Factotum
 |
| Virgin Press |
Charles Bukowski
1975
Other Bukowski Reviews; Post Office - Factotum - Women - Ham on Rye - Tales of Ordinary Madness - Notes of a Dirty Old Man
“I was a man who thrived on solitude; without it I was like another man without food or water. Each day without solitude weakened me. I took no pride in my solitude; but I was dependent on it. The darkness of the room was like sunlight to me.”
In hindsight I wish I could go back in time and change it so that I'd read through the main novels of Charles Bukowski in the chronological order he wrote them in, just because I'm obsessive compulsive like that. Instead I ended up reading the fourth book starring Bukowski's autobiographical alter-ego Henry Chinaski, Ham on Rye, out of sequence. As the origin story of Chinaski and Bukowski, covering the author's childhood and adolescence, that book was very dark in tone and changed my perspective of Bukowski's work from there on. I couldn't help but think about the relevance of that book when I picked up my thin new copy of Bukowski's second novel, the follow-up to his seminal debut Post-Office. Somewhat against my expectations, what I found with Factotum was a much calmer, much more laid-back novel than I was perhaps expecting, and a novel that follows on from the deadbeat tone of Post Office to expand upon a compelling character shuffling his way through life.
Like Bukowki's later novel Women, Factotum is a book thematically revolving around its title; that is referring to a person who makes a living through a variety of menial, uninteresting tasks- describing this version of Henry Chinaski to a tee. Though Factotum was Bukowski's second book following Post Office, chronologically in terms of the life of Henry Chinaski it's really a prequel to it (and as such a sequel to Ham on Rye). Set in 1944, the novel begins as Chinaski has been rejected from the World War II draft and is estranged from his family (who he tries to reconnect with during the book without success). He needs a job, and is willing to do anything for beer money. Unfortunately for him his personality just isn't cut out for success as a robot, and so he's quickly fired from every pointless job he gets, almost as fast as he gets them. There isn't even much malice in this, Chinaski accepts his fate, moves on, and then does it again.
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It's the repetition-of the plot that made me compare this to Women, but the full-on hedonistic version of Chinaski I saw in that book is still in development here. In Factotum Chinaski is able to hold on to a couple of relationships for far longer than I expect from him, which gave the book a sense of romance. I certainly didn't feel the same sense of distaste I sometimes felt for the character in his treatment of other people, and this lightened the tone. To be fully honest I found Factotum to be more lightweight reading than every other Bukowski work I've read. At barely two-hundred pages it's a short read anyway, but I sped through it faster than I'd expected. In this regard it felt less cutting edge than, say Ham on Rye, perhaps less poignant, feeling more like a continuation of the themes of Post Office than anything particularly new or character-defining. On the other hand, it's probably for the same reasons that I found Factotum to be the funniest Bukowski book yet, as his mastery of one-liners shone through.
It probably coloured my opinion that I watched the 2005 film adaptation of Factotum shortly after finishing the book. In the film, Matt Dillon interprets Henry Chinaski as a very aloof, direct character who flows through his series of hirings and firings without losing his cool. There's a sense of lowered expectations, of submission to the uncontrollable forces of established society which does reflect the book, but seems to fail in capturing the poetic spirit of the character. I did greatly enjoy Factotum as a novel, since Bukowski's mastery of his own down and out prose style is constantly sublime and highly readable, so it's by the author's own standards that I think Factotum isn't quite as good as Post Office, Women or Ham on Rye, as I don't think it expanded upon the character as much. It's still elite quality twentieth century fiction though, since Charles Bukowski is such an incredibly talented writer that it's hard to compare him to anyone but himself.
In hindsight I wish I could go back in time and change it so that I'd read through the main novels of Charles Bukowski in the chronological order he wrote them in, just because I'm obsessive compulsive like that. Instead I ended up reading the fourth book starring Bukowski's autobiographical alter-ego Henry Chinaski, Ham on Rye, out of sequence. As the origin story of Chinaski and Bukowski, covering the author's childhood and adolescence, that book was very dark in tone and changed my perspective of Bukowski's work from there on. I couldn't help but think about the relevance of that book when I picked up my thin new copy of Bukowski's second novel, the follow-up to his seminal debut Post-Office. Somewhat against my expectations, what I found with Factotum was a much calmer, much more laid-back novel than I was perhaps expecting, and a novel that follows on from the deadbeat tone of Post Office to expand upon a compelling character shuffling his way through life.
Like Bukowki's later novel Women, Factotum is a book thematically revolving around its title; that is referring to a person who makes a living through a variety of menial, uninteresting tasks- describing this version of Henry Chinaski to a tee. Though Factotum was Bukowski's second book following Post Office, chronologically in terms of the life of Henry Chinaski it's really a prequel to it (and as such a sequel to Ham on Rye). Set in 1944, the novel begins as Chinaski has been rejected from the World War II draft and is estranged from his family (who he tries to reconnect with during the book without success). He needs a job, and is willing to do anything for beer money. Unfortunately for him his personality just isn't cut out for success as a robot, and so he's quickly fired from every pointless job he gets, almost as fast as he gets them. There isn't even much malice in this, Chinaski accepts his fate, moves on, and then does it again.
It's the repetition-of the plot that made me compare this to Women, but the full-on hedonistic version of Chinaski I saw in that book is still in development here. In Factotum Chinaski is able to hold on to a couple of relationships for far longer than I expect from him, which gave the book a sense of romance. I certainly didn't feel the same sense of distaste I sometimes felt for the character in his treatment of other people, and this lightened the tone. To be fully honest I found Factotum to be more lightweight reading than every other Bukowski work I've read. At barely two-hundred pages it's a short read anyway, but I sped through it faster than I'd expected. In this regard it felt less cutting edge than, say Ham on Rye, perhaps less poignant, feeling more like a continuation of the themes of Post Office than anything particularly new or character-defining. On the other hand, it's probably for the same reasons that I found Factotum to be the funniest Bukowski book yet, as his mastery of one-liners shone through.It probably coloured my opinion that I watched the 2005 film adaptation of Factotum shortly after finishing the book. In the film, Matt Dillon interprets Henry Chinaski as a very aloof, direct character who flows through his series of hirings and firings without losing his cool. There's a sense of lowered expectations, of submission to the uncontrollable forces of established society which does reflect the book, but seems to fail in capturing the poetic spirit of the character. I did greatly enjoy Factotum as a novel, since Bukowski's mastery of his own down and out prose style is constantly sublime and highly readable, so it's by the author's own standards that I think Factotum isn't quite as good as Post Office, Women or Ham on Rye, as I don't think it expanded upon the character as much. It's still elite quality twentieth century fiction though, since Charles Bukowski is such an incredibly talented writer that it's hard to compare him to anyone but himself.
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