Bukowski fans: are we negative? (1 Viewer)

A

adrian

I'll sometimes show people some of Bukowski's work and quite often the response will be "it seems so dark and negative". It's difficult to explain that in reality it's not negative but simply brutally honest writing. I also sometimes wonder if these people are sometimes right in what they're saying and start to question myself

Does anyone else get this type of response and are we generally more negative then positive in our outlook?
 
Yes, generally people find Bukowski negative like I did when I first read him. That is probably when I was still lying to myself and pretending that it was all a matter of choice. What other choice is there but to live with it?
 
It's amazing the lengths people will go to bullshit themselves.

Some of it is about taste,
but a lot of it is about the emperor's new clothes thing,
you know?

CB was like the kid who said I don't see any fancy clothes.
Then he got hated for it.

Nice, right?
 
adrian said:
I'll sometimes show people some of Bukowski's work and quite often the response will be "it seems so dark and negative". It's difficult to explain that in reality it's not negative but simply brutally honest writing. I also sometimes wonder if these people are sometimes right in what they're saying and start to question myself

Does anyone else get this type of response and are we generally more negative then positive in our outlook?
Click to expand...

"Being 'realistic' is often little more than a justification for negative thinking."

-Dr. John Eliot, performance psychologist formerly at Rice University


I bet that a lot of people who read Bukowski find in his books a justification for their own negative thinking, for their own lack of ambition in doing something about their situation, their despair, their "depression".

They tend to be those who love to play the role of the blameless victim, and the offender is usually society, or bad parents, or bad luck, or whatever.

Bukowski was a glorified loser, it's just that he was able to be a winner because he wrote well about being a loser. But most losers can't redeem themselves in this way.

I read Bukowski for the same reason I do anything else--it yields pleasure. In that respect, at least, I am positive person. You're more optimistic when you're having fun, and Bukowski's work can be very fun.
 
Didn't I just read a poem where Buk says he is accused of being "sooo negative" by the girls in school?
He ends up by saying something like I've been negative all my life but I'm essentially happy whereas the girls with the positive outlook ended up bitter and unhappy.

Hank Solo... help me out here!
 
Accepting what life is throwing at you is positive. Indeed the world is a cruel place to live in especially when looking at all the social injustice around the globe.Reading Bukowski does alleviate some of the weight because he created from his experience.

I like this
"I don't know about other people ,
but when I bend over
to put on my shoes in the
morning, I think, christ
almighty, now what?"
 
I realy don't care what other people think. I like his work. I like Dante, I like Anthony Bourdain, I like Baudelaire, I like James Havok. The connection? I like them!! I may suggest to someone to read something from either of the above and get the same response. "what a negative outlook!". You know what, if you don't like it, fuck off and read Danielle Steele, or Jilly Cooper, or God forbid J.K. Rowling. I like my writing gritty, honest and to the point. You want to read pansy-arsing about non-sense then fine, I will not slate you. I may mock you and I may see you as a lower level life form to myself but hey, we all have our faults.
Bukowski is as gritty and honest as they come and fair fucking play to the guy for having the balls to write what the fuck he liked!
 
..its all about accepting or questioning the circumstances that are surrounding you...sometimes....no, often it is easier to just accept.
Most probably its also easier to go on then.
But where to?
 
Saroyan

William Saroyan says that writers come in two types. Ones that pretend that they are not going to die, and others who are conscious that they are going to die.
Mickey Mouse is about pretending. It is a distraction from reality.
Hank wrote about the real world not the pretend world. People who label him as "negative" want to pretend that their "positive" delusion is the only way to look at the world. They are in reality Disney Land fascists.
I don't support fascism.
 
the first story in hot water music is pretty positive... about two assholes who positively love their lives.
 
Nah, man. I've always found his stuff really uplifting.

You should show these nay-sayers something like Houellebecq if they wanna see negative.
 
Don't you hate it when you ask someone
"how are you doing?"
and they reply "Great, everything is great"
I usuallly leave them thinking
"Jezuzzz what's wrong with him"
 
What's wrong with them? They're quite probably religious nuts who tend to see everything as "Great, everything is great" all the time. I find this rather annoying and often wonder if they're paedophiles. What they require is a sneaky left hook to the ribs when they least expect it :)
 
my first encounter with Bukowski was only 4 months ago and boy was I pissed that I hadn't read him before!At the age of 31 and Chinanski hadn't even entered into my system now I need my Chinanski fix . And no, negative wasn't the first adjective i used to describe Ham on the Rye , it was fan'bloody'tastic. It seemed more positive then anything as such literary beauty was produced after a life as that of Bukowski's.
 
Beaten like a bitch I surely was,to the verge of tears . Now Chinanski's out of my life again....until next time !! Just got a thing for filthy drunk ageing loosers..no offense Hank.
 
SouthernGentleman said:
I read Bukowski for the same reason I do anything else--it yields pleasure. In that respect, at least, I am positive person. You're more optimistic when you're having fun, and Bukowski's work can be very fun.
Click to expand...

i totally agree with this. i have laughed out loud many times while reading bukowski - i hardly consider that a negative thing. i get sick and tired of defending why i like his writing, and the writing of those in the same genre. "oh, it's just some boring loser writing about his boring loser life". i hate having to justify WHY i like it. i just do, goddammit!
 
Hey Roc

I think it's called high school girls and it's in Slouching Toward Nirvana (maybe other places) - and I was thinking of it also in response to this topic. I am afraid to quote without the text, but it discusses the certainty with which the girls say to him you are so negative! And saying that to him satisfies them. Of course, assholes that are young grow up to be assholes that are old...:)
 
Negative

I`m new here, but i discovered Bukowski a couple of years ago.
I sometimes find people respond like some of you guys talk about when i say that i read Bukowski. People seem to think that telling the truth about "real life" is something you just don`t do. Especially if it`s shit. People tend to think that telling the truth is to think to much or something.

Anyway, i just wanted to say hi to everyone here on this forum.
I`m Bjørn from Norway, i like Bukowski.

Ciao
 
Hello Bjorn, sorry couldn't get that slash across the o, A french keyboard...

yes telling the truth is unattractive to some although so much simpler in the end.
We are unfortunately often raised to please.

Welcome to the forum
 
I live in a half cute/half dilapidated little neighborhood near downtown Cleveland, OH-USA. A (wonderful, really) bookstore opened fairly recently. I heard they had some Bukowski. I couldn't find it amongst the other fiction or poetry. I asked the guy at the counter whether there was any Bukowski; he smiled and looked at another guy, and said, "She wants to know if we have any Bukowski! Do we have any Bukowski? The reason I started this bookstore is Bukowski." Indeed there was some Bukowski, sectioned off in a little shrine. I was happy. Everyone else was happy. Bukowski fans, milling about, smiling, being nice. I really enjoyed myself. And it was all very SUSPECT.

Are fans negative? jaded? or just realistic?
 
Where in Cleveland is this bookstore? Also, what is the name of the store? The owner could be on this forum.

Cleveland is a great town. I need to get back there soon.

Bill
 
Bjørn said:
I`m new here...
Click to expand...

Ah, a fellow scandinavian! Welcome to the forum, Bjørn!
You're right. People don't always like to hear the truth. Especially if it's ugly. Maybe that's why Walt Disney is so popular...:D
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I'm Back!

I'm now at Binghamton University in Binghamton, NY and I've exposed a few people to Bukowski through South of No North. Most of them have agreed that Bukowski is a badass and that he isn't exactly the happiest writer in history.I really need to get some of my other books to campus so that I can show people a larger variety of Bukowski's work.
 
Thanks

Thanks guys, i will be hanging around here in one negative piece from now:)
You can call me Bjorn, my name means Bear in norwegian.
Really looking forward to learn new stuff and talk to other bukowski fans on this forum.

Have a great weekend!
 
bospress.net said:
...what is the name of the store? The owner could be on this forum.
Cleveland is a great town. I need to get back there soon.
Click to expand...
The name of the store is Visible Voice Bookstore. And I'm so glad a few private bookstores still exist--this is a great place and a great place to shop/browse--so much better than a big box. (See, Buk fans aren't negative...)
 
Bjørn said:
I`m new here...
Ciao
Click to expand...
Ciao. I'm new to Bukowski too and was introduced to him by a work mate and it turned out i was the only one who hadn't heard of him. My work mates were very enthusiatic of his work infact i've not heard any negativity about his writing. I've never given a fuck bout what people think neither had Bukowski. We are now living in an era where people can do what ever they like (western society) and no one bats an eye lid but in his day everything was so much more difficult! Living in Rome can be difficult as religion rules many souls and even telling peole your atheist can cause hyper ventilation but it's their problem right ?I don't deal with people who don't tell the truth..it's a modern disease to tell the truth these days. One things for sure it's very hard to find any Bukowski books in original language here.
 
Liuba said:
One things for sure it's very hard to find any Bukowski books in original language here.
Click to expand...

Ever heard of the internet?
Most everything you could ever want - in english too, if you like.

Amazon and/or ABE might be a start.
 
If you don't trust that you can order something and actually get it then I think that there could be a problem. I have send things all over the world and have only had one lost item in 10 years and probably 20,000 mailings.
 
I think the Italian postal system may be a different beast altogether. I have heard some horror stories. A little distrust may be called for. Ha.
 
Liuba said:
One things for sure it's very hard to find any Bukowski books in original language here.
Click to expand...

Surely, there must be an English bookshop in Rome or at least a bookstore with a section for English books. All major European cities has such a place. I'm sure Rome must have one too...
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar threads

Black Swan
Bukowski fans are contagious
Replies
2
Views
1K
Ryan Chinaski
Ryan Chinaski
Fauve
We lovers of Bukowski...
Replies
9
Views
2K
Fauve
Fauve
sgraham
So, what else appeals to Bukowski fans?
Replies
9
Views
3K
frankD
F
mjp
People who are not Bukowski signing Bukowski books
Replies
8
Views
2K
Johannes
Johannes
Bandini10
Buk fans in LA?
Replies
1
Views
1K
tony walton
tony walton

Users who are viewing this thread

Total: 2 (members: 0, guests: 2)
Back
Top