Do you think C.B is a bit overrated? (1 Viewer)

Z

Zavvier

Hi, I am new here, I have just read The Postman, Pulp, and Factotum, and I got a bit of a negative impression on the outhor. I recognize he's got talent, and shows some lucid thoughts every now and again...but overall, I see mediocricy.

I mean, don't get me wrong, depicting ugliness is okay, but when it's only ugliness all over, doesnt it get tiresome?

The way he depicts women is just apalling, he introduced Jan in Factotum with this line: "Jan was a good fuck".

One gets the feeling that all that so called honesty is a bit fake...it's just my opinion, I could be wrong, of course, since I havent read the rest of his work.

What do you think?
 
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Word of advice; people who spell author as "outhor" should probably not accuse others of mediocrity.

night! :D
 
I don't accuse him personally of anything, I just found his work so far so-so. With typo or without it.
 
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if you see him as being overall a mediocre writer, then i don't understand why you'd go to the trouble of finding this site and starting a discussion about him. wouldn't you rather be on a forum talking about an author you enjoy a lot more?

we are all here because we love his work, and want to talk about it with people who feel the same (with the exception of me - i'm just here to find a husband). i don't think there's a need to defend his work or his talent, or explain it. his ever-growing readership speaks for itself (as does this website).
 
Zavvier: if all you see in his work is ugliness and negativity, maybe you are taking him too seriously, too literally. There's a great deal of humor in his writing. He points out what is comic in all the tragedy. Just a thought. Personally, I think Bukowski is underrated. He's probably -- in spite of his limited scope -- one of the best there ever was. The man knew how to work the words, make them come alive. He could grab your attention and hold it for the length of a novel, with never a dull moment. In the poem, he was a master. No wasted words. Every line following the last as naturally as casual conversation. And he always had something to say.
 
Zavvier, watch how defensive some many here get when you mention Bukowskis mediocrity. O, they don't like that...It's like a kind of supper - they all eat bukowski - they all want a piece, they alone understand, the man, the word, the way.

I'm only jking - i love bukowski. his words have such clartiy and forwardness. which is hard to find. and harder to deny. he has a linear manner in story telling. and transcribing events. but this all serves as kind of state fast dedication to the 'mundane reality' of the everyday life of his, and the eras, existence.

You feel that you are closer
to a writer
and a person writing,
strangely
than you have ever read before.

the words
and the intention
strangely married.

amazin....
 
The reason why I quoted it as The Postman is because I first read that book in Spanish, my mother tongue, and it was translated as El Cartero, i.e. The Postman.

Anyway, I see you guys get very protective with CB, well done, afterall you are his fans club, if you don't defend him who will?
 
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if anything I think CB is extremely underrated. I mean the literary establishment won't touch him with a barge pole. Yet he's the most riveting writer of the last 50 years in my view. He's one of the few writers i ever come back to.
 
C.B overrated? Have you never heard "Teddy Bear" by Red Sovine? Ugliness indeed.
 
Anyway, I see you guys get very protective with CB, well done, afterall you are his fans club, if you don't defend him who will?


The point being that you posted on a forum called bukowski.net and the only posts that you have made so far seem to show that you do not like bukowski. That is fine, of course. Not everyonbe needs to like him or think that he is a good write3r, but the fact that you post this on a forum and seem to find his writing below average shows that you are only here to stir up trouble. Maybe you should find a political forum where you can argue there....

And we are not a "fans club."

Bill
 
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The reason why I quoted it as The Postman is because I first read that book in Spanish, my mother tongue, and it was translated as El Cartero, i.e. The Postman.

Or: The Mailman

It's too bad the old man's shit isn't translated better.

---post truncated---
 
What do you think?
let me just say - buk changed my life, in a positive way that is, i found something inside me that i didnt know i had, especially with the poems. the novels are amazing in the sense that they are wet with pain and humour. if you find him underrated then you need to pick up a different writer, after all, i can see why buk would polarize people in a lot of ways. i normally find the people that hate buk have not really lived like one should, not to say they are spoilt, but just slightly in their closet. but man, we gotta respect opinions, though i guess if i put up a post on the elvis preseley website saying 'return to sender' didnt move me like it should, is he underrated?, then there would be a bit of anomosity.

laf
 
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In the poem, he was a master.

Hear, hear!
The poem was where he excelled. He created his very own type of poetry - his very own "special blend" of verse, short story and a "bar talk"/spoken word type of language.

The novels were his meal ticket. (That's where the money is in writing, for some odd reason.)
Funny, entertaining and with flashes of insight in every chapter, but never as tight and precise as his (best) poems.

On the other hand his poetry is the hardest to translate, so enjoy the novels!

And do try out this exclusive jolt of poetic power courtesy of Bukowski.net!!!:
http://www.bukowski.net/forum/showthread.php?t=2224&highlight=existence

Don't you just love this line:
This is my job, my rent, my whore, my shoes,

Oh, and I just noticed this line as well:
and I am sick wth caring
The word "caring" stands a bit out doesn't it?!?
 
Zavvier,
If you have already read 3 of his novels
you might as well read Ham on rye too,
you might be able to understand where he is coming from

His poetry speaks like a breath
you may appreciate those if the flavor is'nt lost in translation

Your loss...

Who do you consider to be a good writer and why?
 
Black Swan,
Zavvier could care less about Bukowski. He posts here to annoy and to start trouble. Notice that the only posts where he mentions Bukowski is to tell us that he finds him a mediocre writer. Fine. No problem, but why post it on the forum? I am not a fan of Sidney Sheldon, but I do not find a forum dedicated to his writing only to post there that I find him a sub-par writer. Why don't I do this? Because I'm not a troll...

Bill
 
What do you think?
Well I'm not against discussion. A good impression comes from fans and critics combined. Though I'm not sure characterizing him as someone with a lucid thought here and there is playing fair.

A lot of his stuff is dark, but that seems to be who he was, and what he went through. You can't knock him for telling it like it was, as he experienced it. I think that utter honesty is what attracts a lot of people - yet, there's also a sensitivity and an art in the mix that could kind of grab you by the gut. Personally, I find some of what he depicts kind of risque, but past the imperfections, I think there is a really interesting man. And best, I don't need a dictionary or cliff note to get what he was saying, because he pretty much spoke for the common man.
 
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well, i found one. actually, i found three. but i've decided on just one of them (and not just because polygamy is illegal in most countries).
 
I've never understood the term 'overrated', how exactly do we rate writers?

On cultural significance?
book sales?
productivity?

Things are a lot simpler when they are not categorized.
 

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