Post Office

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So I agree this book isn't funny, there are no thought through jokes, they were never meant to be written down on paper and told in a microphone for a well-dressed crowd, the world simply shoved situations in his face and he decided to laugh. Jokey indeed, and well done, Bukowski has you laughing with him. Iyer, Pico (June 16, 1986). "Celebrities Who Travel Well". Time. Archived from the original on March 16, 2008 . Retrieved April 28, 2010. The streets were full of insane and dull people. Most of them lived in nice houses and didn’t seem to work, and you wondered how they did it. There was one guy who wouldn’t let you put the mail in his box. is it just me, or does reading bukowski make you want to listen to tom waits, too? finished post office last night and this morning listened to small change on the train. here are the opening lyrics to I Can't Wait to Get Off Work (And See My Baby on Montgomery Avenue):

The closing lines of Post Office are as brilliant as the opening and one gets a sense here that this was Bukowski speaking through Hank again, during a life-affirming moment:

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A few critics and commentators [38] also supported the idea that Bukowski was a cynic, as a man and a writer. Bukowski denied being a cynic, stating: "I've always been accused of being a cynic. I think cynicism is sour grapes. I think cynicism is a weakness." [39] Poetry editorial controversy [ edit ] Henry Charles Bukowski (born as Heinrich Karl Bukowski) was a German-born American poet, novelist and short story writer. His writing was influenced by the social, cultural and economic ambience of his home city of Los Angeles.It is marked by an emphasis on the ordinary lives of poor Americans, the act of writing, alcohol, relationships with women and the drudgery of work. Bukowski wrote thousands of poems, hundreds of short stories and six novels, eventually publishing over sixty books Tropes show how literature is conceptualized and created and which mixture of elements makes works and genres unique: The Volcano Choir song "Alaskans" features a recording of Bukowski reading a poem on French television. [47] We’re forced into absurd lives, against which the only sane response is to wage a guerrilla operation of humor and lust and madness"—Chinaski/Bukowski

Michael Nordine, "Best L.A. Novel Ever: John Fante's Ask the Dust vs. Charles Bukowski's Post Office, Round 1," LA Weekly, November 2, 2012.

The punk band Hot Water Music took their name from Bukowski's 1983 collection of short stories, Hot Water Music. Ecco Press continues to release new collections of his poetry, culled from the thousands of works published in small literary magazines. According to Ecco Press, the 2007 release The People Look Like Flowers at Last will be his final posthumous release, as now all his once-unpublished work has been made available. [33] Writing [ edit ] If you are not successful in your personal life, If you are frustrated with your job and if you don’t have anything going for you and you want to see the downfall of Henry Chinaski then please read Post Office by Charles Bukowski. Because of the author’s willingness to use coarse language we get some original one-liners like “Moto was grinning from eyebrow to asshole.” And “I got drunker and stayed drunker than a shit skunk in Purgatory.” He also has an original opening sentence “It began as a mistake.”

If you're looking for flowery, intricate prose and a happy ending, then you certainly won't find that here. Instead, you'll find a disjointed prose, which is achingly blunt, slightly nasty, but most of all; it's real, and that is the main selling point of this novel. I mean, nobody likes it sugar-coated, do they?

La differenza tra dittatura e democrazia è che in democrazia prima si vota e poi si prendono ordini, in dittatura non dobbiamo sprecare il nostro tempo andando a votare. Our main guy, Chinaski, is little more than a drunk womaniser, but the story which he tells about his time in the postal service, his drinking escapades, his sexual conquests and the woes of everyday life, are completely fascinating. Despite everything, the story shows the reader than Chinaski is not immune to the feeling of pain and sorrow, and honestly, you feel sorry for the guy before the end. Then there's the other part "and sad". And sad. At the end of the sentence, like it's an afterthought, the feeling you're left with when all the others have come and gone. It's so simple, no fancy word, no 'sorrowful', no 'endlessly depressing'. It's sad. Like that. There's not a damn thing you can do about it, it's the way it is. It won't make you cry, but it will make you feel like drinking.