Charles Bukowski

[Marquinhos]

Who is interesting about Charles Bukowski too?

[bIGwIRE]

Who is interesting about Charles Bukowski too?

:iagree:

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

The majority of this board is notoriously anti-Bukowski (a search of the hundreds of threads already created in his honor show this). If you're looking for a fan-club, you're going to probably want to try somewhere else.

Personally, I'm ambivalent.

[Charles Darnay]

Wait until E.A chimes in: most of his poems are inspired by the guy.

I guess I belong to the anti-Bukowski field. I don't find anything interesting about his writing or subjects. He was wring in/for a very specific sentiment that just doesn't carry the same weight as it did when he was writing - but this is just my opinion.

[Jack of Hearts]

Love his work (but found Pulp unreadable).







J

[Desolation]

I don't hate Bukowski (I mean, if I met him, I probably would hate him...But, I doubt I would enjoy the company of many of my very favorite writers either, so that's irrelevant), but I don't love him either.

His novels are good for a light, entertaining read.

[E.A Rumfield]

People don't understand Bukowsk. I can relate to him. People think he's a boor or a sexist but it's not true. Let the people think what they want. His novels are good but his short stories are the best.

The White Dog

I went for a walk on Hollywood Boulevard.
I looked down and there was a large white dog
walking beside me.
his pace was exactly the same as mine,
we stopped at traffic signals together.
a woman smiled at us.
he must have walked 8 blocks with me.
then I went into a grocery store and
when I came out he was gone.
or she was gone.
the wonderful white dog
with a trace of yellow in its fur.
the large blue eyes were gone.
the grinning mouth was gone.
the lolling tongue was gone.

things are so easily lost.
things just can’t be kept forever.

I got the blues.
I got the blues.
that dog loved and
trusted me and
I let it walk away.

[E.A Rumfield]

they're not going to let you
sit at a front table
at some cafe in Europe
in the mid-afternoon sun.
if you do, somebody's going to
drive by and
spray your guts with a
submachine gun.

they're not going to let you
feel good
for very long
anywhere.
the forces aren't going to
let you sit around
****ing-off and
relaxing.
you've got to go
their way.

the unhappy, the bitter and
the vengeful
need their
fix - which is
you or somebody
anybody
in agony, or
better yet
dead, dropped into some
hole.

as long as there are
humans about
there is never going to be
any peace
for any individual
upon this earth or
anywhere else
they might
escape to.

all you can do
is maybe grab
ten lucky minutes
here
or maybe an hour
there.

something
is working toward you
right now, and
I mean you
and nobody but
you.

[Pierre Menard]

Haven't read his novels (aside from a paragraph or too) but I think his poetry is very poor. A rambling, sloppy mess that isn't new or interesting or done particularly well. Overly repetitive and in my opinion, fairly childish.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

His poetry commits one of the most irksome things poetry can for me, and that is basically reading like prose with weird line breaks. It seems like most of his stuff you could easily put together, add the right punctuation, and, ta da, you have a normal, prose paragraph. That just isn't poetry to me.

[GreenLucky]

Love his work (but found Pulp unreadable).







J

I really liked Pulp, but it has been a long time since I read it. He finished it right before they planted him. I think he is both overrated and underrated depending on who you ask. A lot of people don't realize how hard he worked as a writer, especially before he got published. The drinking, and the women and his persona are the superficial things that initially draw people to or turn people off Bukowski. Readers who are able to see beyond that find there is much more to his writing. That being said I think his poetry and short stories are better than his novels.

"I guess I belong to the anti-Bukowski field. I don't find anything interesting about his writing or subjects. He was wring in/for a very specific sentiment that just doesn't carry the same weight as it did when he was writing - but this is just my opinion."

Chuck D. I understand that you might not find his subjects or his writing interesting; there is plenty of stuff I should read but I don't because it doesn't hold my interest. I'm a space cadet. Ground control to Major.....Bob?
Anyway, I think you should check out two of his poems called 'Dinosauria, we' and 'The Shoelace.' They are two examples of poems that are relevant and resonate just as strongly today as they did then.

[Pierre Menard]

His poetry commits one of the most irksome things poetry can for me, and that is basically reading like prose with weird line breaks. It seems like most of his stuff you could easily put together, add the right punctuation, and, ta da, you have a normal, prose paragraph. That just isn't poetry to me.

Most of his poems seem to lack any structural basis or any sort of internal rhythm or music.


I'm sure E.A. will tell me 'he don't need no structure!' or that he's breaking down literary convention or something.

[E.A Rumfield]

I wouldn't tell you any of that. He's a good writer, that's about all I know.

[Pierre Menard]

I wouldn't tell you any of that. He's a good writer, that's about all I know.

Just stirring. :P

[bIGwIRE]

All the Buk I've read is like reading a really well written diary, not unlike Keuroac's Desolation Angels. Like MM said, its not really poetry as much as poetic prose. Sometimes I like a change of pace like that.

[tonywalt]

I like quite a bit of Buk. The problem for him is the large volume of writing he put out - great, good, mediocre, and rubbish. He should have published or released only the good stuff. Then again he struggled for sooo many years - he needed all the coin he could get.

Another odd thing (one of many) is he had an accent that is very hard to pin down. He came over from Germany at age 3 so it wouldn't be a Germanic influence. He talked in a sing song way, but it worked well with his readings.

[crusoe]

"Post Office" is UNREACHED !!!

[Desolation]

Another odd thing (one of many) is he had an accent that is very hard to pin down. He came over from Germany at age 3 so it wouldn't be a Germanic influence. He talked in a sing song way, but it worked well with his readings.

I was very surprised when I first heard his voice...When you read his works, and see pictures of him, you expect him to sound really gruff and angry, but he's so soft-spoken. He sounds like a California hippie.

For all his hardened posturing, I think that he was really a sensitive teddy bear, deep down.

[tonywalt]

I was very surprised when I first heard his voice...When you read his works, and see pictures of him, you expect him to sound really gruff and angry, but he's so soft-spoken. He sounds like a California hippie.

For all his hardened posturing, I think that he was really a sensitive teddy bear, deep down.

True - like alot of sensitive people he used meanness at times to protect himself. Although, he was extra nasty (perhaps all for show) at this book readings - to the point where it's not longer funny.