Wednesday, February 09, 2005
FACTOTUM - Charles Bukowski - Book
.
This novel was written by Bukowski in 1975, it was his second and the first I have read of his works. Factotum is an excerpt from the life of Henry Chinaski, Bukowski's autobiographical character, through the days and long nights he spends drinking cheap whiskey (one of my personal favorites) and port wine...moving from town to town, job to job, woman to woman, drunkenly saturated with dark humor and existential observation of the events of a life lived by a man with no need for a purpose or a denomination. The simplicity of this account is sincere and gives a character to the indolent nature of it's affairs, while not boring the reader with any redundant details one all to often finds in less unique imitations of such novels.
Given the book's autobiographical nature and insomniaic (I may or may not have just made up that word) temperament, it is essentailly pieced together with no central plot enveloping its events, as in real life, so there isn't much more I can convey to you except that it should be read. It serves more as an example, as different perspective on the way the hours pass and how people and investments come and go and should be part of the collection or repertoire of anyone who appriceates contemporary american literature.
...If my comments on this book have prompted your desire to read it (which they should have), all I ask is that you DON'T purchase it at some franchised/corporate bookstore. Show some love to the locals, it's fantastic karma if you're into that sort of thing. Thanks.
# posted by Alyssa @ 11:25 PM 
