tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post117312002421418601..comments2023-10-03T11:41:21.191+01:00Comments on The Truth About Lies: Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy LifeJim Murdochhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-87591289990394960602011-03-27T11:06:51.652+01:002011-03-27T11:06:51.652+01:00Well, Doug, I imagine in some alternate reality al...Well, <b>Doug</b>, I imagine in some alternate reality all people talk about are their Bukowski’s great anti-war novels. Thanks for the comment.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-64314193831763926742011-03-22T02:41:00.620+00:002011-03-22T02:41:00.620+00:00It's hard to believe he was considered 4F by t...It's hard to believe he was considered 4F by the Army, I doubt they understood him so simply categorized him as "crazy". Still it's a good thing he wasn't in the military, things may have turned out badly for him there, I'm afraid<a href="http://www.charles-bukowski-quotes.org" rel="nofollow">.</a>Doug Harthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08740921307551725242noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-20899323725539758472010-09-22T01:30:21.210+01:002010-09-22T01:30:21.210+01:00Thanks. He was an inspiration to me, even back in ...Thanks. He was an inspiration to me, even back in 1974, when I was just a wee boy.<br />Nice review, BTW.Hugh Candysidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09863683517394689283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-51016987423035631432010-09-19T23:23:00.899+01:002010-09-19T23:23:00.899+01:00Thanks for letting me know, Hugh, credit and link ...Thanks for letting me know, <b>Hugh</b>, credit and link added. Great photo BTW.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-52900048847013496052010-09-18T16:57:37.095+01:002010-09-18T16:57:37.095+01:00One of the Bukowski photographs used in your artic...One of the Bukowski photographs used in your article is mine. <br /><br />Please provide a credit and link or remove from your page.<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/infinite_monkey/371054765/<br /><br />Thanks,<br /><br />Hugh CandysideHugh Candysidehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09863683517394689283noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-42910447809770817642010-02-07T10:20:37.521+00:002010-02-07T10:20:37.521+00:00This is an amazing poem from Bukowski, and written...This is an amazing poem from Bukowski, and written two years before his death, it's prescient. It adds to my view that Bukowsi was not just a lucky drunk who won a following by being at the right place at the right time. <br /><br />I doubt that he did not agonize to some extent over his writing. He probably battled as many of us do between the spontaneous and the ordained.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-57136916225167798382010-02-07T09:19:40.382+00:002010-02-07T09:19:40.382+00:00For me, the most amazing thing about Charles Bukow...For me, the most amazing thing about Charles Bukowski was that he lived to be 73. <br />What can anybody can say about his poems that he hasn't already said about them himself? Poems like 'hell is a closed door' (on receiving rejection slips), Many of his poems are basic psychoanalysis. And perhaps unsurprisingly Hemingway (as in the poem 'zero')is seen to be his hero.<br />Two years before dying Bukowski published this:<br />'The Last Night of the Earth Poems' (400 pages in 4 chapters)The sub-headings are as follows: <br />1. <br />my wrists are rivers <br />my fingers are words<br />2.<br />living too long<br />takes more than<br />time<br />3.<br />the sun slants<br />like a golden sword<br />as the odds grow<br />shorter<br />4.<br />in the shadow of the rose<br />. . . <br /><br />noticing the flowers talking<br />to you,<br />realizing the gigantic agony<br />of the terrapin,<br />you pray for rain like an<br />Indian,<br />slide a fresh clip into the <br />automatic,<br />turn out the lights and<br />wait.<br />. . .<br /><br />I must thank Jim for bringing me back to Bukoswki whom I've neglected for a couple of years. I'll put him in my raincoat pocket for train journeys.Gwil Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03305768121713053837noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-8444547845741319872010-02-03T05:47:24.332+00:002010-02-03T05:47:24.332+00:00Gabe, thanks for that, appreciate the feedback.
A...<b>Gabe</b>, thanks for that, appreciate the feedback.<br /><br />And, <b>John E</b>, there’s no doubt that his lifestyle did have a detrimental effect on his work but he produced so much that he could afford for half of it to be crap and still produce more than most of us will ever do. There is no doubt in my mind that this guy was a writer first and foremost and that was when he was happiest, happiness being a relative term of course. I would be interested to read his prose but I’m not in any rush to do so. His poetry impressed me and I worry a little that his prose might not.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-80299544620223217032010-02-02T21:23:23.033+00:002010-02-02T21:23:23.033+00:00When it comes to this fellow, I agree with Elisabe...When it comes to this fellow, I agree with Elisabeth: it's hard to see past the pain of his life, and the anger that evidently aroused in his work. I'm not sure it always had such a good effect, either, judging by (admittedly) what little of his work I've read. But I sure did enjoy your take on him.John Ettorrehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18229971392235689875noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-11769006389388891262010-02-02T20:52:59.318+00:002010-02-02T20:52:59.318+00:00Jim: As always, good work. I enjoyed the read.Jim: As always, good work. I enjoyed the read.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15887517793752604788noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-91541411058994720152010-02-02T18:18:19.260+00:002010-02-02T18:18:19.260+00:00I don’t think it’s just readers, McGuire, but I th...I don’t think it’s just readers, <b>McGuire</b>, but I think readers have a real difficulty separating the writer from the written word. It can work both ways, whether you learn the sordid details first or later on. In the case of Bukowski I learned about his life before I read anything bar one poem; in the case of Larkin I was well-acquainted with his poetry and <i>then</i> I got to find out all the unsavoury details in his life. Personally it doesn’t bother me that much. I didn’t like what I learned about Naipaul’s treatment of his wife but I still gave his book a decent review. <br /><br />The video of Bukowski kicking his girlfriend is also not easy viewing but that didn’t stop me reading his poetry. That was him <i>on that day</i> and under the influence. I also saw film of him on many other days. His subject matter doesn’t offend me although some of it doesn’t interest me. I don’t like how much vomiting they insist on showing on TV but I close my eyes and then it’s gone. People throw up, it’s realistic but I wouldn’t watch anyone on the street chuck up.<br /><br />Every minority should have its spokesman. Beckett was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1969 for his "writing, which—in new forms for the novel and drama—in the destitution of modern man acquires its elevation." Similar could be said about Bukowski.<br /><br /><b>John</b>, I am grateful to you for posting that poem a while back because I might have backed away from the opportunity to review these books otherwise. You piqued my interest. As for the videos, do try and get a hold of <i>Born into This</i> - it is a very good documentary indeed.<br /><br />And, <b>Cabbage Cat</b>, I did not know that but then I doubt if I could name half a dozen pups in the whole of Glasgow and I doubt I’ve been in more than a dozen in my life. I’m not sure a <a href="http://www.topsecretglasgow.com/chinaskis-1.html" rel="nofollow">gastro-pub</a> is my kind of venue anyway. If I was at Charing Cross there are a couple of decent curry houses I’d probably pick from to be honest. Thanks for the comment though.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-79907130063058595272010-02-02T15:40:58.386+00:002010-02-02T15:40:58.386+00:00Great article - love Bukowski. For those in Glasgo...Great article - love Bukowski. For those in Glasgow remember there is a Charles Bukowski themed bar at Charing Cross called Chinaski's which is worth a try!Cabbage Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689304894871635736noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-84889019337330157622010-02-02T12:55:16.139+00:002010-02-02T12:55:16.139+00:00Thanks for this, Jim. Your usual rigorous standard...Thanks for this, Jim. Your usual rigorous standard is ever present.<br />I remember searching out anything and everything by Bukowski back in the early seventies. I think the first novel I read was <i>Post Office</i>, followed by <i>Factotum</i>; and the petry too. I still have my imported and well-thumbed copy of <i>The Days Run Away Like Wild Horses Over the Hills</i>.<br />But there was much I didn't know in your review, and I was particularly grateful for the scraps of video.<br />Makes me want to go back and read some of that stuff again.John Bakerhttp://johnbakersblog.co.uknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-20445077872220911532010-02-02T11:56:01.176+00:002010-02-02T11:56:01.176+00:00It's interesting to see how many readers rejec...It's interesting to see how many readers reject people because of certian 'problems' they have or because they 'make no secret of themselves.' That's the thing with Bukowski, and other writers, if you don't check your pretense, you'll just feel embarassed or awkward and want to run a mile. <br /><br />People think he was some kind of wake up in the morning and start drinking kind of guy. He wasn't. People say, it's hard to tell the man from the myth, I don't think it is...he's writing 'fiction' and poetry. Beneath all the cynicism and loathing and disgust with other people, there is clearly a highly sensitive man - observant, generous, touching. He created a hardshell, a hard exterior, because so many people were just weak, watery, lovey-dovey fools. Especially, in the realm of poetry.<br /><br />Amazed how many people think - o he had problems, or at least, he writes about problems and dirty things - therefore I must avoid him. How dead is that? As though life was all peaches and cream, and vanilla extract.McGuirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03095242258892600138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-17973312017920691472010-02-02T11:38:58.050+00:002010-02-02T11:38:58.050+00:00I think I was much the same, Dave. I’m not very to...I think I was much the same, <b>Dave</b>. I’m not very tolerant when it comes to drunks. As you can imagine Scotland is not the best place to live if you want to avoid them. I think it’s a control thing. I’m the same with drugs; the idea of not being fully in control bothers me. I’m also not a fun drunk. I need no help being depressed so why take a substance to help me down that road? But as I read more about Bukowski before he went on that bender that would last the rest of his life I couldn’t help but feel for the guy. I guess we all think we’ve had it rough until we read about someone who actually did. We all cope with our pasts in different ways. Interestingly he doesn’t seem to have drunk to forget, which is what one might imagine would motivate him to stay drunk, rather it seems he drank to be able to face the past, be it the past of his childhood or the past of last night’s blow out. Or is that me romanticising him a little? See what you think of his poetry on Thursday when I put up the second review.<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-11064970826533953602010-02-02T10:40:33.039+00:002010-02-02T10:40:33.039+00:00For a while I didn't think this was going to b...For a while I didn't think this was going to be for me. I couldn't get hold of the guy at all or get interested in him. Not the fault of your review, but a basic incompatibility, I was thinking. It changed a bit when you got on to his childhood. He began to come into focus, then.Dave Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08430484174826768488noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-7862970467974943832010-02-01T20:39:22.086+00:002010-02-01T20:39:22.086+00:00I know, Willow, it's a real shame when you see...I know, <b>Willow</b>, it's a real shame when you see someone like Reed on TV. What annoys me more is the fact that people deliberately turn a camera on them. When Reed was to appear on <i>The Tube</i> they stuck a camera in his dressing room apparently. What is that all about?<br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-62667912186761096632010-02-01T19:08:26.319+00:002010-02-01T19:08:26.319+00:00Another amazing post. That first B&W pic of Bo...Another amazing post. That first B&W pic of Bob Lind is great. And I would have most likely answered "drunk" when asked about Oliver Reed, as well!Tess Kincaidhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04889725786678984293noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-1817115121565517822010-02-01T18:27:02.267+00:002010-02-01T18:27:02.267+00:00I saw the quote on the inside of your collection, ...I saw the quote on the inside of your collection, <b>McGuire</b>, which is why I asked you about him. The poetry collection is a new one: <i>The Pleasure of the Damned: Poems, 1951 – 1993</i>. I’ll post my review on Thursday.<br /><br />And, <b>Kass</b>, yes, I see where you’re coming from here. There’s a perfect example in the poetry review where Bukowski makes up a quote to stick on the back of one of his books. As for his looks, I see that too. I’ve never known a woman with scars like that, on or off screen. Men do seem to be able to get away with it though. It gives their faces character. No one wants a woman whose face has ‘character’, not until she’s ancient and then ‘character’ is okay. It’s just the world’s double standards.<br /><br />Not sure how this review piqued your interest in my experience as a playwright but since you asked, yes, I’ve written three plays in my life. You can read about them <a href="http://www.jimmurdoch.co.uk/plays.html" rel="nofollow">here</a>. If you click on the links there are excerpts from two of them. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-65752593671641609872010-02-01T14:36:09.851+00:002010-02-01T14:36:09.851+00:00I can't get over how much Bukowski reminds me ...I can't get over how much Bukowski reminds me of actor Jason Robards. Too bad they're both dead. Too bad they both had a drinking problem.<br /><br />The Apostrophe bit is indeed great television. It's always worth it to see the French get riled. Especially interesting was Bukowski's justification for his fondness of whores and young girls in short dresses. His slurred justification of the nature of this obsession as being a pure form of <i>truth</i> was recited as only a self-deceiving, highly intellectual drunk misogynist could do.<br /><br />And yet Bukowski claimed he hated deception. I think the most deceitful people are those who claim they hate deception.<br /><br />What a distinction to be called "dramatically ugly!" The words acne vulgaris and pustular acne have long fascinated me as have the faces that wear this badge of pain. Some famous men with acne scars: James Olmos, James Woods, Dennis Farina, Tommy Lee Jones, Laurence Fishbourne, Ray Liotta, Bill Murray and Abraham Lincoln. Why is it less honorable for women to be noted for this?<br /><br />I find this man and this review extrememly interesting. Have you ever thought of writing a stage or screenplay, Jim?Kasshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05233330248952156754noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-3471517176320555012010-02-01T13:42:10.614+00:002010-02-01T13:42:10.614+00:00Jim, i just wish you'd read Bukowski before re...Jim, i just wish you'd read Bukowski before reading the biography. I read him before knowing anything about him; opening a crazy bright flower, indeed.<br /><br />I quote him once on the inside page of my book. Don't think I've mentioned him.<br /><br />Good review. What book of poetry are you reading?McGuirehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03095242258892600138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-91100603964071266482010-02-01T12:35:38.361+00:002010-02-01T12:35:38.361+00:00I agree, Paul, and I was very taken by how insight...I agree, <b>Paul</b>, and I was very taken by how insightful and perceptive his poetry was. When Canongate sent me the biography to review they also included a thick (500-odd pages) collection of his poetry which I’ve reviewed separately. I think I may put that up on Thursday and we’ll just have a Bukowski week and be done with it.<br /><br /><b>Elisabeth</b>, there was a lot about Bukowski that I couldn’t relate to but there was also a sense of there-but-for-the-grace-of-God. I have never been much of a drinker – I can get drunk on wine gums – but I also recognise that I could have become one; there is a family history. I think that’s why I’ve resisted going down that route because I think it’s one I could have slipped down easily. Fortunately I cannot function under the influence. I’ve tried to write drunk and I can’t do it.<br /><br />I do find my best work taps into negative emotions – no one would ever call me ‘the happy poet’ – and so I can see what a rich vein that would have been for Bukowski. And it is tempting when the work is flowing to go with that flow. I’m not saying I’ve deliberately tried to stay miserable but I’ve not always been in a rush to climb out of that misery. The question was, was Bukowski miserable? I think his childhood was, most certainly, and miserable things happened to him as an adult but I think he was more insecure than anything else. I’m sure he believed that drink was his rabbit’s foot for a long time but, as he proved in later life, he could write perfectly well sober. And his life did become more secure, both financially and emotionally, in his fifties but I expect there was always the fear that it would go away.<br /><br />What I found sad was the fact that he allowed himself to be turned into a performing monkey. There was a side of him that clearly hated being in front of an audience (or even a crowd at a party) and he had to get extra-extra drunk to cope. So why, especially once he was earning enough from book sales alone, did he persist? Nothing is clear-cut. <br /><br />You have had the benefit of a short review. I have had the benefit of a short biography. I think we’re both still quite disadvantaged. What I’m not sure is if we’re ever going to get a better bio. I have three biographies of Beckett and yet I still feel that so much about him I’ve observed out of the corner of my eye.<br /><br />And, <b>the-two-Rachels</b>, I was just like you. I’ve really had my eyes opened. As I said to Paul, I’ll post the review of the poems on Thursday. As for McGuire, I’m working on an article about him just now. He’s just sent his Q+A back and one of the questions was about Bukowski so I’ll be interested to see what he has to say about him. I am in the middle of a book review so I’ve not looked but I think it’ll be a good article. <br /><br>Jim Murdochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12786388638146471193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-30759146860651139042010-02-01T10:34:03.911+00:002010-02-01T10:34:03.911+00:00I didn't know anything about this guy before I...I didn't know anything about this guy before I started reading (until I saw the Mickey Rourke clip and went, aah!)but I was completely engrossed the whole way through this! I'm very interested to know about his poems now and what you make of them, too. <br /><br />I think both your points and Elisabeths are interesting when you touch upon his character but I'm not sure I want to try to get my head around him just yet. <br /><br />Really good review. Thanks.Rachel Fentonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10046917627054462214noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-17273687517500232492010-02-01T09:49:05.100+00:002010-02-01T09:49:05.100+00:00Look forward to your piece on the poetry. McGuire ...Look forward to your piece on the poetry. McGuire is always quoting his poems, isn't he?<br />xRachel Foxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11803852725693518924noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6327348657265652781.post-50732050338304224672010-02-01T09:41:49.178+00:002010-02-01T09:41:49.178+00:00Jim, I don't know much about Bukowski but your...Jim, I don't know much about Bukowski but your review fills me with sadness for a man who clearly had enormous talent but a talent that it seems emerged out of his pain. <br /><br />Perhaps that's the way it is for all of us - our most creative moments come from suffering. <br /><br />I suspect Bukowski was set up, first by his parents and then by the media and the world at large to perform. <br /><br />I've seen this happen before: the vulnerable, shy one who takes to being rude and abusive in order to satisfy the vicarious pleasures of those in the audience who enjoy the lifting of their otherwise repressed feelings.<br /><br />I should not try to make sense of a person from one short review, however well researched. But you write so well, Jim snd so evicatively it sets my heart racing.<br /><br />I don't think that I am in fact commenting here on the actual man Bukowski, whom people have turned into a myth. <br /><br />Yet I see something familiar here and it fills me with a sort of sadness and anger that we judge the socially unacceptable behaviors of our celebrities harshly and at the same time we expect so much from them. <br /><br />Thanks for this Jim, as ever it's a terrific and powerful review and I'm pleased, however much I am saddened, to meet a version of this man through your review. <br /><br />I look forward now to reading more of his poetry. Thanks.Elisabethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04015624747225433940noreply@blogger.com