Charles Bukowski is the author of
Ham on Rye and this book is a reflection of his life growing up as a child
through his adolescent years. He did not
like his father stating he was always mad about something and always started
conflicts. For instance, they would go
out to eat which was very seldom and his father would find something wrong with
the food so they wouldn’t have to pay.
He once said to the waiter “there’s flyshit in this whipped cream! What
the hell kind of place is this”. They
asked him to leave and he responded by stating he would leave but would be back
to burn the “god-damn” place down. I
have known people to do this and it’s not that they couldn’t afford to pay for
the food; they just didn’t want to pay.
Another interesting part for me is when they went into an orchard and
decided to pick oranges that did not belong to them. They normally had a picnic basket full of
food but on this particular Sunday the basket was empty. As the family was picking oranges the owner
of the orchard arose and asked them to dump all the oranges and to leave his
property. The father stated “there are
plenty of god-damned oranges and you won’t miss a few oranges”. The owner pointed his shotgun at the father
and told him get off his property. The
father responded “Guys like you ought to be hung”. At this point I can see the father’s
frustration that this man has all these oranges (food) and people are hungry
and starving. I can remember when I went
to Florida and seen an orchard for the first time it was rows and rows of
oranges. I did ask if we could pick a
few and of course she said no, but they did offer samples of orange juice and
you were welcome to buy as much as you wanted. As I think back on the situation,
I understand people have to make a living but why not help the people within your
community who are in need and hungry like this family? It could be the first step in fighting hunger in a community....Saturday, March 15, 2014
Ham on Rye
As I have read the first 50 pages of Ham on Rye my first
impression is the author is hilarious. He has a funny way of conveying his
message and does a lot of cursing. I
have not totally made the connection that is related to our class as far as
food literature but I’m sure there is some point to reading this novel.
Charles Bukowski is the author of
Ham on Rye and this book is a reflection of his life growing up as a child
through his adolescent years. He did not
like his father stating he was always mad about something and always started
conflicts. For instance, they would go
out to eat which was very seldom and his father would find something wrong with
the food so they wouldn’t have to pay.
He once said to the waiter “there’s flyshit in this whipped cream! What
the hell kind of place is this”. They
asked him to leave and he responded by stating he would leave but would be back
to burn the “god-damn” place down. I
have known people to do this and it’s not that they couldn’t afford to pay for
the food; they just didn’t want to pay.
Another interesting part for me is when they went into an orchard and
decided to pick oranges that did not belong to them. They normally had a picnic basket full of
food but on this particular Sunday the basket was empty. As the family was picking oranges the owner
of the orchard arose and asked them to dump all the oranges and to leave his
property. The father stated “there are
plenty of god-damned oranges and you won’t miss a few oranges”. The owner pointed his shotgun at the father
and told him get off his property. The
father responded “Guys like you ought to be hung”. At this point I can see the father’s
frustration that this man has all these oranges (food) and people are hungry
and starving. I can remember when I went
to Florida and seen an orchard for the first time it was rows and rows of
oranges. I did ask if we could pick a
few and of course she said no, but they did offer samples of orange juice and
you were welcome to buy as much as you wanted. As I think back on the situation,
I understand people have to make a living but why not help the people within your
community who are in need and hungry like this family? It could be the first step in fighting hunger in a community....
Charles Bukowski is the author of
Ham on Rye and this book is a reflection of his life growing up as a child
through his adolescent years. He did not
like his father stating he was always mad about something and always started
conflicts. For instance, they would go
out to eat which was very seldom and his father would find something wrong with
the food so they wouldn’t have to pay.
He once said to the waiter “there’s flyshit in this whipped cream! What
the hell kind of place is this”. They
asked him to leave and he responded by stating he would leave but would be back
to burn the “god-damn” place down. I
have known people to do this and it’s not that they couldn’t afford to pay for
the food; they just didn’t want to pay.
Another interesting part for me is when they went into an orchard and
decided to pick oranges that did not belong to them. They normally had a picnic basket full of
food but on this particular Sunday the basket was empty. As the family was picking oranges the owner
of the orchard arose and asked them to dump all the oranges and to leave his
property. The father stated “there are
plenty of god-damned oranges and you won’t miss a few oranges”. The owner pointed his shotgun at the father
and told him get off his property. The
father responded “Guys like you ought to be hung”. At this point I can see the father’s
frustration that this man has all these oranges (food) and people are hungry
and starving. I can remember when I went
to Florida and seen an orchard for the first time it was rows and rows of
oranges. I did ask if we could pick a
few and of course she said no, but they did offer samples of orange juice and
you were welcome to buy as much as you wanted. As I think back on the situation,
I understand people have to make a living but why not help the people within your
community who are in need and hungry like this family? It could be the first step in fighting hunger in a community....
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It's kind of funny, reading different blogs on the same story. This is the second one I've read, but I have another one to go. I like hearing the completely opposite form blog to blog too. Last one was complete pity, while this one praises the humor.
ReplyDeleteI love it.
I'm interested to see how food plays a part in this too. Along with what you mentioned, there's that part with the potato chips in the lunchroom and that other part where Henry's mom gives cans of food to her sister-in-law.
ReplyDeletePowerful connection with your own experience.
ReplyDeleteThis book not only seems to be very interesting, but the food aspect seems to be something unique
ReplyDeleteI am reading this book as well, and I'm curious to see where the author takes us. I feel like Henry is going nowhere good, and the influences in his life are mostly to blame.
ReplyDelete