Brian’s Comments (group member since Nov 24, 2009)

Brian’s comments from the X Meets Y group.

The Post Office by Charles Bukowski


While this book was a fast read, I can’t say that it was the most enjoyable book I have ever read. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. It is a book that I don’t feel was a time waster but also one I don’t see myself revisiting in the future. It seems like there is real potential and some gems are inserted here and there but it never really takes off. As a whole, the book is merely mediocre. Maybe in its day it was revolutionary (the gritty course language, unlikable main character, anti-flowery language, more direct, etc.) and scanning some titles from that era this seems to be true but it hasn’t aged well in the modern times we live in.

So far, what I have read from him, what I like best and recommend is "The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems 1946-1966". It is a collection of poems and his earliest work (from what I can tell or gather). From this book you can see that there is some real strong talent there in Bukowski, however, by the time he got to the "Post Office", it looks like he drank most of it away.