Heinrich Karl Bukowski, known to the world simply as Charles Bukowski, was a German-American short story writer, poet, and novelist, an exponent of dirty realism and considered one of the cursed poets due to his rampant alcoholism, poverty, and bohemian lifestyle. His work is inspired by the atmosphere of Los Angeles, where he lived until his final days.
The author He wrote several books belonging to different genres, including essays, novels, poetry, literary criticism, short stories, diaries, and even a film script starring his alter ego, Henry Chinaski. Everything he did was criticized, and he was accused of a vulgar style intended for show. If you'd like to learn more about his work, here's a must-read selection of books by Charles Bukowski.
Books you should read to understand the work of Charles Bukowski
The path of the loser (2006), by Charles Bukowski
This is an autobiography written from the point of view of Henry Chinaski, the alter ego of Charles Bukowski, through which he develops the theory of the "other America", an economic, social, and intellectual framework in which the so-called American Dream appears to be just that: a dream that is not available to everyone, an aspirational black hole that can swallow anything in its path.
Here, Bukowski He recounts, with a complete absence of illusions and without resorting to self-pity, how he lived with an abusive father who hit his mother. while she defended him, with an alcoholic uncle and in the middle of a poor neighborhood. In this sense, the author establishes a strict fraternity with all the "Chinaskis," people who know the backyards and shady bars of America.
- "They experimented on the poor, and if it worked, they used the treatment on the rich. And if it didn't work, there were still plenty of poor people to experiment on."
Women (2006), by Charles Bukowski
This is not only one of the American writer's most acclaimed novels, but also one of his most curious, both for its subject matter and for the dialectical change that Bukowski underwent following the fame he acquired in his later years. The author always liked women, but he had never experienced a great appreciation from the female gender. until it became a reference.
This could perhaps be because he had not been exposed to the type of women most likely to enjoy his work. Over time, his fans began to harass him in hotels and bars., which Bukowski, by the way, used to greatly enjoy. This led him to reconsider his misogyny, so evident in his earlier books, and to reclaim the role of women in his life.
- "There's something out of control about me; I think about sex too much. When I see a woman, I always imagine her in bed with me. It's an interesting way to kill time in airports."
Postman (2006), by Charles Bukowski
Here is Bukowski's first novel, a text that emerged during a particularly turbulent period in the author's life: when he abandoned his job to devote himself entirely to writing. As readers may have noticed, Charles used to write his works through his own experiences and conceptions, so each letter and each paragraph are partially or totally inspired by his life.
Postman It was born as a libertarian bird that went to perch in the annals of the history of an era, but also those who came before him. The work describes the twelve years Bukowski spent working in a seedy Los Angeles post office. The novel ends when the author, aged forty-nine, decides to leave his formal job and dedicate himself to writing.
- "It wasn't my day. Not my week, not my month, not my year. Not my life. Damn it!"
Charles Bukowski: Writings of a Dirty Old Man, The Fucking Machine, Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions (2014), by Charles Bukowski
This title comprises the three volumes that consolidated Charles Bukowski as the great chronicler of the other side of the American dream, as a kind of relentless painter of the urban underworld. Here all marginality is subverted and exalted to its highest point, accompanying people who spend their time at the police station, men who buy inflatable dolls, prostitutes and Hollywood stars.
The series of stories includes characters that have become literary classics, such as the prostitute who sticks pins in herself to destroy her beauty, the drunkard, and the man who is seduced by a woman and then put before public and police scrutiny. It is an unmistakable walk through Los Angeles, its customs, its people and, as always, its slums.
- "It was then that I could see that she was a person overflowing with kindness and affection. She gave herself without knowing it. At the same time, she regressed to areas of disorder and incoherence. Schizoid. A beautiful and spiritual schizo. Perhaps some man, something, would end up destroying her forever. I hoped it wasn't me."
Factotum (1991), by Charles Bukowski
Over the years, Bukowski has been compared to writers such as Henry Miller, Céline, and Hemingway. However, it must be said, Charles stood out in one unique way, whether you like it or not: he spoke truths that were hard to hear and read, and he did so without resorting to the elegance or ethereal quality of other poets. In this book, The author draws another autobiography that is both funny and melancholic.
The book describes the youth of Henry Chinaski, and how he jumps from one job to another while trying to forge a career in literature.His paths are all sordid, filled with alcoholism, untimely deaths, obsessive lust, and a brutally honest take on life on the streets. It's always been said that his laconic prose feels like a punch to the jaw, and this book proves it.
- "It was true that I didn't have much ambition, but there should be a place for people without ambition—a better place, that is, than the one usually reserved for them. How on earth could a man enjoy being woken up at 6:30 in the morning by an alarm clock, leaping out of bed, getting dressed, force-fed, shitting, urinating, brushing his teeth and hair, and fighting traffic to get to a place where he was, in essence, making someone a lot of money and being asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?"
-
Best quotes from Charles Bukowski
- "Some people never go crazy. What a horrible life they must have."
- "How sad those years were, having the desire and the need to live but not having the ability";
- "Love is a form of prejudice. You love what you need, you love what makes you feel good, you love what is good for you."
- "You have to die a few times before you can truly live";
- "When something bad happens, you drink to forget it; if something good happens, you drink to celebrate; and if nothing happens, you also drink to make something happen."
- «You easily identify the free soul when you see it»;
- "Beware of those who seek crowds."