Ham on Rye

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Ham on Rye is a 1982 semi-autobiographical novel by American author and poet Charles Bukowski. Written in the first person, the novel follows Henry Chinaski, Bukowski’s thinly veiled alter ego, during his early years. Written in Bukowski’s characteristic crude, straightforward prose, the novel tells of his coming-of-age in Los Angeles during the Great depression.

Contents 1 Setting 2 Protagonist 3 The Chinaskis 4 Critical Reception 5 References

[edit] Setting

Like his previous works, Ham on Rye is set in Los Angeles, where the author grew up. Los Angeles is not painted in any kind of wonderful or strange light. Instead, Bukowski keeps his descriptions of it grounded in its reality, paying more attention to the people that make up Los Angeles than to the city itself. This type of description does not venerate or idealize the city, a contrast to other so-called "Los Angeles Novels."^[1] Scenes outside of Los Angeles show Henry as an intruder, as with an early scene where he and his family are chased out of an orange grove.^[2]

[edit] Protagonist

Like his previous autobiographical novels, Ham on Rye centers on the life of Henry Chinaski, this time during his childhood and teenage years. Throughout the course of the novel, Bukowski develops his misanthropic anti-hero character that is seen in his other works like Post Office and Hollywood. Chinaski, growing up poor in Los Angeles during the Great Depression, is shown growing into a sarcastic, womanizing loner. This stems in large part from an abusive home life run by his father. He becomes alienated from the children at school, first by his inability to play sports, then by disfiguring acne. Henry has been compared to both Frankenstein's monster and Kafka's Gregor Samsa, because of his alienation and outcast resulting from his "monstrous" appearance. ^[3] Henry often resorts to violence when confronted with those who alienate him, giving him a tough guy image to his peers. However, he rarely is completely confident with his own abilities and often second-guesses whether he can win.

[edit] The Chinaskis

Like Henry, the rest of the Chinaski’s are modeled after Bukowski’s own family. For example, Henry’s parents, like Bukowski’s, had met in Germany after World War I.

• Emily Chinaski. Henry’s grandmother on his father’s side. The beginning of the novel starts with Henry’s earliest memory of his grandmother; she would proclaim “I will bury all of you!” Other than that, Henry’s best memory of visiting her home involves him and his parents leaving to go visit his grandfather who does not live with Emily. Later, she appears with a crucifix to rid Henry of "the devil" causing his acne.
• Leonard Chinaski. Henry’s grandfather, separated from Emily. Though Henry’s father admonishes Leonard for being a drunk (his breath stinks of alcohol), Henry remembers Leonard as a beautiful man. When Henry meets him for the first time, he gives Henry a gold watch and fake German medal. ^[4]
• Henry Chinaski, Sr. Henry’s father. A German American soldier after World War I, Henry’s father met his mother overseas in Germany, where Henry, Jr. was born. At the beginning of the novel, Henry, Sr. works as a milk man. He is an utterly harsh and cruel man who physically and verbally abuses his son from a young age. He also physically abuses his wife Katherine, particularly after she catches him cheating on her with a woman on his milk route. Henry, Sr. regards the rest of his family, particularly his brothers John and Ben, with disdain. He often disparages them for being alcoholics and womanizers, two traits his son would later develop. At the onset of the Great Depression, he loses his job but continues to spend the day driving around to appear to the neighbors as if he was still employed. His son gets more jaded to his abuse as time goes on, and the two become openly hostile towards each other by the tail end of the novel. Eventually, Henry, Sr. throws his own son out of the house after finding Henry’s short stories.
• Katherine Chinaski. Henry’s mother. A native German, she met and married Henry’s father in Germany post World War I. A contrast to Henry’s father, Katherine is a loving mother, though she is subjugated by Henry, Sr.’s abuse. Henry initially resents his mother for not saving him from his father’s wrath, but later comes to regard her as another victim like himself. Though often disappointed with how Henry lives his life, she really loves him and often displays a confidence that Henry will better himself. Her love for her son is perhaps best shown when she warns Henry that his father found his stories. Like her son, she eventually calluses to Henry, Sr.’s abuse, shown in the novel by her disregard of his later tirades.
• Ben Chinaski. Henry’s uncle. Ben is only present in chapter three, and like Leonard, Henry remembers him as “a very handsome man… he had dark eyes which glittered, were brilliant with glittering light.” Ben is 24 and lives in a sanitarium because he is dying of tuberculosis. Despite this, Henry’s father treats Ben with open hostility, ridiculing him for his debauchery. Ben takes it in stride, paying more attention to Henry and Katherine. ^[5]
• Anna Chinaski. Henry’s aunt through marriage to John Chinaski, Henry, Sr.’s brother. In chapter four, Anna appears an abandoned wife with two children, all three on the brink of starvation. Her husband has been gone quite sometime, leaving Anna and the children penniless. Like his regard for Ben, Henry’s father doesn’t cease to belittle his brother or make light of Anna’s situation. He claims that John is wanted for rape (whether this is true or not is uncertain) and that he’ll come back “when he’s tired of the hens.” Like Ben, Anna treats Henry’s father coldly and pays more attention to Katherine, who brings her food for her children. ^[6]

[edit] Critical Reception

Ham on Rye is largely considered by critics as one of Bukowski’s best books, intended as a sort of reply to Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger.^[7] As one critic said, “Bukowski is often good but in Ham on Rye he’s great.”^[8] The question of how much in the book is fact or fiction has been brought up by critics. Considering that Ham on Rye was published in 1982, when Bukowski was 62, calls into question the truthfulness of some of his accounts, especially those dealing with his early childhood. Some critics have pointed to a scene where Henry writes a fake account of a presidential speech which later becomes his impetus for becoming a writer as a fabrication.^[9] Academic critics have been largely silent on Ham on Rye like most of Bukowski's works, despite the fact that many see him as a model for the downtrodden.

[edit] References

• Publisher: Black Sparrow Books (September 1, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN 0-87685-558-3