I'll sometimes show people some of Bukowski's work and quite often the response will be "it seems so dark and negative". It's difficult to explain that in reality it's not negative but simply brutally honest writing. I also sometimes wonder if these people are sometimes right in what they're saying and start to question myself
Does anyone else get this type of response and are we generally more negative then positive in our outlook?
"Being 'realistic' is often little more than a justification for negative thinking."
-Dr. John Eliot, performance psychologist formerly at Rice University
I bet that a lot of people who read Bukowski find in his books a justification for their own negative thinking, for their own lack of ambition in doing something about their situation, their despair, their "depression".
They tend to be those who love to play the role of the blameless victim, and the offender is usually society, or bad parents, or bad luck, or whatever.
Bukowski was a glorified loser, it's just that he was able to be a winner because he wrote well about being a loser. But most losers can't redeem themselves in this way.
I read Bukowski for the same reason I do anything else--it yields pleasure. In that respect, at least, I am positive person. You're more optimistic when you're having fun, and Bukowski's work can be very fun.
