BUK and CHRISTMAS! (2 Viewers)

Black Swan

Abord the Yorikke!
Bukowski mentions Christmas on several occasions and seems to hate it.
Displays in green and red, until the new cue.
What do you think about it? How do you deal with it?
I always spend too much money.

the agnostic

I've come off a week of the flu
just in time
to face the oncoming Christmas
season,
and do you realize the hopeless
crazy feeling this brings to an
agnostic?
it's as if the whole world has gone
sick on cue

(Charles Bukowski)
 
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I think I just read in Sounes' bio that Buk's best Christmas was one time in Philly where he looked out the window, saw no one was coming, closed the curtain, and went back to writing.
 
It's no big surprise Buk disliked Christmas and New Year's Eve since he disliked people in general, or so he claimed. I have to confess I like Christmas myself - good food, good wine, presents, cosy atmosphere, people all in a good mood etc. What more can you ask for? I know - being left alone in a small room in a roominghouse. :rolleyes:
 
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I believe Buk loved Christmas and thought of himself as a jolly, jolly Santa Claus and believed in all the religious conotations the holiday celeberation brings to our spirits.

But I am on Acid (extasy for you young ones)-so, I don't know.
 
Buk also has the great bit from Women (collected in The Dreaded Feast. Another good example... I like half of Christmas... the other half (the music, the money, the busy streets, the snow) I could do without.

Hm, maybe I like 1/4 of Christmas.
 
One dislike I share with Hank. I am actually indifferent to any kind of celebrations, especially the ones which pair with overconsumption.
 
Buk hated Christmas, for sure. Maybe partly because he had no family and how he could celebrate christmas all alone in cheap rented room...
 
Hated on those crap jingles too

I can't hear a Christmas jingle without thinking of the poem Bukowski writes of hearing a jingle off the radio in summer "I'd rather play ping pong with a risen Hitler." My sentiments too, though Ameoba records was spinning some cool xmas tunes today, like the kinks "..Father Christmas, gives us some money, we got no time for your silly toys."
 
Don't know if Buk hated Christmas so much as the idea of holidays like Christmas. I seem to remember him writing somewhere that the holiday spirit just felt fake to him. Or something to that effect.
 
Christmas eve, alone


Christmas eve, alone,
in a motel room
down the coast
near the Pacific"”
hear it?

they've tried to do this place up
Spanish, there's
tapestry and lamps, and
the toilet's clean, there are
tiny bars of pink
soap.

they won't find us
here:
the barracudas or the ladies or
the idol
worshippers.

back in town
they're drunk and panicked
running red lights
breaking their heads open
in honor of Christ's
birthday. that's nice.

soon I'll finish this 5th of
Puerto Rican rum.
in the morning I'll vomit and
shower, drive back
in, have a sandwich by 1 p.m.,
be back in my room by
2,
stretched on the bed,
waiting for the phone to ring,
not answering,
my holiday is an
evasion, my reasoning
is not.

© Charles Bukowski
 
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i don't know about bukowski but if i hear any more christmas music i'm gonna jam
a letter opener in my ears...
 
Modern day Dickens?

Bukowski spoke about unfortunate, lonely and poor people most of his literary life - so he was more about "Christmas" (for the right reasons) than most, who did it once a year.
 
When I have a girl, her family and friends, eh, Christmas is fine. Just spend too much money trying to maker her happy. When I don't have a girl(this year), her family and friends, well than it just kinda sucks and I drink more than, or maybe the same as usual.
 
Black Swan, every time I think I find it, it's ripped away and I end up being the one that ruined everything, well according to them, of course. This last one, was hard. I was in love with her since she was 11! Don't worry, when she was 11, I was 12! But we went our separate ways, for years and years, then came back together 3 years ago and I thought, ok, we were always meant to be and that turned into 3 of the craziest years of my life, and now she's gone again....
 
The way I look at Christmas is this - I don't believe in the religious aspect in any way but if you look at history, even before Christ, people who live in places where you have cold, miserable winters need a feast of drinking and eating too much just to take their mind off it. So, as I see it, I'm just following on in that tradition ;)
 
Me too! They just took our ancient winter solstice feast and started to call it Christmas instead, that's all.
 
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I disagree as I am very much impressed with the religious aspect of Christmas. In December in America, ninety percent of our retail sales is done in that month, and as our national religion is truly the worship of money I feel it's quite appropriate that our most popular religious holiday coincides with this.

But then I do not worship money or Jesus but I do worship Jaime Pressly.

But alas, I am on acid.
 
In December in America, ninety percent of our retail sales is done in that month, and as our national religion is truly the worship of money I feel it's quite appropriate that our most popular religious holiday coincides with this

I think Santa would agree.


evil-corporate-santa-returns.jpg
 
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not another wanna-be buk editor!

stop riding his coattails. it's very undignified...
 
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Hey, you guys. I've got these letters in a box which I have since the mid 1980's. I used to correspond and interview Buk. I did. I really did. I've got boxes. Any day now I'm going to post them here on this website but, not yet. But, soon though. Some people "Doubt" me but you shouldn't.
 

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