Post Office

Rating:
Summary: Ambivalence in Bukowski
Review: Frankly, I was expecting a bit more from this book. I had read a some of his short stories and heard like-minded people as myself rave about this book. Although the book was a quick, fun read, I walked away with little. Bukowski is a realist, but in this book, I feel he is a realist, lacking justification. I want to know the why's and the how's. Bukowski tells us the what's. Perhaps I am asking for too much. But I think not. I think this could have been a powerful book, but it seemingly falls short. I expected more from the writing itself as well as the story.

Rating:
Summary: How many of us have been there before?
Review: A good quick read - Bukowski flows, very conversational. Anyone who's ever had a McJob will recognize many of the beaurocratic pinheads and pointless regulations with which Henry has to contend. This was my first taste of Bukowski beyond his poetry, and I was dubious as to whether he could sustain a narrative for 100+ pages - turns out there was ne need to worry - his prose is just as raw and engaging as his poetry.

Rating:
Summary: Bukowski has talent, there is no disputing this.
Review: While it is very much the norm in modern literature to focus on the self as the central theme of the writer's work, the novelist choses this motif at his own peril. Bukowski's grasp somewhat outstrips his reach; this is because his talent to describe a reality is so much more powerful than the material that he chooses to create that reality. Very few writers since Hemingway can set the scene and paint the stage with such remarkable economy of the written word. I see the main difference between a great writer and a good one (and Bukowski is a very good one)is the scope and breadth his material. But Hemingway's world was much larger while Bukowski binds himself too closely in his nutshell. He takes us into strange fields filled with enchanting flowers, only to describe, in breathtaking detail, a blade of grass. Bukowski's fearless approach to truth as a writer comes from (what one can only assume) is his relative poverty as a human being...however well he reveals to us in this novel the transcendental beauty of his blade of grass, we long to be able devour the scents and absorb the sunlight which we can only sense is just outside the writer's realm of experience.

Rating:
Summary: Burning in Stamps, Drowning in Third-Class Junk Mail
Review: This was my first introduction to Charles Bukowski. Hank tells you where it was at with the Terminal Annex Post Office in L.A. You can smell the whisky, sweat, and agony directly from the pages of the book. Raw, pure, and honest.

Rating:
Summary: The more things change....
Review: A must read for all postal workers. Although it was written over thirty years ago, the absurdity of the system has not changed. For anyone considering a career job, read it! You will be having nightmares over scheme training. It's a one night read, just make sure you have six beers to add to the mood.

Rating:
Summary: GReat
Review: This is early Bukowksi, his first novel, so its fresh with experience and insight. Wonderful, and funny. What's great about it is that its so easy to read, yet profound at the same time, really good.

Rating:
Summary: Bukowski's best, and that's not easy
Review: This novel is Bukowski in a nutshell; finding the beauty in life even when it is hidden in the ugliest of situations. The ending of this novel is the best part, despite what other reviewers have suggested, and those final two lines are a microcosm for the book and for Bukowski himself. I agree whole-heartedly with those who say that Bukowski is no Ginsberg, and add, THANK GOD.

Rating:
Summary: Bukowski rules bathroom reading
Review: buk bullseyes his desired target. he's the best

Rating:
Summary: Hank Chinaski - Everyman
Review: If you are chewing on life's gristle, read this book... "Many a good man has been put under the table by a woman." -Hank Chinaski (not from Post Office, but vintage Bukowski nonetheless).

Rating:
Summary: Almost perfect!
Review: I liked everything in the book except the very last two sentences because it wasn't needed. I would have given it the full five stars, but, unforutnately, not. Anyway, I loved the book, and plan on reading it again and again...