s alter-ego Henry Chinaski’s take on the world. It had elements of his childhood and how tough things were for him, how things shaped him into what he became and how difficult and different life treated him. Henry’s ability to see the pointlessness in everything so young is the biggest USP that Ham on Rye has to offer.
There are instances in the book where you could relate with the protagonist, and couldn’t help but agree to his viewpoint. The way he saw the world with his eyes is something he offers herein, and it’s bold and ballsy, unafraid of what his readers might think. Typical Bukowksi!
Instances like these:
“Suppose the neighbors find out? What will the neighbors think?”
They never spoke to their neighbors.
or
“The first children of my age that I knew were in kindergarten. They seemed very strange, they laughed and talked and seemed happy. I didn’t like them.”
They knock you out of the park. The placement of such contrasting sentences makes you stop all the reading and mull over what you have just read.
It is hard not to love a child’s innocent thoughts. The way Henry believed that pooping brought people back to the earth, that since everyone pooped, they were all equals. With such coarse talks, he ridicules at the pretentious world that tries its level best to be something else. No one is above each other, everyone is dirty.
The saddest segments in the book are holed up at the beginning where Henry faces a rough childhood, exasperated by his father. Punishments were meted out without any logic and it breaks your heart a dozen times knowing that there was no one around to hold the poor child and show him, love. Chinaski is a product of hell, and you couldn’t help but feel sorry for him. He endured something so horrible that living those moments through the book give you a heartache. At the same time, let’s not forget his attitude towards life that balanced, and righted all the wrongs. It gives you immense joy knowing that he survived all of that without batting an eye.
It is hard not to marvel at the way his chapters end, sometimes choking you with a profound thought or a word that sends you spiraling down a rabbit hole, sometimes so innocent that you can’t help feel sorry for a child – the way he thinks, the way you used to think at some point in your timeline. It is both powerful and shattering.
Bukowski was never afraid of admitting the truth. His honesty was excruciatingly savage. Could be infuriating for some, but that’s how he was and chose to live. The book has it aplenty. I loved how he wasn’t afraid of talking about the women in his life, of the precise thoughts he had about them, and the balls to say what he felt like whenever he felt like. He didn’t restrain his head like others, something we should aspire to be. Try to sell, what we really are.
His outlook about money – the material world of which he wasn’t really psyched about, knocks at our door the following question – Why are we really after it? If it isn’t about just eating and sleeping, why bother?
A highly recommended book, probably the best of Bukowski’s writings. One should definitely read this. If you are a Bukowski fan, get your hands on it at once.