The Bookhouse Boys discussion

So, after posting this question out to the twitter-verse, (what's that?), I am curious as to everyone's experiences with the man's work.

After I viewed "Born Into This", an excellent documentary on the life of Bukowski, I thought I owed it to myself to give his writing a chance and wanted to learn what my friends on the good ol' reads forum had to share in terms of their experiences or preferences in regards to his novels and/or short stories and poems.

Love him? Abhor him? Overwrought with anger or anxiety, or is there a wisdom that is incalculable and timeless within those lines of his? All thoughts are helpful and appreciated.

I understand that I am late to the party in reading any of his work, but I figure there is always time to catch up and enjoy said writing.

As always,

Thank you!

I love the guy. I started reading him my 2nd year in college when I picked up Notes of a Dirty Old Man at my girlfriend's place. I was blown away by how raw and real he was. I moved on to Post Office and the love affair continued. I think I devoured whatever was in print at that time (almost 20 years ago...sheesh). During those days I moved on to discover other writers (including Bukowski's beloved Louis-Ferdinand Céline) and have not revisited much of his stuff outside of docs and fond memories. It felt like he was the perfect writer for a college student in the same way Kerouac and the Beats were perfect for me in high school (trapped in the Sometimes a Great Notion world of the Oregon coast). I need to pick up some of his stuff again and see if it stills crackles like it did back then.

Forgot a shameless plug: Hank appeared in the movie Supervan, for some reason: http://thatscoolthatstrashpodcast.blo...
which we discuss here: http://thatscoolthatstrashpodcast.blo...

and Bukowski talks about here: http://bukowski.net/manuscripts/displ...

Never read a word of the man's work. Maybe we should pick one of his books for a future discussion.

Well, for some reason, my local library and the B*N nearby didn't have any of those suggestions, but I did pick up Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook: Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-1990 and will give it a spin, making sure to share thoughts, both positive and confused with ya'll!

Dave wrote: "Never read a word of the man's work. Maybe we should pick one of his books for a future discussion."

Whenever I read/hear Dave say, ". . . never read . . .", my mind is figuratively blown to pieces, ala Cronenberg-esque via "Scanners".

As a side note, trying to find the correct path and create a new discussion thread on goodreads is somewhat of a challenging endeavor.


Yeesh.

Robert wrote: "Dave wrote: "Never read a word of the man's work. Maybe we should pick one of his books for a future discussion."

Whenever I read/hear Dave say, ". . . never read . . .", my mind is figuratively b..."

Heh. Well, nice to be considered so well read, anyway.

John Milton made it a life's goal to read everything that had ever been written, in every language. He very nearly succeeded, and it (in part) led to him going blind in middle age. This was in the early-to-mid 1600s, before cheap printing became so widespread and the publishing industry became, well, an industry. So, Herculean task though Milton's feat was, I think it would be literally impossible to read 1% of everything ever written in 2013. In fact, I bet more books are published in a month these days than most people read in their entire lifetime. With the advent of internet self-publishing, the mountain of text just keeps growing and growing. More might be published in a day anymore than could possibly be read in a single human lifetime, not even counting stuff like Facebook, Twitter, message board posts, comment threads, etc.

But...somehow this still doesn't make me feel less ignorant for never having checked out Bukowski. So, yeah, let's schedule something.

Dave wrote: "Robert wrote: "Dave wrote: "Never read a word of the man's work. Maybe we should pick one of his books for a future discussion."

Whenever I read/hear Dave say, ". . . never read . . .", my mind is..."


Shame on you, Dave, for never having read. . .

oh wait.


:P

Peep January, yo.

OOOOooooooOOOOoooh!!

Matt wrote: "Peep January, yo."

Robert wrote: "OOOOooooooOOOOoooh!!"

:)

Robert wrote: "Well, for some reason, my local library and the B*N nearby didn't have any of those suggestions, but I did pick up [book:Portions from a Wine-Stained Notebook: Uncollected Stories and Essays, 1944-..."

As a neophyte to Bukowski, and since this is an anthology of sorts, there is clearly no thematic purpose or intent on Bukowski's part,

But with that being said, I am really digging his stuff. I would go so far as to say, it's rad, even.

Despite the inference of a wine-fueled lucidity, I know "wine" is in the title, and despite the randomness of the phrases, stanzas, and paragraphs that are collected, he still shines with his metaphors and descriptors and shares a warmth in spite of his often self-inflicted loneliness and isolationism.

Good stuff.

I'd like to switch the Bukowksi book to December, if that's okay with my co-hosts. I do want to read Omeros, but I feel like busy holiday time might be a poor fit for it.

I can't speak to "Omeras", but if you're looking for something that's more uplifting, Bukowski will not fulfill this criteria.

However, I'm probably missing the point, so, carry on!

Robert wrote: "I can't speak to "Omeras", but if you're looking for something that's more uplifting, Bukowski will not fulfill this criteria.

However, I'm probably missing the point, so, carry on!"

No, it's more a matter of having heard that Omeros is difficult and slow going, so we might want to wait for a month with fewer built-in distractions.

That's cool with me, Jason. I haven't bought Omeros yet. (It does look pretty intriguing, though, so I hope we don't put it off too far!)

Dave wrote: "That's cool with me, Jason. I haven't bought Omeros yet. (It does look pretty intriguing, though, so I hope we don't put it off too far!)"

I was hoping to just swap 'em, do Omeros in January.

Cool with me.