I was pretty young when I started reading Bukowski and I really didn't get a lot of the humor that he put down. As I get older, read more and lurk on this forum I can see it a bit more clearly. Hopefully.
A Bukowski line that made you laugh out loud! (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter Joe Batters
- Start date
The first line that comes to mind which makes me laugh just thinking about it is from the end of post office when buk explains the trapping season and when asked what he does the line goes into italics and reads trap!
Father Luke
Founding member
It began as a mistake.
who would be interested in the story of a drunk?
another drunk
another drunk
HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHA!! Well that's true!
Look at my onceupoatimefriend Thomas, a biker from Oslo: a drunken guy who loves Buk because of his (Buk's) drunken exploits.
Great poets die in steaming pots of shit.
justine
stop the penistry
from Factotum (chinaski is having a conversation with manny the young chicano):
"a woman is a full-time job. you have to choose your profession."
"i suppose there is an emotional drain."
"physical too. they want to fuck night and day."
"get one you like to fuck."
"yes, but if you drink or gamble they think it's a put-down of their love."
"get one who likes to drink, gamble and fuck."
"who wants a woman like that?"
"a woman is a full-time job. you have to choose your profession."
"i suppose there is an emotional drain."
"physical too. they want to fuck night and day."
"get one you like to fuck."
"yes, but if you drink or gamble they think it's a put-down of their love."
"get one who likes to drink, gamble and fuck."
"who wants a woman like that?"
the only good poet
One retreat after another without peace.
"Not many people in the world had very much money but the less money they had the better they seemed to live."
P
postino
That cracked me up too.
"Evil evil evil man! You came here to rape me!"
"Look lady, let me by."
"THERE IS EVIL WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE!"
"Don't you think I know that? Now let me out of here!"
"The blacks love me here, Feathers. I have fooled them."
"The blacks love you?"
"They give me water. I even fuck their women. Or try to."
"YOU DON'T SMELL FIRE," I yelled, "YOU SMELL SMOKE!"
Post Office, lines whatever
One night I was drunker than usual. I refused to punch in. "This is it," I told them.
The Elf was in trauma. "How will we make it, Chinaski?"
"Ah."
"Give us one more night!"
I got his head in the crook of my arm, squeezed; his ears turned pink. "Little bastard," I said. Then I let him go.
Factotum
"Look lady, let me by."
"THERE IS EVIL WRITTEN ALL OVER YOUR FACE!"
"Don't you think I know that? Now let me out of here!"
"The blacks love me here, Feathers. I have fooled them."
"The blacks love you?"
"They give me water. I even fuck their women. Or try to."
"YOU DON'T SMELL FIRE," I yelled, "YOU SMELL SMOKE!"
Post Office, lines whatever
One night I was drunker than usual. I refused to punch in. "This is it," I told them.
The Elf was in trauma. "How will we make it, Chinaski?"
"Ah."
"Give us one more night!"
I got his head in the crook of my arm, squeezed; his ears turned pink. "Little bastard," I said. Then I let him go.
Factotum
M
MULLINAX
1) "He told me to get the hell out of there."
"I got the hell out of there".
2) "Nobody makes stew like you do. It's your greatest talent".
"Thanks a hell of a lot". (Barfly?)
3) "I could see the headlines: 'Man abuses young girl and sells her body to bums'". (the plane ride to New York with Cupcakes)
4) "Noble warrior, there's nothing but space between us". (the janitor scene at the LA Times building.
5) "Well, we were late because we had to baptise a dog". (from somewhere)
6) "I threw the mail onto the robes, took a swig of holy wine, sat down on the crapper and smoked a cigarette in the dark". (Post Office)
and many, many more...
"I got the hell out of there".
2) "Nobody makes stew like you do. It's your greatest talent".
"Thanks a hell of a lot". (Barfly?)
3) "I could see the headlines: 'Man abuses young girl and sells her body to bums'". (the plane ride to New York with Cupcakes)
4) "Noble warrior, there's nothing but space between us". (the janitor scene at the LA Times building.
5) "Well, we were late because we had to baptise a dog". (from somewhere)
6) "I threw the mail onto the robes, took a swig of holy wine, sat down on the crapper and smoked a cigarette in the dark". (Post Office)
and many, many more...
M
MULLINAX
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
from a P.S. in "Letters/1958-1965"
no man is an island
but why are so many of them
flecks of dirt ?
and from the poem "Back To The Machine Gun" :
...the night harness races will have to wait...
no man is an island
but why are so many of them
flecks of dirt ?
and from the poem "Back To The Machine Gun" :
...the night harness races will have to wait...
M
MULLINAX
What is this "Letters/1958-1965"? Sounds like something I want.
justine
stop the penistry
it certainly is.
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
"Charles Bukowski : Selected Letters, Volume 1: 1958-1965"
edited by Seamus Cooney
first published in 2004
Virgin Books Ltd.
It is a great read and a great peek inside the head of Buk. (Gotta run right now, but will write more later tonight.)
edited by Seamus Cooney
first published in 2004
Virgin Books Ltd.
It is a great read and a great peek inside the head of Buk. (Gotta run right now, but will write more later tonight.)
I believe that the Virgin Books 'Selected Letters' present in 4 volumes the same letters collected in the 3 Black Sparrow books 'Screams from the Balcony', 'Living on Luck' and 'Reach for the Sun'. Not sure if Virgin included any of the letters from 'Beerspit Night and Cursing' or 'The Bukowski / Purdy Letters' but I suspect they aren't included in those UK collections.
M
MULLINAX
Thanks. That's the BRITISH edition, as opposed to what BS put out.
Yes, I have the Virgin Books letter versions also - four volumes (comprising Screams from the Balcony, Living on Luck, and Reach for the Sun):
'58-'65
'65-'70
'71-'86
'87-'94
They were at a used bookstore here, so I scooped 'em up, just so I could leave my BSP volumes in better shape. Great for reading on the crapper. Well, what Buk isn't great for reading on the crapper?:p
bluebottle
Founding member
this is funny. whenever i'm doing something boring and repetitive i always think of chinaski yelling out "SUNBEAM!" and everybody cracking up about it. also from the same story i think is another one of my favorite funny lines: "fluff it, motherfucker." haha! every morning in the mirror when i'm trying to figure out my hair, i say, "fluff it, motherfucker." and when biding my time, evading work, wandering around trying to look busy, i say to myself, "fluff it motherfucker."
Apparently, ROC, you don't spend enough time on the crapper!;)
My favorite line, amongst so very many, especially in Women, is from Ham on Rye: Whilst Buk and Red were in the pool.
"You dirty little pervert, you're trying for free grabs"...
...He grabbed my cunt!...
{and here's the line}
..."Lady," said the man, "the boy probably thought it was the grate over the drain."
I can't tell you how many times I woke up laughing my ass off about that line.
My favorite line, amongst so very many, especially in Women, is from Ham on Rye: Whilst Buk and Red were in the pool.
"You dirty little pervert, you're trying for free grabs"...
...He grabbed my cunt!...
{and here's the line}
..."Lady," said the man, "the boy probably thought it was the grate over the drain."
I can't tell you how many times I woke up laughing my ass off about that line.
People always talked about the good clean smell of fresh sweat. They had to make excuses for it. They never talked about the good clean smell of fresh shit.
number6horse
okyoutwopixiesoutyougo
I still have 1964 and 1965 to go yet, but I've found some great insights so far. He was absolutely thrilled when Jon and Louise Webb published his book It Catches My Heart In Its Hands. He sounds like a kid at Christmas writing them and thanking them. This is quite a contrast to the "indifferent Buk" who usually kept his distance and was distrustful of success, fame, etc...Also, the absolute devastation he felt over the death of Jane. He was not himself and basically couldn't write for a while afterwards. Not that this is a surprise, but you know - the "guarded,above-it-all Buk" image.... He also pours his heart out to one Ann Bauman a couple times. Sometimes in a flirtatious, romantic way, and in one instance, in a very depressed and suicidal way. Very compelling stuff. This Seamus Conney fellow arranges the material in a very readable manner. And, yes, he acknowledges that the material first appeared in Screams From The Balcony and Living On Luck.
Black Swan
Abord the Yorikke!
six inches, from the most beautiful woman in town...
