Fairly accurate view of the masses. You can tell the standard they live by whenever you go to a natural place, like a beach, a forest, or a riverside. Garbage everywhere.
Meanwhile, I'd like to suggest that his mother may not have been as simple-minded as he states. Perhaps she was dealing with all the crap she had seen in her life and around her (those masses again), and didn't want to see his mopey "angry young man" face all the time. Mothers put up with enough (literal) shit from their kids. When the kid grows up, enough already. Either smile or take your sad elsewhere.
I think that about one out of five of every poem Bukowski wrote has stayed with me, but then, when you've written as much as Bukowski did, that's a hell of a lot of poems. And if at any time I have trouble getting the poetic engine started, I don't read Pound or Eliot. I read Bukowski.
''After death vanity has no place and before, it is an illness of the spirit.'' nice quote, also I would add to this, just lose a few teeth and have toothless grin surprising how vanity disappears. And then people are surprised and much more at ease.
Recently, a friend, who once was a Bukowski fan, emailed me links to several Bukowski videos. I watched them and concluded Bukowski was a really talented man, an incorrigible drunk, he did not like himself or women, and he was rough with some women. Here is one of the videos.
He liked himself plenty which is why he spent so much time alone creating. "I've never been lonely. I like myself. I'm the best form of entertainment I have," he once wrote. And he loved women too, a lot. He enjoyed their company to his friends. Buk was a big-hearted romantic with ragged exterior. He drank far less than he put on. He was a hard-working writer who pretended to hate hard work. Flawed? Sure, but there hasn't been any good art produced by the flawless. Most writers were far worse than Bukowski, morally speaking, they just wore the mask better.
I told my friend who gave me the video links what you replied to me. He said Bukowski hated himself, and said so in his book, Ham On Rye, in which he described his horrible teenage acne. He got into fights at his school. The school medical officer worried the acne was contagious. Bukowski was not allowed to attend that school. A female teacher came to his home to teach him, He tried to make a move on her.
I don't know if you have spent much time in close quarters with degenerative alcoholics. I have. My parents. A girlfriend. The entire family of my second wife, whom I told, she could have two drinks, only. Otherwise, like them, she turned into a werewolf after the 3rd drink. When I was homeless, I was forced to be in close quarters with degenerative alcoholics. Degenerative alcholics are trying to killed themselves, put themselves off of their misery. Perhaps they view it as compassionate suicide. Perhaps they view it as self love.
The videos my friend gave me provide a bit more about Bukowski than what he wrote.
Ham on Rye was about his youth. Of course he "hated" himself in his youth. He had boils on his face and his father beat the hell out of him constantly. I don't know what you're getting at. He was a poet who created light and wasn't frightened to reveal the dark. He lived in the suburbs with his wife in his later years and made it to 73 years old. Your friend is a hater.
One of the most interesting articles I have read on Substack so far, thank you for sharing it!
“Creation is one hell of a marvelous miracle”
A great thinker.
Thanks for this!
“The masses can’t be large” I love this statement of his!
Truth has such beauty. It is often difficult to hear, let alone embrace its leprous disguise. Truth is a dirty old man
Good saying
A lot said here to ponder further.
Marvelous interview! Thanks for the post!
Revelatory for me. Was under impression that I had little patience for him. This proved me wrong.
Wow. The best thing I could read first thing in the morning. Thank you.
Fairly accurate view of the masses. You can tell the standard they live by whenever you go to a natural place, like a beach, a forest, or a riverside. Garbage everywhere.
Meanwhile, I'd like to suggest that his mother may not have been as simple-minded as he states. Perhaps she was dealing with all the crap she had seen in her life and around her (those masses again), and didn't want to see his mopey "angry young man" face all the time. Mothers put up with enough (literal) shit from their kids. When the kid grows up, enough already. Either smile or take your sad elsewhere.
I think that about one out of five of every poem Bukowski wrote has stayed with me, but then, when you've written as much as Bukowski did, that's a hell of a lot of poems. And if at any time I have trouble getting the poetic engine started, I don't read Pound or Eliot. I read Bukowski.
Timely
thanks hank 🖤
Thank you for posting this interview. Wow. What an amazing Soul he was. More, please!
''After death vanity has no place and before, it is an illness of the spirit.'' nice quote, also I would add to this, just lose a few teeth and have toothless grin surprising how vanity disappears. And then people are surprised and much more at ease.
Recently, a friend, who once was a Bukowski fan, emailed me links to several Bukowski videos. I watched them and concluded Bukowski was a really talented man, an incorrigible drunk, he did not like himself or women, and he was rough with some women. Here is one of the videos.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUeGsTjIj0A
He liked himself plenty which is why he spent so much time alone creating. "I've never been lonely. I like myself. I'm the best form of entertainment I have," he once wrote. And he loved women too, a lot. He enjoyed their company to his friends. Buk was a big-hearted romantic with ragged exterior. He drank far less than he put on. He was a hard-working writer who pretended to hate hard work. Flawed? Sure, but there hasn't been any good art produced by the flawless. Most writers were far worse than Bukowski, morally speaking, they just wore the mask better.
I told my friend who gave me the video links what you replied to me. He said Bukowski hated himself, and said so in his book, Ham On Rye, in which he described his horrible teenage acne. He got into fights at his school. The school medical officer worried the acne was contagious. Bukowski was not allowed to attend that school. A female teacher came to his home to teach him, He tried to make a move on her.
I don't know if you have spent much time in close quarters with degenerative alcoholics. I have. My parents. A girlfriend. The entire family of my second wife, whom I told, she could have two drinks, only. Otherwise, like them, she turned into a werewolf after the 3rd drink. When I was homeless, I was forced to be in close quarters with degenerative alcoholics. Degenerative alcholics are trying to killed themselves, put themselves off of their misery. Perhaps they view it as compassionate suicide. Perhaps they view it as self love.
The videos my friend gave me provide a bit more about Bukowski than what he wrote.
Ham on Rye was about his youth. Of course he "hated" himself in his youth. He had boils on his face and his father beat the hell out of him constantly. I don't know what you're getting at. He was a poet who created light and wasn't frightened to reveal the dark. He lived in the suburbs with his wife in his later years and made it to 73 years old. Your friend is a hater.
A picture’s worth a thousand words.
Did you watch the video?