My Bukowski Quiz

[number6horse]

Ques 5 should've been worded better. Paul Giamatti said in Sideways he thought Bukowski wrote that line. It kind of doesn't really belong in the test - or at least not on that page - but that's where I first heard of Bukowski :rolleyes:

That was one of the funnier lines in the film, IMO.
Thanks for including it.
I scored 83%

 

[cirerita]

Oh, that would have been even worse to put in.

Bukowski was never "into" meditation. He tried all kinds of ridiculous homeopathic voodoo bullshit at the end of his life (not that meditation is ridiculous homeopathic bullshit, I just lump it in because he did not do it before he was told he was dying). We probably all would. Why not? Meditation was certainly not something he came to on his own. Like the rest of the insence-wafting and dead-chicken-waving, it was sugested by Linda.

And like the rest of it, it did absolutely no good.

Sometime you get something, and it just kills you, that's it. The end.

Lukemia is generally one of those things. No matter how quietly you sit or what kinds of oils you spread on your body.

I don't know about the homeopathic bullshit, but B did try a few Ayurvedic remedies. Ayurveda is one of the oldest -if not the oldest- natural branches of Medicine in India. It has been used there for ages with stunning results. Problem is, you don't use Ayurveda -or any other natural remedy- as a last resort, but as a way of life. B never believed in Ayurveda and he used it as a last resort. Had it worked, it would have been a miracle. That is, if you believe in miracles.

We don't know for sure if meditation did him no good at all. Maybe it gave him peace of mind. Who knows? Who cares?

 

[mjp]

Yeah, Ayurveda. I have nothing against natural medicine. My great, great grandmother was full-blooded Oglala Sioux, and they knew a thing or two about healing with plants and the four winds (and hallucinogenics). Problem is, they couldn't cure or fix everything, and again, something like lukemia isn't fixed by a plaster or a tea. The Sioux certainly died en masse thanks to Europeans, and those who are left continue to die, as do Ayurvedic practicing Indians and everyone else, regardless of the medicine they believe in.

Then again, plains Indians like the Oglala probably didn't get lukemia, as they weren't exposed to the carcinogens that we are today. So, for what they had to deal with, their healers were pretty effective. But ask any doctor, Ayurvedic, medicine man or PhD, and if they are being honest they will tell you that when people become ill they either get better or they don't, and they (the healers) have very little to do with the outcome. They are there to make the patient feel better.

Not really the topic anyway, I think the real issue is Bukowski was scared, as I suppose most of us will be when we're near the end, and he was up to try anything.

He mocked and ridiculed Linda's beliefs repeatedly, for years and years, so there is no reason to believe that he suddenly saw the light and embraced meditation or anything else that he tried out of desperation. When Linda describes him meditating, she is projecting her own transcendent feelings onto him. But she doesn't really know what he was thinking as he sat there.

 

[cirerita]

Of course B didn't firmly believe in Ayurveda, etc. As I said, he tried it as a last resort, and probably jokingly. Ayurveda does not cure leukemia, obviously. But that's not the point. The point is that Ayurveda helps to prevent leukemia and many other illnesses. For Indians, it's a way of life. It's almost stupid (and very Western-ish) to use Ayurveda as a last resort because you know it won't work.

But you have a very valid point when you say that natural medicine might not be as effective in modern times.

Sorry for the off-topic.

 

[d gray]

I don't get it - I scored 30/30 but only got 91% - Hank solo, you got 93% but what was your score?:confused:

 

[Purple Stickpin]

This initially confused me as well. I think what you saw was something to the effect of "you have answered 30/30 questions." Then you logged in and got your 91%. What the 30/30 means is that you have finished the test, not that you got 30 correct/30.

That's my take anyway.

 

[d gray]

that makes sense - especially cause I guessed on some of them :o