Bukowski Thread
Believe it or not, Charles Bukowski is the whole reason I even discovered Chuck Palahniuk.
Well, maybe not entirely. But it was Bukowski's grungy writing that spun this reader away from the world of swords and magic, which eventually led to the search for more "edgy" writing.
Shortly after my love affair with Bukowski, I discovered CP's own trangressive renderings. And the rest, dear friends, is history.
Disclaimer: This thread is inspired by Bukowski talk in other Book Club threads, so I am expecting at least one response. Dammit.
Or course, the classic:
These poems started everything between me and Charles:
Very strange and messed up stories...also the collection that got me interested in writing fiction(again):
Pulp(newer novel):
Worth reading, but this says it all:
Infamous:
Collection of early poetry(good stuff):
Collection of newer poetry:
And of course, my favorite Bukowski of all:
And that, folks, is my collection of Bukowski Literature.
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
Very nice. I'll have to check some out. The first book I read that was transgressive AND caused me to want to read from then on, was called, "The Squirrel Cage" or perhaps "The Squirrel's Cage". I loved it.
EDIT: The Author is Arnold Peyser. Apparently there are several books with this title. I urge you to check this out.
Stinging, as the thorn, is the splinter. From a seedling born...works itself under my skin.
"You are an insolent cuntface. If that happened to you, the UK would refuse to foot the bill on account of your fuckheadery."-tom9d
"Does fuckheadery count as a pre-existing condition?"-Fano
"Hunger is the best mustard"-Xec8
"i wanna see what a slutty shark looks like. i bet it loses a lot more teeth.-"BloodSugar1308
I just started Ham on Rye today, actually. I've read Factotum and Notes of a Dirty Old Man. I feel like I really relate to his voice, too.
I'm going nuts trying to find more of his books as we speak.
| adj | facebook | an american atheist| warmed and bound |
I've read what I believe are the first two Chinaski classics: Post Office and Factotum, both brilliant I'm my opinion. I can't wait to read more Bukowski.
"There’s no use in denying it: this has been a bad week. I’ve started drinking my own urine." -Patrick Bateman
A lot of people don't like his poetry, and that's okay with me, but he wrote one of the most heartbreaking poems i've ever read in my entire life. I wish i could remember the name of it. It was right after the love of his life died, who is the woman in Factotum, i believe. The one that drinks herself to death.
seems there's a few people here at the moment on a bit of a Bukowski kick. good shit.
I really did used to like Bukowski quite a bit. He's hilarious and very readable.
The second week in my creative writing class.
The urbane professor says, "Bukowski," he pronounces this /byoo-kuv'-skee/ "is not a real writer."
Fuck that. If he's gonna discourage kids from making their own discoveries about a writer, he better be prepared to defend that statement with a damn good reason.
I say, "Why?"
" 'Why?', what?"
"Why is Bukowski 'not a real writer'?"
My fellow classmates heads swivel back and forth between the teacher and me.
The class sycophant looks at me with derision and says, "Free verse poetry is--"
"Shut up, Steven." The professor says, "All Bukowski writes about is drinking, and gambling, and--and fornicating. That's not art. A trained monkey with a crayon can do that!"
I say, "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you call yourself a writing professor and miss the underlying humanity in his words? He's the only writer to make be cry when I read his--"
"Bukowski," He says the name the way you would say herpes. "is a charlatan!"
This escalated into a two minute screaming match, resulting in me walking out and dropping his class.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
was the professor's name Eddy?
Lemme guess. You had one of those professors, too?
haha. actually, no, Tyler. there's a guy here at the cult and he likes to frequently use the word 'charlatan'. i was just cracking a funny one at him.
I will be back to add more after I get to work. But I just wanted to say one thing right now.
If your proffessor knew so much, why couldn't he at least pronounce the name right?
And if you think his stuff is about only drinking and fucking... I mean it is. But there's more to it - underlying, maybe hidden.
Just check out this reading of the shower. It's about him sexy timing his girl, then they take a shower. He starts crying halfway through.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
This just deserves to be quoted. Very nice.
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
I really like Bukowski! And I agree with the OP. I always correlate Chuck's writing with Bukowski's. I got into them about the same time, and for a while (like six months) I only wanted to read their work.
Bukowski's poetry isn't the greatest, but I find a poem of his every once in a while that's completely perfect in every way.
His content doesn't vary much, but I don't think that makes him a bad writer. I like when authors write about what they know. And, personally, I find stories of sex, drugs and alcohol highly entertaining.
I read Women after an ex-boyfriend told me that I sound like him whenever I philosophize life (this is also how I got into Palahniuk, except I was told that our writing styles were similar). Now I have thirteen of his novels/books of poetry. I've been trying to buy more but the Borders closest to my house doesn't stock Bukowski often.
A teacher in my school recommended that I watch the movie Barfly, and I'm really glad that I did. I thought Mickey Rourke did a great job at emulating Bukowski. Then I watched Factotum, with Matt Dillon. That was horrible.
holy fuck, Pete!
that video was incredible. i teared up listening to it.
yes, he writes about sex, drinking, gambling, working etc., but isn't that life? he wrote for the everyday person. he puts a voice in the mouths of everyday men, not just american men, but men the world over. at first glance his writing may seem sleazy and insensitive, misogynistic even. but if you take a closer look, you'll find he is merely commenting on the human condition. snap shots of moments that we hold close to our hearts, that break our souls and make us who we are.
i'm so glad you posted that, Pete. it's made me fall in love with the dirty old man even more. simply beautiful.
I'll try to give a little history of my finding Bukowski.
I've always been a pretty big reader. But my book choices were really random and I didn't pay much attention to authors - until I read Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. At that point I wanted to read everything by Thompson. In one of his books he mentions Jack Kerouac. And then I saw Ken Kesey and Kerouac mentioned again. So I read them two and I really dug On the Road. I thought I was gonna dig the beats. But I never really ventured passed Kerouac. By then I had discovered many more authors that I liked.
So around this time I'm starting to use amazon. And I'm loving the way it recommends books to you. It recommended Bukowski a few times. But for some reason I got Bukowski and Burroughs mixed up. I thought Bukowski wrote rambling heroin tales. I wasn't really interested.
I went on confusing Bukowski and Burroughs for years. In my head they were the same person. Weird I know. I really wish I could have straightened this out much sooner. But then I don't think I would have appreciated him as much any other time in my life like I do now.
So years and years. It's embarrassing how I finally "discovered" him. It's from finally seeing his name mentioned around here the last month or two. And then he kept getting mentioned on Californication - my favorite show. So finally I went to the book store and picked up Women. I couldn't put it down and just had to read it. It made the top of my "to read" pile.
The thing I really like about Bukowski is his ability to tell the truth. He doesn't hide anything. As a writer I know how hard it is to really tell the truth. It sounds easy, but I'm sure anybody here that has tried to write knows it is not.
attention to how the real people around you behave and then
telling the truth about what you see.
He has no problem with making himself look bad. He sometimes apologizes for it, but not always. He's just so honest, it breaks your heart.
He writes like the real person talks. Everything about his writing just feels so real.
So so far I've read Women and Post Office. I'm currently reading Factotum. And I have Ham on Rye waiting for me to get to it. I'm trying to put a different author in between each Bukowski so I don't burn myself out.
It's weird how we all seem to be stumbling on him at the same time. Or at least bring him up at the same time. I've been a member here for many years - and his name barely got mentioned until recently.
quotefail.
He has no problem with making himself look bad. He sometimes apologizes for it, but not always. He's just so honest, it breaks your heart.
He writes like the real person talks. Everything about his writing just feels so real.
all this. 100%. exactly what i was trying to say.
it is strange that he is just coming up a lot right now. it seems to happen here, though. like everyone one just starts reading the same shit because we're all recommending it and praising it.
total bandwagon.
Total bandwagon! In a good way though. Otherwise I might not have "discovered" him. 
i love a good bandwagon. see: Chuck (norris, of course), wearing chucks, chucking things out, chucking up and so forth.
Fans should watch Crazy Love (not the doc from a few years ago, but the mid-80s Belgian film)--it's based on aspects of Bukowski's life/writings. And everybody--fan or no--should watch the documentary, Born Into This.
But what I'd like to know is: How'd you get your hands on Barfly? I've wanted to see it for years, and yet, as far as I can tell, it's still not on Region-1 DVD. (I suppose I could snag a used VHS somewhere.)
Also, Factotum certainly wasn't great, but I think "horrible" is a bit harsh. It was not without its own dirty charm. I loved the building-fire and pickle-factory-interview scenes. And Bukowski's words never sounded prettier than they did in the end credit sequence, coming out of the mouth of that Norwegian chanteuse.
You could always just download it illegally like my, uh, friend.
I didn't like Barfly all that much though.
I quite liked Barfly, but i wouldn't go out of my way to get it.
Fans should watch Crazy Love (not the doc from a few years ago, but the mid-80s Belgian film)--it's based on aspects of Bukowski's life/writings. And everybody--fan or no--should watch the documentary, Born Into This.
But what I'd like to know is: How'd you get your hands on Barfly? I've wanted to see it for years, and yet, as far as I can tell, it's still not on Region-1 DVD. (I suppose I could snag a used VHS somewhere.)
Also, Factotum certainly wasn't great, but I think "horrible" is a bit harsh. It was not without its own dirty charm. I loved the building-fire and pickle-factory-interview scenes. And Bukowski's words never sounded prettier than they did in the end credit sequence, coming out of the mouth of that Norwegian chanteuse.
I found it on Piratebay.
And, okay. I take back the "horrible." I think it's just because I don't like Matt Dillon. At all.
For those of you who saw Precious, did anyone catch the Barfly reference? The secretary at the special school said that she saw it and didn't like it. I thought that was really funny.
I think that's where my uh, friend got it too.
Thanks for the tip, kids! I'll, uh, have a friend look into it.
I love Bukkake too, y'all! I just wonder sometimes why it's mostly asians. 
The urbane professor says, "Bukowski," he pronounces this /byoo-kuv'-skee/ "is not a real writer."
Fuck that. If he's gonna discourage kids from making their own discoveries about a writer, he better be prepared to defend that statement with a damn good reason.
I say, "Why?"
" 'Why?', what?"
"Why is Bukowski 'not a real writer'?"
My fellow classmates heads swivel back and forth between the teacher and me.
The class sycophant looks at me with derision and says, "Free verse poetry is--"
"Shut up, Steven." The professor says, "All Bukowski writes about is drinking, and gambling, and--and fornicating. That's not art. A trained monkey with a crayon can do that!"
I say, "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you call yourself a writing professor and miss the underlying humanity in his words? He's the only writer to make be cry when I read his--"
"Bukowski," He says the name the way you would say herpes. "is a charlatan!"
This escalated into a two minute screaming match, resulting in me walking out and dropping his class.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
Was this just a class on poetry? I don't see how you get "He isn't a real writer." from not liking the free-verse stuff. It's not like that's the only thing he ever wrote. What would he think of someone like Rimbaud or Henry Miller? I can almost see someone coming up with "He's not a real Author" about Bukowski, but not a real Writer? How is that even conceivably possible? He wrote those poems and stories, not someone else. What else do you call someone that writes things, if not a writer.
Anyways, I like Hank well enough, I suppose. His poetry is atrocious. I like his books more. I even enjoyed the movie version of Factotum. But that might be because I don't really have an opinion on Matt Dillon and they show Marissa Tomei's boobs.
I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer. He's a good gateway drug to other better writers that's for sure. Same way Chuck is.
Nate, good to see you!
I can see this. Sometimes when I've been reading some more involved novels and I'm starting to burn out - I grab something by Palahniuk. Something to just sort of not have to think so hard or work so hard with. I can see Bukowski becoming the same thing for me.
This just plain deserves a double quote.
Nate, does your awesomeness come free of charge, or.... ???
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
The urbane professor says, "Bukowski," he pronounces this /byoo-kuv'-skee/ "is not a real writer."
Fuck that. If he's gonna discourage kids from making their own discoveries about a writer, he better be prepared to defend that statement with a damn good reason.
I say, "Why?"
" 'Why?', what?"
"Why is Bukowski 'not a real writer'?"
My fellow classmates heads swivel back and forth between the teacher and me.
The class sycophant looks at me with derision and says, "Free verse poetry is--"
"Shut up, Steven." The professor says, "All Bukowski writes about is drinking, and gambling, and--and fornicating. That's not art. A trained monkey with a crayon can do that!"
I say, "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you call yourself a writing professor and miss the underlying humanity in his words? He's the only writer to make be cry when I read his--"
"Bukowski," He says the name the way you would say herpes. "is a charlatan!"
This escalated into a two minute screaming match, resulting in me walking out and dropping his class.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
Was this just a class on poetry? I don't see how you get "He isn't a real writer." from not liking the free-verse stuff. It's not like that's the only thing he ever wrote. What would he think of someone like Rimbaud or Henry Miller? I can almost see someone coming up with "He's not a real Author" about Bukowski, but not a real Writer? How is that even conceivably possible? He wrote those poems and stories, not someone else. What else do you call someone that writes things, if not a writer.
Anyways, I like Hank well enough, I suppose. His poetry is atrocious. I like his books more. I even enjoyed the movie version of Factotum. But that might be because I don't really have an opinion on Matt Dillon and they show Marissa Tomei's boobs.
I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer. He's a good gateway drug to other better writers that's for sure. Same way Chuck is.
Hey Nate,
It was a writing class, not just poetry. Who knows what Steven was going to say in the rest of his sentence, or if it even made sense.
Here is where our opinions differ.
Saying that--
"I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer."
--is really just a step better than what my professor was saying about not reading him at all. That is a decision for an individual with a desire to read and a library card in his hand to make for himself.
In front of me are book shelves full of writers that use pretty language in their poetry and their prose, but they've got nothing to say. A good writer isn't always the one that can summon any clever literary device at will and use them in clever ways. It's the person with a great idea or a hole in their heart, clutching a pen and paper that through their words, makes his/her feelings or ideas inescapable to the reader. The effective, honest communication of the human condition.
That anyone would revisit Bukowski's words past five years is a testament to his writing in itself. How many of us have read Finnegan's Wake once? How many of us even knows anyone that read that book? It's considered to be one of the greatest English language books, but what's its reach?
The art of Buk is, even though we may have never played the ponies, or vomited out the side of a moving train boxcar, we all have our losing bets in life, and demons to purge. He conveys theses in simple and accessible ways the common man can relate to, where complexity (or elegance) may not always be appropriate. That's all the pedigree this reader requires.
Respectfully,
Tyler
My love for Bukowski had lots to do with timing(as all loves seem to).
I was at a crazy turning point--shying away from a life that had no direction except to the liquor store. Other than sex and drugs. I believe there was even a little rock and roll as well. I was the definition of that grimy lifestyle in general.
At the same time, I was discovering modern poetry. Before that, I literally didn't know poetry existed past Shakespeare and Poe. My life was a mess and here comes this poet who wrote about getting drunk and used the word fuck a lot. The shit just blew me away. I completely understood Buk's point of view. His way of life. After all, he was writing about my life. He was the first author who ever did this for me.
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
The urbane professor says, "Bukowski," he pronounces this /byoo-kuv'-skee/ "is not a real writer."
Fuck that. If he's gonna discourage kids from making their own discoveries about a writer, he better be prepared to defend that statement with a damn good reason.
I say, "Why?"
" 'Why?', what?"
"Why is Bukowski 'not a real writer'?"
My fellow classmates heads swivel back and forth between the teacher and me.
The class sycophant looks at me with derision and says, "Free verse poetry is--"
"Shut up, Steven." The professor says, "All Bukowski writes about is drinking, and gambling, and--and fornicating. That's not art. A trained monkey with a crayon can do that!"
I say, "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you call yourself a writing professor and miss the underlying humanity in his words? He's the only writer to make be cry when I read his--"
"Bukowski," He says the name the way you would say herpes. "is a charlatan!"
This escalated into a two minute screaming match, resulting in me walking out and dropping his class.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
Was this just a class on poetry? I don't see how you get "He isn't a real writer." from not liking the free-verse stuff. It's not like that's the only thing he ever wrote. What would he think of someone like Rimbaud or Henry Miller? I can almost see someone coming up with "He's not a real Author" about Bukowski, but not a real Writer? How is that even conceivably possible? He wrote those poems and stories, not someone else. What else do you call someone that writes things, if not a writer.
Anyways, I like Hank well enough, I suppose. His poetry is atrocious. I like his books more. I even enjoyed the movie version of Factotum. But that might be because I don't really have an opinion on Matt Dillon and they show Marissa Tomei's boobs.
I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer. He's a good gateway drug to other better writers that's for sure. Same way Chuck is.
Hey Nate,
It was a writing class, not just poetry. Who knows what Steven was going to say in the rest of his sentence, or if it even made sense.
Here is where our opinions differ.
Saying that--
"I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer."
--is really just a step better than what my professor was saying about not reading him at all. That is a decision for an individual with a desire to read and a library card in his hand to make for himself.
In front of me are book shelves full of writers that use pretty language in their poetry and their prose, but they've got nothing to say. A good writer isn't always the one that can summon any clever literary device at will and use them in clever ways. It's the person with a great idea or a hole in their heart, clutching a pen and paper that through their words, makes his/her feelings or ideas inescapable to the reader. The effective, honest communication of the human condition.
That anyone would revisit Bukowski's words past five years is a testament to his writing in itself. How many of us have read Finnegan's Wake once? How many of us even knows anyone that read that book? It's considered to be one of the greatest English language books, but what's its reach?
The art of Buk is, even though we may have never played the ponies, or vomited out the side of a moving train boxcar, we all have our losing bets in life, and demons to purge. He conveys theses in simple and accessible ways the common man can relate to, where complexity (or elegance) may not always be appropriate. That's all the pedigree this reader requires.
Respectfully,
Tyler
Thank you for saying everything I was about to say, but in a much more elegant manner.
My supervisor at work and I were talking but not exactly looking at each other (our desks both face the same way, she's behind me... sort of... it's hard to explain the setup, anyway).
At one point she just stopped mid-sentence and then she said, "Oh, you're just like my son. I can't talk to you." and walked off.
When she came back she said, "My son is reading that awful Bukowski and I picked it up and it was disgusting."
It was so funny. I thought of Tyler Knight's story up there and I smiled.
| adj | facebook | an american atheist| warmed and bound |
I was reading Women last year (when I was a junior) on the bus. Some annoying kid stole the book from me and read all the raunchy bits to the little kids who were also on the bus. He didn't give me back the book until he went through it looking for the words "pussy" or "cunt." That's the only time I've ever been embarrassed about Bukowski's content.
I would have been more embarrassed if he ripped Twilight out of my hand and started reading about sparkling vampires... But that will never happen to me because I won't read that book! haha
Sparkling vampires ...
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
whatever side of the arguement you rest on, there must be something good about the guy because at this rate, he may get a second page in the book forum, which is a bit of a fucking rarity.
i dig him. but i use words like 'dig' and 'hip' so i don't know--
The urbane professor says, "Bukowski," he pronounces this /byoo-kuv'-skee/ "is not a real writer."
Fuck that. If he's gonna discourage kids from making their own discoveries about a writer, he better be prepared to defend that statement with a damn good reason.
I say, "Why?"
" 'Why?', what?"
"Why is Bukowski 'not a real writer'?"
My fellow classmates heads swivel back and forth between the teacher and me.
The class sycophant looks at me with derision and says, "Free verse poetry is--"
"Shut up, Steven." The professor says, "All Bukowski writes about is drinking, and gambling, and--and fornicating. That's not art. A trained monkey with a crayon can do that!"
I say, "Are you kidding me? How the hell do you call yourself a writing professor and miss the underlying humanity in his words? He's the only writer to make be cry when I read his--"
"Bukowski," He says the name the way you would say herpes. "is a charlatan!"
This escalated into a two minute screaming match, resulting in me walking out and dropping his class.
Bukowski is the most polarizing writer I know. You can group him into the rule of not discussing religion and politics at a party.
Was this just a class on poetry? I don't see how you get "He isn't a real writer." from not liking the free-verse stuff. It's not like that's the only thing he ever wrote. What would he think of someone like Rimbaud or Henry Miller? I can almost see someone coming up with "He's not a real Author" about Bukowski, but not a real Writer? How is that even conceivably possible? He wrote those poems and stories, not someone else. What else do you call someone that writes things, if not a writer.
Anyways, I like Hank well enough, I suppose. His poetry is atrocious. I like his books more. I even enjoyed the movie version of Factotum. But that might be because I don't really have an opinion on Matt Dillon and they show Marissa Tomei's boobs.
I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer. He's a good gateway drug to other better writers that's for sure. Same way Chuck is.
Hey Nate,
It was a writing class, not just poetry. Who knows what Steven was going to say in the rest of his sentence, or if it even made sense.
Here is where our opinions differ.
Saying that--
"I think everyone should read and fall in love with him at least once, but 5 years later, he shouldn't be in anyone's top ten favorites if they've grown any as a reader or writer."
--is really just a step better than what my professor was saying about not reading him at all. That is a decision for an individual with a desire to read and a library card in his hand to make for himself.
In front of me are book shelves full of writers that use pretty language in their poetry and their prose, but they've got nothing to say. A good writer isn't always the one that can summon any clever literary device at will and use them in clever ways. It's the person with a great idea or a hole in their heart, clutching a pen and paper that through their words, makes his/her feelings or ideas inescapable to the reader. The effective, honest communication of the human condition.
That anyone would revisit Bukowski's words past five years is a testament to his writing in itself. How many of us have read Finnegan's Wake once? How many of us even knows anyone that read that book? It's considered to be one of the greatest English language books, but what's its reach?
The art of Buk is, even though we may have never played the ponies, or vomited out the side of a moving train boxcar, we all have our losing bets in life, and demons to purge. He conveys theses in simple and accessible ways the common man can relate to, where complexity (or elegance) may not always be appropriate. That's all the pedigree this reader requires.
Respectfully,
Tyler
Thank you for saying everything I was about to say, but in a much more elegant manner.
all i'm saying is after you've all read through his stuff, try some Fante or Henry Miller and see if Buk doesn't end up coming in at #3 afterwards.
Goldfish
By Charles Bukowski
my goldfish stares with watery eyes
into the hemisphere of my sorrow;
upon the thinnest of threads
we hang together,
hang hang hang
in the hangman’s noose;
I stare into his place and
he into mine . . .
he must have thoughts,
can you deny this?
he has eyes and hunger
and his love too
died in January; but he is
gold, really gold, and I am grey
and it is indecent to search him out,
indecent like the burning of peaches
or the rape of children,
and I turn and look elsewhere,
but I know that he is there behind me,
one gold goblet of blood,
one thing alone
hung between the reddest cloud
of purgatory
and apt. no. 303.
god, can it be
that we are the same?
"Plus, if I go too long without writing I start to turn into a real asshole." -misterwoe
"She'll like what she's told to like." -Mo'Don
all i'm saying is after you've all read through his stuff, try some Fante or Henry Miller and see if Buk doesn't end up coming in at #3 afterwards.
I have. Art is subjective, not a competition.
LAST WRITER STANDING! Give them muskets and cyanide capsules, I say.
(Rather than their preferred bottles of spirits.)
I'm with Nate on this. I loved Bukowski, read most of his books twice, own about fifteen of them, even bought The Bukowski Tapes and've seen it a few times. But, yeah, once you get some Hamsun or some Celine or some Fante in you, he doesn't quite measure up to his literary ancestors. He's great for what he does, which is write very funny books with some real heart in them, but he's a bit of a one trick pony in that regard.
I still like Bukwoski, but i've not read him in a few years because he's waned a bit. And, too, like Nate said, he's a great gateway author, especially because he traces the lines for you. Always mentions his heroes, which is how i got to expanding my library and all that. He's kind of a middle ground, i think, between the madness of Celine and the heart of Fante.
all i'm saying is after you've all read through his stuff, try some Fante or Henry Miller and see if Buk doesn't end up coming in at #3 afterwards.
I have. Art is subjective, not a competition.
I haven't checked out Henry Miller, but I've read some Fante. His stuff is good, but I don't think it's great. I still like Bukowski better.
On a side note, Bukowski talked about Celine so much I decided to check out Journey to the End of the Night. It just wasn't for me at that time. I'm going to read it again, though.
Oh man, Journey to the End of the Night is fantastic! Celine is the most hate filled man to ever live, of this i'm sure, and he's hilarious, full of madness at every turn! He was also pro-Nazi, but so was Hamsun, and that's whatever as far as i'm concerned.
Interestingly about Celine, despite his hate for everything and everyone, he was also a very devoted doctor to the poor and would treat them despite the fact that they never paid him. So, i mean, he couldn't've been all bad.
BUKOWSKI THREAD POSTS
I really like this picture.
That about sums it up!
His readings must have been legendary. I can't help but think that Chuck's are nothing compared to them.
And then there's this, it just makes me laugh:
If I remember right, Frank has a similar pic on his facebook. lmao
my next avatar is definitely a picture of someone sitting on a loo, maybe even that one. seeing as though i spend so much time there, i feel it's only fair.
Don't try.
Also, i've fifteen or so of his books, i think.
my year in words
my year abroad