bukowski and women (1 Viewer)

[pepe c]

after responding to the thread on buk quotes i thought about this.

i've had a variety of girlfriends and one common denominator holds between the most memorable, and that is that they were bukowski fans. they had at least a couple books and understood his point of view. other women i have talked to that unloaded the usual snowball of cliched criticisms i never even considered. but not based on this fact. we just didn't click. i'm almost thinking the women i did like were in a way female versions of bukowski. they were fierce and intense, and let you live your own way. anyone have similar experiences?

 

[pepe c]

I guess no one has similar experiences .... i find that hard to believe.

I'd also like to apologize for tacitly assuming in my post that there are no women on this board ... something else I find hard to believe.

Anyway i'm glad to say i'm with a woman right now who is a fan of bukowski. so many little things are left unsaid because we just understand each other and I think that comes from a philosophical connection, and I have a hunch bukowski has something to do with it.

...and I hope I didn't frighten anyone by envisioning a female version of bukowski, like bukowski in a miniskirt ... you know that's not what I meant, don't you?!

 

[hoochmonkey9]

I've found that most of the women I've met who criticize Buk haven't really read him, and are going on his image alone.
my wife (then girlfriend) initially turned her nose up at Buk. then she read post office. and then the rest of the novels. she's a fan now. she sees his humour and realizes that while he is a sometimes difficult and conflicted person, he is at heart a kind one.

 

[pepe c]

that's exactly how my girlfriend sees buk. I read him when I was about 20 and I was attracted to his comic side. that's still what I like when I read him. but reading him with this new perspective makes me appreciate him even more.

 

[Illi]

Well, I got my first Bukowski book from a female friend of mine, and I instantly became a fan. I guess both of us considered ourselves to be female Bukowskis, and a lot of other people considered us as something like that as well.

I have often have problems with the way many male writers portrait women, which has lead to that I read less and less male writers. Bukowski, however, is not one of them.

My main problem is when a male writer idealises women, describes them as somehow mystical, fragile, good, better than men etc... I can't stand that.

I prefer Bukowski: "Cunts are indestructable."

 

[slimedog]

My wife recently read her first Bukowski, Post Office, and enjoyed it. She's now reading South of No North and is put off a bit by the nastiness of the stories(hee!hee!).

 

[pepe c]

interesting viewpoint, illi.

I never thought about the female viewpoint from a female viewpoint, if that makes any sense. i guess i just went by gut instinct and liked or not liked based on that. But i totally agree that placing anyone on a pedestal is bad news in any arena of life.

"Cunts are indestructable" ..... i like that. i need some dogma in my life

 

[pepe c]

"My wife recently read her first Bukowski, Post Office, and enjoyed it. She's now reading South of No North and is put off a bit by the nastiness of the stories(hee!hee!)."

she'll get over it. soon she'll see the glory in drinking cheap wine and howling at the moon

 

[HenryChinaski]

I'm giving my girlfriend a copy of Run With The Hunted for no reason what so ever. She will read it too. I'm interested to see how she takes to it.