Charles Bukowski

In what is widely hailed as the best of his many novels, Charles Bukowski details the long, lonely years of his own hardscrabble youth in the raw voice of alter ego Henry Chinaski. From a harrowingly cheerless childhood in Germany through acne-riddled high school years and his adolescent discoveries of alcohol, women, and the Los Angeles Public Library's collection of D. H. Lawrence, Ham on Rye offers a crude, brutal, and savagely funny portrait of an outcast's coming-of-age during the desperate days of the Great Depression.

A Novel

Ham on Rye

Ham On Rye

Kat Albanese

Wagner always wore a grey sweatshirt and grey sweatpants. He had a little pot belly. Something was continually bothering him.

His only advantage was his age. He would try to bluff us but that was working less and less. There was always somebody pushing me who had no right to push. Wagner and my father. My father and Wagner. What did they want? Why was I in their way?

I sat there trying to think of an answer. I couldn't. I said, "No, I wasn't there."

She smiled. "That makes it all the more remarkable.”

I got up and walked out. I began my walk home. So, that's what they wanted: lies. Beautiful lies. That's what they needed. People were fools. It was going to be easy for me.

The autobiographical coming-of-age modern classic by one of the greatest authors of the twentieth century.

Shelby Doherty

Elina Berzina

Irina Nicula

I assume that because I was expecting more from this book I found it slightly anticlimatic. The storyline was not always very clear to me, the book mostly seemed like a gathering of short recollections that didn't always connect with each other, but what saved the book for me was the writing style. I loved it, it was so direct and 'no bullshit' that I found it very easy to read and it made me want to read more from Bukowski even if this book didn't make my favorites list. What I also loved about it was that it made me feel disgust, hatred, anger, pride and in the end pity. It made me realize that too many of the books that I have read have been positive cliches(and I can be a sucker for those) but that can get boring real quick, so in the end, despite the 3 star rating I gave it, I found this book a breath of fresh air.

M. Marques

Lara Engle

_Ham_on_Rye_ gives a spare and spirited rendition of the young life of a tough guy. Henry Chinaski grows up in the midst of the great depression with an abusive ass of a father and a submissive mother. He's left to raise himself. He has reluctant compassion for animals and people who could be described as the others, those people who aren't jocks and aren't intellectuals and really just don't fit in. He fashions himself into a bruiser, a guy the other guys want to fight or want to avoid, and really either one is okay with him.

The beginning of his story was interesting and even amusing, but as he grew older and made increasingly sad choices, my interest waned. His lack of hope and initiative left me as bereft as the blue shorted boxer after Pearl Harbor.

I'm the midst of all the drabness and depression of his life, what I found the saddest was the sameness of it all. Things happen, he goes to school or doesn't, he drinks, he fights, he lusts without reward, and it's still just all the same. He seems basically the same at 22 as he did when he was 9. That lack of growth makes for a weak protagonist, no matter how tough he wants to be.

Erik Wallace

I hadn't read any of Bukowski's work before reading Ham on Rye. I was blown away at how raw and unapologetic his writing is. This book centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, a German immigrant growing up in LA during the depression. From what little I know about the author there are parallels between he and Chinaski and I suspect many of Henry's experiences are autobiographical. I wouldn't recommend this book to easily offended readers, the language, situations and lack of political correctness could be too much. A good book overall but very depressing and honest.

bukowski is a revolting little man but he also slays sometimes

zoe komornick

'The largely autobiographical Ham On Rye is also suprisingly reflective, humane, tremendously evocative and absorbingly readable.' The Times

High Fidelity

Dobar prikaz odrastanja. Bukovski slikovito opisuje oca i društvo sa kojim se susretao u odrastanju,tačnije školovanju.Takodje slikovito opisuje koliko je to isto društvo i mrzeo.

Emmett

Ruthlessly sordid and realist, groping towards the lyrical in the way an artist finds himself.

Likes:
- Very easy to read. Clear, direct language is used throughout. always felt like you could read one more chapter
- Liked the very end where the little boy beats him up in the game. Henry gets some sort of payback even if it is tiny.


Dislikes:
- Could not get into this. Ultimately do not think that this story was written for me as an audience.
- Essentially nothing happens in this story, aside from fighting, family abuse, and fantasizing about girls. I am okay with books that have no real plot but this one also does not have good character development.
- Especially disliked the period of "young Henry". He and his peers were portrayed as too knowledgeable and adult in my opinion. And to one of the other reviewers, no the little girl showing him her panties was neither funny nor cute.
- On top of actively not liking the main character of this book, I feel that the book did not add anything to my life. I did not feel that it went anywhere, I learned anything, nor did I get entertainment out of this book, just frustration and anger at the protagonist/author.
- My favorite part of the story is when it took a deep dive into his acne problem. How exciting! /s

Rohit Gupta

Nicely Done. My second bukowski. His writing seems so natural and from the heart. No wonder the book is named ham on rye and there is no catcher here.

Amanda Wells

This is one of my all time favourite books. 
I don't know if it is necessarily one of the best books I've ever read technically speaking, but the themes, and the clever way it is written collided with an interesting time in my life - and I felt this book like a bomb.

It has been a while since I read it, and I still get choked up and excited when I think about it.
Definitely recommend.

Louise 

hajar

Laura

Charles Bukowski is one of my favorite poets, with both Nirvana and The Crunch (the one from Love Is A Dog From Hell) being two of my favorite poems ever. Yet I have never read one of his novels. I figured his books would be raunchy as all hell, and, needless to say, I'm not a raunchy kind of person. And yet, I found myself strangely enjoying Ham on Rye. There's something about it that drew me in, that same grittiness that was what originally drew me to Bukowski's work. This is not the kind of book one should read if he wants something happy. This is the kind of book for someone who wants to read about a miserable, bitter man who has lost all faith in humanity. Which is a kind of character I've been able to relate with lately. Without getting into specifics, 2017 has been a particularly bad year for me, and this is the kind of book I assume one's enjoyment of it will depend on how much one can get behind the main character. I didn't agree with him on everything, but with enough that I ended up really liking this book. Though I admit, some of it may have to do with my soft spot for the Buk.

Read more like this review on my blog, http://www.bookwormbasics.blogspot.com

Ham on Rye A Novel

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