Father Luke
Founding member
it's Zavvier then, isn't it?
mjp
Founding member
I thought it was Valerian.
Father Luke
Founding member
Whose the third lucky guy?
Well, fourth I mean, after Lou Gerhig.
Father Luke
Founding member
waiting for jordan,
and one, two, three...
and one, two, three...
Father Luke
Founding member
I consider myself the 45763478456748395768th luckiest man on the face of the earth.
Father Luke
Founding member
divided by three
Father Luke
Founding member
Never apologize - Never explain
After Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man on the face of the earth, then comes
Zavvier/ Valerian (2) then comes jordan - Rubyred's bethroed, and unnamed lucky guy.
The fourth luckiest guy on the face of the earth. After Lou Gehrig.
In looking at the world, I've counted it up, I'm the
45763478456748395768th luckiest man on the face of the earth.
mjp said:
After Lou Gehrig, the luckiest man on the face of the earth, then comes
Zavvier/ Valerian (2) then comes jordan - Rubyred's bethroed, and unnamed lucky guy.
The fourth luckiest guy on the face of the earth. After Lou Gehrig.
In looking at the world, I've counted it up, I'm the
45763478456748395768th luckiest man on the face of the earth.
Father Luke
Founding member
bluebottle
Founding member
i don't think buk's overrated at all, although i prefer his earlier stuff like crucifix, burning in water, roominghouse madrigals to his later works - pulp being one of them. yeah, his greatness lies in his poetry, and his short stories. post office is a classic, and ham on rye like someone said, but even if his novels did pay the bills, i'd look toward the poems and stories. haven't been around here in ages! nice to look in again, though.
"Overrated" is a funny word. Depends on who's doing the rating, and if you value their opinions.
Personally, I'd rather be reading Buk than talking about him, so I only check in here every once in awhile. No offense, just that the art is what it is, and it means something different to each person who reads it. So I have my feelings about Buk, his writing, and that time in my life when it was all new to me. And some days, that's exactly what I need to get thru.
And other days I like coming in here and shooting the shit a bit with you fellas. Like now.
So, no, I don't think Buk is overrated.
And if he says 'Jane was a good fuck,' I believe him.
Personally, I'd rather be reading Buk than talking about him, so I only check in here every once in awhile. No offense, just that the art is what it is, and it means something different to each person who reads it. So I have my feelings about Buk, his writing, and that time in my life when it was all new to me. And some days, that's exactly what I need to get thru.
And other days I like coming in here and shooting the shit a bit with you fellas. Like now.
So, no, I don't think Buk is overrated.
And if he says 'Jane was a good fuck,' I believe him.
C
Composer
Bukowski overrated? Is he rated at all? I enjoy his writing immensely, but whether it's Great Art, verbal junk food or something in betwwen is not for me to say.
I first stumbled across one of his books (don't know which one) in City Lights (San Fran) in the 80's. There was a story about being picked up off the street by a city ambulance and taken to a drunk tank. I couldn't stop reading! But it was so effortless and natural that I suspected there was something "wrong" (Great Art takes Great Effort, right?) and so I didn't buy it, and forgot about him until last year.
I appreciate writers who get to the point without a lot of blather - Hemingway (most of the time), Vonnegut.... but Bukowski is the most concise of all. I think what makes his poems work is that he's able, with just a few words, one lone, to subtly turns things around especially his last lines. I've set several to music, and when I started I thought they'd all come out sounding chaotic, dissonant, jarring (I kept hearing very modern jazz in my head as I read them) but in fact they're funny and his self-confidence is rather uplifting, so most of the songs are relatively "pretty".
Sure he's by turns offensive, obscene and disgusting, but that's not really relevant to the quality of his work.
What makes me suspect that his work has Enduring Value is that I often laugh out loud in surprise when reading, the same as when I hear some amazing new kind of music, and sometimes want to read them outloud to myself.
I first stumbled across one of his books (don't know which one) in City Lights (San Fran) in the 80's. There was a story about being picked up off the street by a city ambulance and taken to a drunk tank. I couldn't stop reading! But it was so effortless and natural that I suspected there was something "wrong" (Great Art takes Great Effort, right?) and so I didn't buy it, and forgot about him until last year.
I appreciate writers who get to the point without a lot of blather - Hemingway (most of the time), Vonnegut.... but Bukowski is the most concise of all. I think what makes his poems work is that he's able, with just a few words, one lone, to subtly turns things around especially his last lines. I've set several to music, and when I started I thought they'd all come out sounding chaotic, dissonant, jarring (I kept hearing very modern jazz in my head as I read them) but in fact they're funny and his self-confidence is rather uplifting, so most of the songs are relatively "pretty".
Sure he's by turns offensive, obscene and disgusting, but that's not really relevant to the quality of his work.
What makes me suspect that his work has Enduring Value is that I often laugh out loud in surprise when reading, the same as when I hear some amazing new kind of music, and sometimes want to read them outloud to myself.
He's not for everyone. But no, I think Bukowski is very underrated - in the United States, that is.
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good point.
why don't you bastards open another beer and take a swig of that whiskey bottle.
bospress.net
www.bospress.net
one hand for typing, one hand for master.... (er, I mean drinking...)
Bill
Bill
I don't think he's overrated.He had a select fan base.He "made it" but was never commercial per se.
A lot of people i speak to find his writings awful and rough.So I've found that people actually don't get his writings the way they are meant to be taken in....
A lot of people i speak to find his writings awful and rough.So I've found that people actually don't get his writings the way they are meant to be taken in....
well, i'm from Turkey, and man, there he is a god of the downtrodden and the free.. so i guess he is an author beyond any cultural limitations and speaks for people beyond his generation..
i don't really care if he is over-rated myself, i mean history will judge him and all but who cares since we all enjoy his works, right?
i don't really care if he is over-rated myself, i mean history will judge him and all but who cares since we all enjoy his works, right?
Father Luke
Founding member
You got it Toyota.
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
Overrated? Why the question? We read him over and over again and never ceases to amaze. I am reading an underrated book of Bukowski "People look like flowers at last" 's Purple glow, The snow of Italy, Rimbaud be damned, Jane'shoes...it keeps going.