Factotum | Charles Bukowski | Brilliant. Buy this book and borrow it to you friends.

Factotum | Charles Bukowski | Great Tour of Bohemia

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Factotum

	Factotum Charles Bukowski Ecco, 2002 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 66 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

One of Charles Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to another, always needing money but never badly enough to keep a job. His day-to-day existence spirals into an endless litany of pathetic whores, sordid rooms, dreary embraces, and drunken brawls, as he makes his bitter, brilliant way from one drink to the next.

Charles Bukowski's posthumous legend continues to grow. Factotum is a masterfully vivid evocation of slow-paced, low-life urbanity and alcoholism, and an excellent introduction to the fictional world of Charles Bukowski.

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Brilliant. Buy this book and borrow it to you friends.

This book, might turn people off in it's simplicity. But that's what Charles Bukowski novels are all about. A day in the life feel of a wandering man. Take it or leave. I loved it.

Great Tour of Bohemia

I just finished rereading Women two days ago and rebreezed through Factotum today. Between the two it's hard to say which one I enjoy more. The one thing for certain is that Factotum is a not-so-guilty pleasure. For L7 square types like me, it's fun to careen through Bohemia atop the words of Bukowski. He may not be the world's greatest writer, but his works are consistently a good time and incredibly engaging. These joyous and tragic remembrances of his time coming up are a wonderful diversion from daily life--especially for those of us too cowardly to live in harmony with our convictions. Concerning the film adaptation, which included scenes from three short stories as well, I think Matt Dillon did an excellent job. I realize some folks didn't like him as Buk but I thought he pulled off the role exquisitely. In my view, a great book and a ton of fun.

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A Tour of Bohemia

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The novel as photo album

The temptation when reading any of Bukowski's stuff is to look for heavy-duty meaning in it. So the advertizing blurb for the screen version of Factotum, for example, describes the film as "the story of a man living on the edge, of a writer who is willing to risk everything to make sure that his life is his poetry" (Ah, Hollywood!).* Or a reader disenchanted with the ratrace might see the novel as an indictment of cultural alienation. And then there's the old standby: Bukowski's novels are absurdist dramas that underscore the deep meaninglessness of life.

All of these are interesting and maybe even (for all I know) valuable interpretations. But it's pretty clear that Bukowski isn't concerned about such things. He wants to provide worded snapshots that give viewers glimpses into his life. The anti-hero of this novel (as of his other novels), Henry Chinaski, roams from job to job with the same lack of direction and abruptness that pre-fame Bukowski (except for his ten-year stint in the post office) did, all the time (again, like Bukowski) belting down too much rotgut wine, freeloading on too many women, and furiously writing between benders and hangovers.

The value of Bukowski's snapshots is their incredible, sometimes off-putting honesty. There's absolutely no romanticization in his depiction of Henry's picaresque anti-adventures. Within just a few pages, you can unpleasantly smell the sourness of Henry's grimy boarding rooms and his cheap booze. Bukowski gives us nothing about him to admire, or even to pity. He simply is who he is, and Bukowski seems to want us to take him as such. At times Bukowski suggests disdain for the bosses who fire Henry, or the poor 9-to-5 stiffs who live most of their adult lives at jobs they hate. But when it comes to writing about Henry, Bukowski gives nothing away, neither approval or disapproval. And this makes Henry, for all his distastefulness, utterly, uncomfortably, real.

When you think about it, this is a lot better than some deep philosophical message. Philosophical messages are a dime-a-dozen. Fiction with the immediate clarity of a photo album is rare.
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* This despite Bukowski's repeated repudiation of the starving artist myth.

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