Hey. So really, what other books (1 Viewer)

N

nomadi00

Hey. So really, what other books are there besides Bukowski? I read all his novels a couple times and I need something else. I feel like I've got reader's block, which has never happened. Nothing else seems worth reading. There's no one else like Bukowski: I mean, smart, good writing, words I can understand without a dictionary, stories I can feel without wondering whether there is symbolism.

For instance, I tried Kurt Vonnegut because he seemed like someone who was worth reading. Maybe he is... but his playful and clever writing turned me off. Maybe the language of his style or generation was one too many before mine.

I can appreciate good and classic writing, I'm a fan of Dostoevsky and can appreciate meticulous and artful language.... but I'm wondering if there is someone you can just get into? I have a respect for anyone who appreciate Bukowski... so I'll appreciate any ideas. Point blank, if there is a Dostoevsky of the 20th century who writes with ease and a talent that anyone can just understand, or a Bukowski who isn't a cheap knock-off of Bukowski... please help!


(PS.. I also read Hemingway and, no offense, it was a little too much writing, not enough dialog. It's his prerogative....

Buk said reading is for when there's nothing else. I could read Buk when there are other things... Is there someone else?)
 
Try Tolstoy, Mishima, Gore Vidal, Crumb the cartoonist, Harvey Peckar the semi-cartoonist and Herge the creator of TINTIN. And Lawrence Block - he writes detective novels set in New York City featuring a boozing shamus who goes on the wagon. What a concept!
 
if you love bukowski's particular style and subject, chances are you'll like anything by dan fante (spitting off tall buildings; chump change; mooch) and i would definitely, definitely recommend 'jesus' son' by denis johnson. and maybe try raymond carver, if you like short stories.
 
A very engaging author, miles from Bukowski in style, but very real, smart, easy to read, complex mind, drugged out lunatic (at times), the kind of author you end up collecting because you HAVE TO have all of his books once you're hooked, is the Sci Fi novelist, Philip K. Dick. Several films have been based on his works. Give him a try.
 
Hey. So really, what other books......
I don't know if he has written any books, but go to Father Lukes web page. Read his poetry and stories. I like the one about Betty and Wilma. His poetry is quite good and it is simple-in a profound Bukowski kind of way.
Then again you can read this whole forum. It is a Bukowski fix, with contrasting highlites mixed in.
 
I would suggest Raymond Carver. Clear and simple prose, stark narratives, and virtually no fancy-pants linguistic aerobics (like I fear I just did right there).
 
Gerard K H Love said:
I don't know if he has written any books, but go to Father Lukes web page. Read his poetry and stories. His poetry is quite good and it is simple
Click to expand...

I second that.

and while on the topic of buknet member writing, mjp's book is quite good and something you might enjoy.
 
I am also curious as to whether you have read Buk's poetry. I hope you're not making the mistake of reading only his novels but passing over the poetry because you think you "get Buk".

(Not that I am accusing you of that, either.)
 
Rekrab said:
A very engaging author, miles from Bukowski in style, but very real, smart, easy to read, complex mind, drugged out lunatic (at times), the kind of author you end up collecting because you HAVE TO have all of his books once you're hooked, is the Sci Fi novelist, Philip K. Dick. Several films have been based on his works. Give him a try.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I read Blade Runner, Loved the movie. Doesn't sound like a bad idea to check Phil K. again. Thank you.

Yeah, actually, I got this gift card that I traded for cash. Waiting for the check in the mail. Plan to buy some Dan Fante, loved senior's work! Also thinking about Augusten Burroughs just because I loved the Running With Scissors movie.


Chronic, yeah, I checked all those I could. Some I couldn't; a little too obscure for the library at the time (and didn't have the cash to buy any, and forgot about the thread). Might check one out - remember one as striking me a little from the blurbs, a Spanish book translated.


Father Luke, read some of his poetry, most of a book of short stories, but it doesn't do the same as the novels, only because they're bite sized. I love getting lost in a Bukowski novel, where the poems leave kind of an empty feeling. I'd ust really like someone as real as Buk. From the movie Factotum, where Jan says most guys are 15 or 30% there but he (Chinaski) is all there ... that's the type of writing I'd like to find.

I don't read too too often, but a couple I found that struck me were Salman Rushdie and Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Rushdie was refreshing, didn't quite manage to get into his novels, though I'm not sure I would be able to get into all the allegory. Marquez absolutely captured me, but lost me when he got into his "magic realism" (I think they call it), and could also be a little boring at times too.

One other I came across was Pallhuink (Fight Club), but found that a little like Silence of the Lambs: interesting but not quite "all there".

It's hard to find a great author when you don't absorbs books, but I do know that some writers just capture you so tat even for the casual reader you become absorbed almost immediately.

Edit: inhale books, but I ...

Quote: Try Tolstoy, Mishima, Gore Vidal, Crumb the cartoonist, Harvey Peckar the semi-cartoonist and Herge the creator of TINTIN. And Lawrence Block - he writes detective novels set in New York City featuring a boozing shamus who goes on the wagon. What a concept!

Love American Splendor. Will have to check out those guys. Heard of Tolstoy, never got to read him. Thanks!
 
Father Luke, read some of his poetry, most of a book of short stories, but it doesn't do the same as the novels, only because they're bite sized. I love getting lost in a Bukowski novel,......
Click to expand...

Dude -

If you can't get lost in a Bukowski poem, I don't know what to tell you.
 
I would definitely recommend not not reading Carver.

I would say work at menial jobs for a decade or two, drink, have difficult realtionships (like that'll be a stretch) & try not to assimilate with society.

Then write down what you feel and get back to us.
 
Carver's boring letters were covered in the New Yorker last week. The guy's a pattycake dumpling.
 
I would say read some Haruki Murakami, he also endorses Raymond Carver and features one of his stories in his compilation 'Birthday Stories'
 
slimedog said:
I would definitely recommend not not reading Carver.

I would say work at menial jobs for a decade or two, drink, have difficult realtionships (like that'll be a stretch) & try not to assimilate with society.

Then write down what you feel and get back to us.
Click to expand...


huh?

I read some Hunter Thompson. I don't know why, but after a little while I just got bored. I don't even remember why, but I can recall thinking it didn't seem to catch on for a reason similar to why some of the other beats didn't. I read Bukowski before reading any of the beats, so thought of Buk as what the beat era was, not of Buk as a beat. Then I decided to read some of the beats after checking out Buk, to find that I couldn't...

I'll have to check out Carver and Haruki.

Number6, I definitely can, but it's not the same as a novel, where I can for days. I'm not really into those poems where you have to analyze them for hours. I like Buk's poems because you can read them like short stories. Except, you do, and end up breezing through quite a few. Even his short stories leave you wishing there was more. I guess the novels do too, for that matter, except at least the writing is enough to counterbalance the feeling of having finished with it.

Maybe finding a book you like also has to do with the timing... If I was a recovering alcoholic, sober 1 month, maybe I wouldn't be able to get into Buk...
 
nomadi00 said:
I like Buk's poems because you can read them like short stories. Except, you do, and end up breezing through quite a few.
Click to expand...
Yeah, I sometimes find myself reading them that way. You have to force yourself to slow down and not breeze over anything. Read one. Let it percolate. Then read it again.

I guarantee that if you do that, you will find some real gems that you missed the first time around.
 

Similar threads

jpordude
What Next??? Other Books
Replies
12
Views
2K
LickTheStar
LickTheStar
Dzerzhinsk
So, what other poets get you like Bukowski does?
2 3 4
Replies
152
Views
77K
skiroomalum
skiroomalum
cirerita
What other writers have you read because Bukowski told you so?
2 3 4
Replies
126
Views
32K
gregormilligan
gregormilligan
Onions
What are you writing now? - and other stuff...
2 3
Replies
92
Views
11K
Bukfan
Bukfan
Benaminj
What about ipad and others ebook?
Replies
21
Views
3K
jordan
jordan

Users who are viewing this thread

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