CHARLES BUKOWSKI’S “HAM ON RYE”, A KÜNSTLERROMAN
"HAM ON THE RYE" BY CHARLES BUKOWSKI, AN ARTIST'S NOVEL

Summary/Abstract: Bukowski’s autobiographical novel, “Ham on Rye” tells the author’s life story from early childhood to adulthood, from 1922 to the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. Henry Chinaski’s relationship to his father, his loneliness, his pains, frustrations and anger contribute to his making as a tough adult. Beyond being a Bildungsroman, “Ham on Rye” qualifies more importantly as a Künstlerroman. This article aims at tracing back Chinaski’s artistic apprenticeship, his becoming a writer. Poverty, his father’s violent behavior, his solitude, the physical and spiritual scars did not only empower him as an independent resilient human being, but stirred his creativity and gave him the urge and tremendous power to write.

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