Well he died of bone cancer not liver disease or alcohol related illness anyone can get leukemia and lots of alcoholics live a long time some are better writers than others some don't write at all was his point. Think if he were young and nice looking instead he could have been an alcoholic like Jim Morrison and been too exciting harassed by cops at his own shows charged with being lewd overdosed at 27 just not his fate.
not brilliant at all. his own shit is so boring. but maybe not to him. the most important thing is that he has fun writing, I guess. and of course it sells.
So this is why I like Bukowski's style, I've been trying to figure it out. I summed it up as its simplicity but now I'm seeing this I understand. The juice. He has it in his sentences. Its direct. Sometimes there's no need for all the extra things.
As someone who takes particular interest in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, both genres suffer from a severe dearth of decent poetry - not _poetry_ as in verse, but poetry as a practical method and an exercise in creative flow. I can't tell you how many celebrated authors have bored the total shit out of me over such a lack. Don't describe your world, make me live in it. Don't write your characters, make me know them.
Regardless of his life philosophy Bukowski makes good points about writing. He definitely had a gift to go mining for the right words instead of talking around a subject. He showed fortitude persevering in shitty jobs and situations then writing at night. No wonder he hit the booze.
@@gonufc I dont think anyone on earth would say he was a good human being. Why would you even think he should be? He's a famous writer, not a famous "good human"
@@gonufc good juman/ bad juman, he’s allowed to have a good thought or frame of thinking come out of his mouth I don’t know much about him but based off my life experiences obviously not relating to domestic violence it resonated with me. It’s hard to move through life getting stuck on that shit learn to appreciate
Love his writing. I finished Factotum last week. All six of his novels are great. His writing style is so much fun and his stories capture a different era, bringing to life the streets of LA from a poor man's perspective. 🍺🥃😏
@@oinkooink, I agree, Ham on Rye is a good one because he opens up about his childhood. The others I would recommend are Post Office, Factotum & Women..
Bukowski occupied an interesting position among writers. If you surveyed 10 American English professors, seven have never heard of him, two think he's a pornographer, and one thinks he is the greatest literary genius since Shakespeare. I even like his poetry. His poems are his stories written vertically, and his stories are poems written horizontally. He is the best at what he does, but nobody else is in the exact same category; he's kinda like the Keith Richards of literature.
"If you surveyed 10 American English professors, seven have never heard of him" : really ?? Professors ? He's pretty famous over here in France, I'm sure every litterature professor knows him.
I provoked two housewifes on a local train in Italy, and they tried to disrespect me by comparing my looks to Bukowski. So he’s no hidden gem anymore over here.
I'd say he's a lot like Picasso. He's able to take things down to their most essential elements, and make them fun and bright while still retaining depth and definitely a good punch.
Reading Bukowski made me understand what true writing is. Difficult to put it in words but when you read it you know it's the thing. And art appart, his stories are so fun and so bright, great guy
@@nikolausgerszewski2086 Ach there's honesty even in the Ach I wrote through text Everything is honesty, even if linked and chained by lies and whatnot, it conducts to the same person, to the same mind. Fuck all and have a beer is what I think, that could cheer people up. Introduce more syncopation in our mainstream music.
@@giuseppebonsignore4397 this is all just bragging and boasting and judging without any basis. Lowry is obviously a way better writer, or as I would rather say: a writer at all. Bukowsky is just boulevard.
I love this guy. He is so real yet ultimately subjective and full of shit. His words bring me to tears, and his interviews make me grin or drop my jaw. Very wise of him to welcome death, btw, as it is very natural.
Bukowski spouts more truths in four minutes and thirty eight seconds than people speak in their whole lives. His ideas ideas translate to my painting style, get to the f'kn point, be bold and have a heart.
Yer breakin the law, get thee to a Library, I hooked up w/a librarian once after she confessed to me she had stolen the Bukowski book I was lookin for.
If you are unfamiliar with Bukowski's work. He wrote several novels and several collections of poems. One of my favorite poems is The Man With The Beautiful Eyes. There's a great narration/animation of it on RUclips
Old timey writers were arguably worse with writing filler. Even the great Tolkien, you can cut entire sentences out of a page without changing any information passed on to the reader.
Genre authors who write fantasy and sci-fi are bad with that. They complain about not being taken seriously by the literary establishment but bloat their books with so much meaningless drivel and pointless world building. A lot of them should just stick to playing D&D instead of writing novels.
The thing about Bukowski though is that his writing reflects that repetition that he complains about it this interview. If you read more than a few of his stories or novels they all kinda blend together, it's all Henry Chinaski drinking and screwing or drinking and getting in fights. Factotum and Post Office are basically indistinguishable in my memory except for the fact the in one of them he's working as a mailman. Then there are some short stories of him going to the racetrack to place bets and those are some of the dullest things I've ever read, even when I was reading a bunch of Bukowski a few years ago those racetrack stories would make my eyes glaze over. That being said, I've always appreciated his novel Ham On Rye
The professional drunk line is my favourite and most savage and hysterical comment ever made on this planet. You died choking on your own vomit? Amatuer! What you do after a big drink is position your head over the bed so you vomit on the floor, fucking idiot!. What a glorious person and i like his wit as it feels half serious. If you are going to be a fuck up in life and do stupid things like drugs or alcohol abuse, you better have some sort of plan in place on how to deal with that stuff and not just go into it willy nilly.
'Under the Volcano' is a dull read, but Hank's a poet applying poetic judgment to literary prose. He sounds like a poet looking for like effects in all the prose he tried to read. There's a place for rapid-fire, rat-a-tat-tat writing, but that's what '40s detective noir novels were for (and some others, of course). 'Dull' doesn't equate to 'bed' if by 'dull' the critic means 'It didn't snap and crackle like a poem.'
Equate to "bed" who even said that? And as if the style of prose he's describing is exclusive to 40s noir novels. Hes 100% correct about literary fiction being (mostly) boring.
Dostoyevsky was wordy and highly detailed but boy his books are damn good reads. They don't exactly bim bim bim. Crime and Punishment was a ripper book.
@@oedipamaas2067 It's really only boring for people with defective brains. It's like people who think classical music is suppose to relax you or help you fall asleep
I agree a hundred percent. I find myself being bored to death when the writers spend time beating about the bush with exaggerated phrases to describe a simple thing to sound more profound.
There's this idea of being a writer-- it's a certain pretentiousness that goes with it, grand entrances and gestures. Vocabulary words to create a mirage of intellect. It's pompous and ever so boring. Write like you've lived.
I highly recommand Paul Auster. Though I think most of you probaby know him. His writing is, at least to me, the way Bukowski describes the "Bim-Bim-Bim effect". Sure, he doesn't write about the stuff Buk did. But that doesn't matter. It's simply great writing.
Not in the same way, once you choose to pursue ceativity, you join a fraternity of similar creators. They influence us as we will the ones who come after.
@@redsol3629 I think create is a misnomer. What we term create is just us assembling and re-arranging preexisting ideas that are we taught. As someone said before, there is no original or unique idea.
@Abe McGee Just because something is built on the foundation of history does not mean it is not unique. You speak like someone who has never created anything. There is something intangible the new apprentice brings to the craft. His own spirit and sovereignty as an individual.
@@redsol3629 "There is something intangible the new apprentice brings to the craft. His own spirit and sovereignty as an individual." That intangible is still not unique, for the individual has long been shaped by the ideas of his environment. stick an individual in a room devoid of any knowledge or experience from birth, the first idea he comes up would be more original than anything the so called creators you speak of, can come up with.
@Abe McGee Ah yes the empty room argument, your point collapses on itself with that perspective. You argue that artists move things around, yet you put your example in a room with no pieces. Are you a creator?
I must be living on a different level because life continues to surprise me even in late middle age. I learn and grow every month, sometimes even in the space of a week! But times are different.
I'm 84 and feel the same. I sit down to play music, and something different comes out every time. It's not all worthy, but the search is worth the effort.
Orwell talked about this on his rules for good writing. Do not embelish excessively a sentence to say something or it will lose its power. If you can say something in 4 words instead of 10, go for the first option.
He's a tired old drunk but he's right. If you're doing everything to set up a climax, no one will even care about it if you've bored them along the way to get there.
I was thinking Hemingway too. I enjoyed Vonnegut for same reason. It's almost like songwriting advice he's giving. But he wrote poems too, so he gets it all the way around.
As an english major I have such mixed feelings about what I'm hearing.. But I'm dropping out so I guess in the end he must have some kind of point lol This killed me 3:55 💀💀
Thanks for sharing! I get the impression that it's easier to write like he said. To write each sentence interesting means that you can't predict a long chain of setting phrases to a big emotion. Anyway, he is indeed an interesting writer
not really. that'd make things just as dull. you can pick up art you like that follows other structures, because art is about your own expression. even dull art can be called art because it came from a dull person expressing their dull feelings on a canvas.
@@b_delta9725 It's not the "approach" that would be dull, it's the result that may be dull. That depends on the insight and skill of the artist. Artist as in all forms of artistic expression.
Charles Bukowski was all about the harsh truth most of the time, but he had a Poet's heart and sometimes a flower bloomed out of that mire. What he is talking about here is a good contrast between poetry and prose really, but there are boring poets too of course.
@unfortunatebeam by prosaic I mean epic, grandioise and poetic. Much different technique than bukowski. Not that bukowski wasn't poetic but he definitely wasn't grandiose or epic lol
Wolfe was at his best when he went full bim with his philosophical deep dives. Those moments were always better than his often plodding scenes. The intro lines to Look Homeward, Angel are brilliant. But then the story begins, and it's just ok.
His statements on writing were a continuation of his comments about death. Life is here. Right now. That urgency - the awareness of it, is to respect the fullness of life. Write and live as if you know you are going to die
I miss him, I wonder so much, what he would think of me? I got many sparks, processing boredom little suffering, and lit loopy endings. I miss you buddy
This is so cool. Honestly I thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t get with the kinds of writing that he was criticizing and that I could only keep my interest with writers who do bim bim bim. Nathaniel West comes to mind as one of my favorites who totally exudes that style in Miss Lonelyhearts. So glad I came across this!!
I follow Ezra Pounds dictum; "Make it new." No matter how many times I play a piece of music, I'm always listening for the one phrase that will lead me somewhere different, or a "mistake" that will send me in a different direction.
@George Neidorf Yeah, that's good. I am trying to do that myself. I realize that even in the mundane existence of repetition, there are some gems within it if I pay attention enough.
In perceived many here at coment session never read Charles Bukowski because they're talking non-sense shit. bukowlski was very famous even from his time, and an excellent writer who catch you in every line of his books. Read the book first folks and comment later, trust me it will be worthy
The Belgian reporter interviewing Charles, was Fernand Auwera (1929-2015), this interview was taken in 1980, my year of birth by the way. Fernand was a brilliant, yet troubled mind. Same goes for Bukowski, probably why Charles liked Fernand so much.
Yeah, I went to "Long Beach/Harbour City some decades ago to buy a new Gi and see if i could see this Poet. I wasn't sure I would approach him to say i liked his work, but I may have, coming out of a karate shop/studio back then, have actually seen him going into a nearby bar. I didn't follow...I love my 'privacy'! and wanted to afford him same. Plus, he could be quite abrasive. And being of darkish complexion... well, one couldn't/can't be sure of reception(s) by some of a lighter complexion, then and now! And I didn't want to be disillusioned. But I started this to say - How can one not like chest-out honesty. I always appreciated his words. Die as might poet, But live on...
@@janetlovell7171 Sure, but I read for many reasons…very rarely is it to explore my shallow and vulgar capacity. Entertainment, enlightenment, connection, affirmation. Those are the reasons I expend time on reading…
. After reading some of his work I threw to the fireplace a Baudeleire book I bought. He was right. Pretentious poetry is one of the worst form of art.
In this age, any form of literariness is considered pretentiousness. The language of poetry now must be reduced to the speed and shortness of a text messages to not be considered pretentious. I am sorry but Baudelaire's work dwarfs Bukoeski's legacy. This guy couldn't even rhyme two verses evrn if he dared to.
Claudio, Flowers of Evil is awesome. the problem with it, and a lot of older foreign writers is the english translations, they are disgusting, done by academics trying to twist the originals and dazzle us with their own genius, which they don't have. thank god their jobs are now obsolete! suckers! google translate does a better job than them. i have been reading Baudelaire lately, i obviously don't know french, i have the dual language paperback, i take a photo with phone of the original french, translate it on google, and compared to the dull wordy academic english translation its beautiful.
In the current era, Bukowski wouldn't have had a single book published. We'd never have known he even existed, let alone revered him into a cult figure in the world of transgressive poetry and literature. Sensitivity readers would have screamed and he'd have gotten rejection letter one after another due to the woke ideology's stranglehold on publishing houses, the arts, culture and politics in general today. Today, you cannot veer off-piste on Ideology Mountain. You MUST fit in with anodyne, homogenous world dictated by the cultural intelligentsia. This Borg-like invasion has destroyed everything I love-- including comedy. There should be a place for everybody to express themselves as they wish on planet Earth without fearing the loss of livelihood, total erasure from the internet's social spaces, a jumped-up bogus criminal record for some sort of perceived "micro-incivility" or most likely, a bike lock smashed in their forehead from a peer. That's the worst consideration of all when it comes to the contemporary interpretation of what it means to live as a 'countercultural', 'anti-establishment' or a natural-born creative transgressive type: you have to be frightened or wary of your own indulged, spoilt, entitled little fascist peers. They've been well conditioned into doing the job of the new Stasi and are happily doing the snooping, reporting, rioting, book-burning, censoring and destroying. How did this happen?! Where do 'problematic' writers go these days???!! Is it worth being beaten like Andy Ngo and having nobody in authority really care?! Why is this goofy censorious, violently solipsistic new fascism tolerated and how did it become normalised? How many great writers will I never know about because of the current state of society and the hideous mind virus warping people's thinking and behaviour in this era? Intolerance, the hive mind, cry-bullying and coercion really are important topics for discussion.
@@ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293 Hey man, youtube comments are significantly cheaper than therapy, but are unfortunately not nearly as effective. If you need I have some extra cash lying around I would be happy to help you afford it. Whether you need my financial support or not, just remember when you get there to let them know that you have a hard time dealing with imaginary enemies stemming from a persecution complex. These are really big words but don't worry, the experts know what they mean, don't be afraid to use them, it will help them help you faster
A poet lectures about why he finds writers boring. I mean yeah no shit dude ofc you don't like creative writing, that's pretty self-explanatory, it's not your art-form. You can't write every book like a poet, only few ppl exist that have that sap in every single sentence, especially in the long novels. He's equating everything in a book to the structure, style and rhythm of poetry as if they're the same thing.
Yeah it's all subjective. To me, the only novelist with the heart and mind of a poet was Scott Fitzgerald. Pure talent. True art. (I haven't read much Shakespeare but I suspect he's up there.) Everyone else just has a mixed skillset of realism, pretty prose, plot lines, characterization, pacing, even vocab, and so-called juice Bukowski had his juice and characters/dialogue but not much else. Still good tho.
@@BriantWebster true enough. If you haven't read much Shakespeare and you enjoy good writing though, I mean I can't recommend enough. Obviously see a Shakespeare performance if you can, but if the performance isn't good you lose out on the joy of being able to appreciate his poetry. There never was and never will be anyone who writes quite like Shakespeare. There's a reason he's still SO relevant.
People in this thread insulting Bukowski are the same stock of people who made his life impossible lol nice to see that the same turds Buk fought against his whole life are still around, proving his point.
'If you do dull shit, it doesn't matter what you die from.' Simply brilliant.
Well he died of bone cancer not liver disease or alcohol related illness anyone can get leukemia and lots of alcoholics live a long time some are better writers than others some don't write at all was his point. Think if he were young and nice looking instead he could have been an alcoholic like Jim Morrison and been too exciting harassed by cops at his own shows charged with being lewd overdosed at 27 just not his fate.
he said, "if you write dull shit, it doesn't do any good what you die from"
not brilliant at all. his own shit is so boring. but maybe not to him. the most important thing is that he has fun writing, I guess. and of course it sells.
@@nikolausgerszewski2086 we do not care what you think
@@Godloveszaza who the fuck is 'we'? are you demanding the Pluralis Majestatis, Sir?
We should call Bukowski's approach to writing the "The Bim Principle."
lol
More like "The Bim-Bim-Bim Principle."
@@Mooseman327 Bimcubedski's principle :)
Bim bim bim ... bim bim bim ... in this atomic age , for juicy flavour and not yawning yourself to shit 😅
Why not? 😁😁😁
For Bukowski to say he likes someone as a person seems, from his writing, to be a high compliment indeed.
He likes his lines juicy.
and so what does that mean? Nothing. The man's entire career was built off nothing.
what
maybe he just said it to make the situation less tense
He is strong in his "get off my lawn" energy.
"I yawned myself to shit!" Loved that.
Oh you like Charles Bukowski?
It’s such a unique curse, I don’t think he meant to steer this way but it’s such a hilarious concept, yawning so much you shit lmao
@@flysterious2938 Shitting yourself at least breaks the dullness!
He's right about seeing patterns and 'repeats' in life. It happens early too; you hear the exact same things, see the exact same scenarios play out.
Yep, I really started noticing it at the age of 28.
So frikkin depressing to talk about. I love it 😂
Yes, people have been saying that forever.
@@posteroonie Ironic... When you think about it
@@noodle845 It's not depressing I don't think.
"He wasn't even a professional drunk" ..proceeds to describe how to get wasted without swallowing vomit. This completely cracked me up hahaha
Ага не был ..цвет лица...
Yes, he was a real low class act.
So this is why I like Bukowski's style, I've been trying to figure it out. I summed it up as its simplicity but now I'm seeing this I understand. The juice. He has it in his sentences. Its direct. Sometimes there's no need for all the extra things.
The answer is simple. You just didn't realize it at first. So now you do!
As someone who takes particular interest in Fantasy and Sci-Fi, both genres suffer from a severe dearth of decent poetry - not _poetry_ as in verse, but poetry as a practical method and an exercise in creative flow. I can't tell you how many celebrated authors have bored the total shit out of me over such a lack. Don't describe your world, make me live in it. Don't write your characters, make me know them.
That's the truth!
Read Gene Wolfe
Ursula K. Le Guin is one of very few authors who redeem the otherwise poor reputation of sci-fi, an amazing author in her own right
"Don't describe your world, make me live in it", exactly. I'll probably steal that. 😁
@@MrBandini27 but the question is how?
Regardless of his life philosophy
Bukowski makes good points about writing. He definitely had
a gift to go mining for the right words instead of talking around a
subject. He showed fortitude persevering in shitty jobs
and situations then writing at night. No wonder he hit the booze.
Poets do that
Same lol.
he most likely was a boozer and a writer for the same reason(s). most great creative minds are all troubled in some way.
@@Noway-sg8md I'm a genius and I don't even drink. Do you have any idea what I'm going through ?
@@johnanthonycafe2993 Who even started talking about you? 💀
Bukowskis genius is in his honesty and simplicity. A clear son of John Fante but completely original himself.
he is so shit you're all coping
Everyday should be like this, love this guys energy and perspective
Nah, the world would be shit with snobbish people like this.
....So you haven't seen the domestic violence then? Bukowski wrote some very good stuff but he wasn't a good human being it seems.
@@gonufc I dont think anyone on earth would say he was a good human being. Why would you even think he should be? He's a famous writer, not a famous "good human"
@@gonufc good juman/ bad juman, he’s allowed to have a good thought or frame of thinking come out of his mouth I don’t know much about him but based off my life experiences obviously not relating to domestic violence it resonated with me.
It’s hard to move through life getting stuck on that shit learn to appreciate
@@gonufc You haven't seen the domestic violence his dad gave him either. Shit happens and then it keeps on happening.
Love his writing. I finished Factotum last week. All six of his novels are great. His writing style is so much fun and his stories capture a different era, bringing to life the streets of LA from a poor man's perspective. 🍺🥃😏
They are all as good as Ham on Rye you reckon? I tore through that book, short as it is. But really good I thought.
@@oinkooink, I agree, Ham on Rye is a good one because he opens up about his childhood. The others I would recommend are Post Office, Factotum & Women..
personally my favorite is love is a dog from hell
@@kevinkelley4376they're all pretty funny, but perhaps repetitive. A legend nonetheless
I loved Ham on Rye. Need to get to the others. The stories and characters are so vivid, alive. And I love his humor.
That's why the book thief is my favourite of all time. It's not about the punchline being set up but each line stands on its own
is The Book Thief by Bukowski?...I can't seem to find it
@@kools67 no no. It's by Markus Zusak
Try "The Shadow of the wind" you ll have better results.
@@deathfeel The Shadow of the Wind
Carlos Ruiz Zafón?
@@deathfeel Thanks for the recommendation. Just reserved it from the library.
We couldn't hear to Dostoevsky, but Bukowski is there to fill that gap
Such a beautiful broken man... Bless his hearth. A unique voice.
He wasn’t ‘broken’
@@johngoldsworthy7135 exactly, at least, no more "broken" than any other human. :)
Bukowski occupied an interesting position among writers. If you surveyed 10 American English professors, seven have never heard of him, two think he's a pornographer, and one thinks he is the greatest literary genius since Shakespeare. I even like his poetry. His poems are his stories written vertically, and his stories are poems written horizontally. He is the best at what he does, but nobody else is in the exact same category; he's kinda like the Keith Richards of literature.
Beautiful
"If you surveyed 10 American English professors, seven have never heard of him" : really ?? Professors ? He's pretty famous over here in France, I'm sure every litterature professor knows him.
I provoked two housewifes on a local train in Italy, and they tried to disrespect me by comparing my looks to Bukowski. So he’s no hidden gem anymore over here.
@@croulantroulant3082 You'd be surprised. Thankfully his popularity had a resurgence in the 90s and 2000s, but academia doesn't pay him much mind.
I'd say he's a lot like Picasso. He's able to take things down to their most essential elements, and make them fun and bright while still retaining depth and definitely a good punch.
Reading Bukowski made me understand what true writing is. Difficult to put it in words but when you read it you know it's the thing. And art appart, his stories are so fun and so bright, great guy
Hemingway got it.
I doubt that - you understand what 'true writing' is. this is just phony. there is no honesty in it.
@@nikolausgerszewski2086 Ach there's honesty even in the Ach I wrote through text
Everything is honesty, even if linked and chained by lies and whatnot, it conducts to the same person, to the same mind. Fuck all and have a beer is what I think, that could cheer people up. Introduce more syncopation in our mainstream music.
@@nikolausgerszewski2086 what do you mean genius? What are you talking about?
@@giuseppebonsignore4397 this is all just bragging and boasting and judging without any basis. Lowry is obviously a way better writer, or as I would rather say: a writer at all. Bukowsky is just boulevard.
I love this guy. He is so real yet ultimately subjective and full of shit. His words bring me to tears, and his interviews make me grin or drop my jaw. Very wise of him to welcome death, btw, as it is very natural.
If he's full of shit, he's in a world full of shit.
what do you mean by “ultimately subjective and full of shit”
Everyone's "ultimately subjective".
indeed but what comes after death
@@logia7 life
Hank had a calm psychosis about him. His words more so. A great writer of poetry and prose.
Bukowski spouts more truths in four minutes and thirty eight seconds than people speak in their whole lives. His ideas ideas translate to my painting style, get to the f'kn point, be bold and have a heart.
Feels almost like a crime now not to have read a single thing written by this guy at my age.
Yer breakin the law, get thee to a Library, I hooked up w/a librarian once after she confessed to me she had stolen the Bukowski book I was lookin for.
read 'Tales of Ordinary Madness'
You're honestly better off reading literally anything else or hell watching a movie
not missing much tbh
@@alleygh0st I deserve a taste of bim bim bim in my life at least on one occasion
He really lit up when he started talking about the process of writing bless him.. i like how he got fed up with the analytical but dead host
If you are unfamiliar with Bukowski's work. He wrote several novels and several collections of poems. One of my favorite poems is The Man With The Beautiful Eyes. There's a great narration/animation of it on RUclips
Thanks for the recommendation, I'll check that one out.
0:08 "Why, you have have a nice wife?" Wow, I didn't know Borat Sagdiyev actually got to interview Bukowski
Tom Waits music at the end was a nice touch.
What song is it?
@@freakingevilgenius The song is called Tom Traubert's Blues by Tom Waits
@@Southsayer. Thanks, mate. I've only recently started getting into Tom Waits and I'm now a fan.
@@freakingevilgenius You're welcome!
Great ending to a great video. Man was real and very very cool.
'We're tough men together, through the horrors of life.' [Clink] 🍻
The essence of American writing
Yes: not very great.
edromorais6826 That's your option, you're mine.
agree 100%. so many modern writers just seem to try to wrack up pages, like if it's not a 1000 page book, you did something wrong.
And who's gonna read a 1000 page book these days except the kind of sophistic snobs who write them in the first place.
agree
Old timey writers were arguably worse with writing filler. Even the great Tolkien, you can cut entire sentences out of a page without changing any information passed on to the reader.
@@bigape5502 I'd say you can cut entire pages...
Genre authors who write fantasy and sci-fi are bad with that. They complain about not being taken seriously by the literary establishment but bloat their books with so much meaningless drivel and pointless world building. A lot of them should just stick to playing D&D instead of writing novels.
The thing about Bukowski though is that his writing reflects that repetition that he complains about it this interview. If you read more than a few of his stories or novels they all kinda blend together, it's all Henry Chinaski drinking and screwing or drinking and getting in fights. Factotum and Post Office are basically indistinguishable in my memory except for the fact the in one of them he's working as a mailman. Then there are some short stories of him going to the racetrack to place bets and those are some of the dullest things I've ever read, even when I was reading a bunch of Bukowski a few years ago those racetrack stories would make my eyes glaze over.
That being said, I've always appreciated his novel Ham On Rye
It's his poetry that is significant. He keeps it terse and to the point.
At least he enjoyed life before social media! God bless you Buk
So real and authentic. Love this guy would pay to have a beer with him.
I no longer care for Bukowski's nihilism, but he's totally right about exciting writing
I actually don't think he was a nihilist, but a self-loathing romantic that is misunderstood. It comes through a lot more in his poetry.
@@kreg27 Well, that explains it: When it comes to poetry, I'M a nihilist!
"sir how do i write"
"bimbimbim"
"cool but sir how do i write"
"i throw up on the floor!"
"mr. bim how the fuck do i write"
The professional drunk line is my favourite and most savage and hysterical comment ever made on this planet. You died choking on your own vomit? Amatuer! What you do after a big drink is position your head over the bed so you vomit on the floor, fucking idiot!. What a glorious person and i like his wit as it feels half serious. If you are going to be a fuck up in life and do stupid things like drugs or alcohol abuse, you better have some sort of plan in place on how to deal with that stuff and not just go into it willy nilly.
Until you experience the experience you don't know what plan you need.
'Under the Volcano' is a dull read, but Hank's a poet applying poetic judgment to literary prose. He sounds like a poet looking for like effects in all the prose he tried to read. There's a place for rapid-fire, rat-a-tat-tat writing, but that's what '40s detective noir novels were for (and some others, of course). 'Dull' doesn't equate to 'bed' if by 'dull' the critic means 'It didn't snap and crackle like a poem.'
well in this comment every line holds its own so if you can apply it to youtube comments, writers can apply it to southern porch verandas.
Equate to "bed" who even said that? And as if the style of prose he's describing is exclusive to 40s noir novels. Hes 100% correct about literary fiction being (mostly) boring.
Dostoyevsky was wordy and highly detailed but boy his books are damn good reads. They don't exactly bim bim bim. Crime and Punishment was a ripper book.
@@oedipamaas2067 It's really only boring for people with defective brains. It's like people who think classical music is suppose to relax you or help you fall asleep
That's the insight I was waiting to read. My first thought was he was applying poetry to novels, but I didn't have the rest of it. Thank you.
I agree a hundred percent. I find myself being bored to death when the writers spend time beating about the bush with exaggerated phrases to describe a simple thing to sound more profound.
@Nazara R That's not what Mukul said though.
There's this idea of being a writer-- it's a certain pretentiousness that goes with it, grand entrances and gestures. Vocabulary words to create a mirage of intellect. It's pompous and ever so boring. Write like you've lived.
@@ryanlynch290 💯 nothing but facts
I highly recommand Paul Auster. Though I think most of you probaby know him. His writing is, at least to me, the way Bukowski describes the "Bim-Bim-Bim effect". Sure, he doesn't write about the stuff Buk did. But that doesn't matter. It's simply great writing.
@@MrBandini27 bim bim bim 😂😂😂
i love the story he tells about the guy who pulled a gun on him at that apartment party
"There is nothing new under the sun, its all been done before" -King Solomon
Not in the same way, once you choose to pursue ceativity, you join a fraternity of similar creators. They influence us as we will the ones who come after.
@@redsol3629 I think create is a misnomer. What we term create is just us assembling and re-arranging preexisting ideas that are we taught. As someone said before, there is no original or unique idea.
@Abe McGee Just because something is built on the foundation of history does not mean it is not unique. You speak like someone who has never created anything. There is something intangible the new apprentice brings to the craft. His own spirit and sovereignty as an individual.
@@redsol3629 "There is something intangible the new apprentice brings to the craft. His own spirit and sovereignty as an individual."
That intangible is still not unique, for the individual has long been shaped by the ideas of his environment. stick an individual in a room devoid of any knowledge or experience from birth, the first idea he comes up would be more original than anything the so called creators you speak of, can come up with.
@Abe McGee Ah yes the empty room argument, your point collapses on itself with that perspective. You argue that artists move things around, yet you put your example in a room with no pieces. Are you a creator?
I must be living on a different level because life continues to surprise me even in late middle age. I learn and grow every month, sometimes even in the space of a week! But times are different.
I'm 84 and feel the same. I sit down to play music, and something different comes out every time. It's not all worthy, but the search is worth the effort.
@@farshimelt I agree. I love Bukowski and his writing played a major role in my life, but there is more too it than described in this one perspective.
Orwell talked about this on his rules for good writing. Do not embelish excessively a sentence to say something or it will lose its power. If you can say something in 4 words instead of 10, go for the first option.
He stole that from Aristotle a few thousand years before.
@@greyeyed123 He borrowed that from Aristotle, and it deserves to be said, over and over.
@@farshimelt The best writers steal. (I stole that from you-know-who.)
Wouldn't an expanded vocabulary aid in conciseness?
@@mrpussinboots4252 No one said it wouldn't, least of all Orwell.
"If you write dull shit, it doesn't matter what you die from." This is infinitely wise.
If you write good shit, it doesn’t matter what you die from. He was just being a disrespectful jackass.
you are infinitely gullible. that is a profoundly stupid thing to say. for Gods sake just think about it.
He's a tired old drunk but he's right. If you're doing everything to set up a climax, no one will even care about it if you've bored them along the way to get there.
“OK baby… its time… its good”
He wasn’t being mean he was trying to ignite some fire in his belly. Very admirable
I always click on Charles' interviews. He doesnt hold back on his opinions like most are afraid to do, especially in the entertainment world.
His writing is lively all right. Really easy to read. Quite like Hemmingway. Short punchy sentences. Sterling Hayden's autobiography was similar.
I was thinking Hemingway too. I enjoyed Vonnegut for same reason.
It's almost like songwriting advice he's giving. But he wrote poems too, so he gets it all the way around.
As an english major I have such mixed feelings about what I'm hearing..
But I'm dropping out so I guess in the end he must have some kind of point lol
This killed me 3:55 💀💀
as a person who dropped out of english masters, I approve.
Same thoughts and feelings
@@TheManodeep sending hugs ♡
Dropping out of post secondary isn’t a bad thing. Just keep busy work or volunteering. Bim bim bim
@@bobpowers9637 ty ♡
Thanks for sharing! I get the impression that it's easier to write like he said. To write each sentence interesting means that you can't predict a long chain of setting phrases to a big emotion. Anyway, he is indeed an interesting writer
Love him roasting this man’s death hahaha
That ending to the interview was oddly wholesome and uplifting.
Jack Kerouac also thought the same about writing. Every line must full of life
Sometimes there's a gap between what should be and what is.
0:22 I like how the interviewers must think he's asking if the filming has ended or ssomething while he's just making his point
Be nice if the interviewer had the presence of mind to ask Bukowski who he thought were good or even great writers (present company excepted)!
I keep seeing this clip over and over again
His approach to writing can and should be applied to any creative medium.
not really. that'd make things just as dull. you can pick up art you like that follows other structures, because art is about your own expression. even dull art can be called art because it came from a dull person expressing their dull feelings on a canvas.
@@b_delta9725 It's not the "approach" that would be dull, it's the result that may be dull. That depends on the insight and skill of the artist. Artist as in all forms of artistic expression.
Most celebrities emerge from Borat interviews looking ridiculous. Not Charles. CLASS act ❤
Ham on Rye was a seriously page turning book. Really good reading.
It is. I read it a few times a long time ago.
Post Office is amazing, too.
Charles Bukowski was all about the harsh truth most of the time, but he had a Poet's heart and sometimes a flower bloomed out of that mire. What he is talking about here is a good contrast between poetry and prose really, but there are boring poets too of course.
Yesterday I wrote some beautiful poetry:
bim bim bim
bim bim bim
bim bim bim
bim bim bim
We're tough men TOGETHER through the HORRORS of LIFE
This is fantastic.
Thanks.Check out my channel and subscribe for more
It would be an honor to have a drink with this man.
The bim bim bim technique is good sometimes but not always. Thomas wolfe was not a bim bim writer and I love him but I also love bukowskis minimalism
I wonder what he thought of Kerouac, who also seemed to be striving for that style, with every line needing to be alive on its own.
@ronmackinnon9374 Kerouac was rather prosaic and experimental though which seems more of a contrast to bim bim style but good question
@@indepthliteratureIn what sense do you mean prosaic?
@unfortunatebeam by prosaic I mean epic, grandioise and poetic. Much different technique than bukowski. Not that bukowski wasn't poetic but he definitely wasn't grandiose or epic lol
Wolfe was at his best when he went full bim with his philosophical deep dives. Those moments were always better than his often plodding scenes. The intro lines to Look Homeward, Angel are brilliant. But then the story begins, and it's just ok.
"" Enjoy this man. Forget this interview. "" ❤❤
It seems "Mr. McGillicuddy" is translated as "Meneer Huppeldepup" a 2:54
In the movie “Barfly”, Mickey Roarke had a blast playing this character
Буковски - это автор для особого настроения, но я бы не назвал его слишком "грязным", потому что в его описаниях есть своеобразная поэтичность
I fully agree with Charles about every line needing its own life.
The man was a genius RIP 🙏
One the greatest interviews I’ve ever seen.
Bukowski, hahaha. This was great, explaining how to vomit properly as a 'professional drunk'. Can't help but smile at that
As I age into my mid 60's soon to be 70. I couldn't agree more. At this age things do start to become very meta.
this is the atomic age 😀
Reading history does this. It's maddening.
as I get older this unfortunately speaks to me in a very profound way
pace, life, sunlight, flavor, , delicious, juice such direct wisdom
Bukowski waz a fkn genious that did not suffer mediocrity well, in anything.
His statements on writing were a continuation of his comments about death. Life is here. Right now. That urgency - the awareness of it, is to respect the fullness of life. Write and live as if you know you are going to die
Bukowski would’ve loved Midwest emo
I miss him, I wonder so much, what he would think of me? I got many sparks, processing boredom little suffering, and lit loopy endings. I miss you buddy
I wonder if Bukowski appreciated Nabokov. His lines are good.
Same here, there is something very descriptive but also fiery about Nabokov that couldve appealed to him, but who knows though
Probably not
This is so cool. Honestly I thought there was something wrong with me that I couldn’t get with the kinds of writing that he was criticizing and that I could only keep my interest with writers who do bim bim bim. Nathaniel West comes to mind as one of my favorites who totally exudes that style in Miss Lonelyhearts. So glad I came across this!!
Misused exudes.. pick up a dictionary
I definitely relate to his sentiment on things taking on a repeat. I'm already tired of life in my 40's.
I like the Alan Watts quote "The meaning of life is just to be alive."
Feeling like this in my mid 20s as well.
I follow Ezra Pounds dictum; "Make it new." No matter how many times I play a piece of music, I'm always listening for the one phrase that will lead me somewhere different, or a "mistake" that will send me in a different direction.
@George Neidorf Yeah, that's good. I am trying to do that myself. I realize that even in the mundane existence of repetition, there are some gems within it if I pay attention enough.
Get a dirt bike.
In perceived many here at coment session never read Charles Bukowski because they're talking non-sense shit. bukowlski was very famous even from his time, and an excellent writer who catch you in every line of his books.
Read the book first folks and comment later, trust me it will be worthy
The Belgian reporter interviewing Charles, was Fernand Auwera (1929-2015), this interview was taken in 1980, my year of birth by the way. Fernand was a brilliant, yet troubled mind. Same goes for Bukowski, probably why Charles liked Fernand so much.
Yeah, I went to "Long Beach/Harbour City some decades ago to buy a new Gi
and see if i could see this Poet. I wasn't sure I would approach him to say i liked his work,
but I may have, coming out of a karate shop/studio back then, have actually
seen him going into a nearby bar. I didn't follow...I love my 'privacy'! and wanted to
afford him same. Plus, he could be quite abrasive. And being of darkish complexion...
well, one couldn't/can't be sure of reception(s) by some of a lighter complexion,
then and now! And I didn't want to be disillusioned.
But I started this to say - How can one not like chest-out honesty.
I always appreciated his words. Die as might poet, But live on...
It's a good thing I loaded my pen up with fresh word juice.
Brilliant honesty...no bullshit
The late author of "The Funeral Critic" told me once that Bukowski was likely only to appeal to readers as vulgar and unsophisticated as he was.
, well that in a way makes all of us. We all have a ugly side.
@@janetlovell7171
Sure, but I read for many reasons…very rarely is it to explore my shallow and vulgar capacity.
Entertainment, enlightenment, connection, affirmation. Those are the reasons I expend time on reading…
Holy Bukowski…reading his books its like talking with him…lucky interviewer.
. After reading some of his work I threw to the fireplace a Baudeleire book I bought. He was right. Pretentious poetry is one of the worst form of art.
Baudelaires poetry is beautiful though, Malcom Lowery on the other hand is kinda hard to get through
In this age, any form of literariness is considered pretentiousness. The language of poetry now must be reduced to the speed and shortness of a text messages to not be considered pretentious. I am sorry but Baudelaire's work dwarfs Bukoeski's legacy. This guy couldn't even rhyme two verses evrn if he dared to.
@@claudiocruzat8777 Crime and Punishment is a masterpiece
Claudio, Flowers of Evil is awesome. the problem with it, and a lot of older foreign writers is the english translations, they are disgusting, done by academics trying to twist the originals and dazzle us with their own genius, which they don't have.
thank god their jobs are now obsolete! suckers! google translate does a better job than them. i have been reading Baudelaire lately, i obviously don't know french, i have the dual language paperback, i take a photo with phone of the original french, translate it on google, and compared to the dull wordy academic english translation its beautiful.
@@ghostphoto1789 For you. For me.. I'll pass. Its boring but Cheers and have a nice year! By the way, its healthy to have different opinions.
I love this man
Great clip/ thx
You're welcome!
On the back of the next reprint of, _Under the Volcano_ should be,
*_"I yawned myself to shit."_*
- _Charles Bukowski_
😁😄🤣
In the current era, Bukowski wouldn't have had a single book published. We'd never have known he even existed, let alone revered him into a cult figure in the world of transgressive poetry and literature. Sensitivity readers would have screamed and he'd have gotten rejection letter one after another due to the woke ideology's stranglehold on publishing houses, the arts, culture and politics in general today. Today, you cannot veer off-piste on Ideology Mountain. You MUST fit in with anodyne, homogenous world dictated by the cultural intelligentsia. This Borg-like invasion has destroyed everything I love-- including comedy. There should be a place for everybody to express themselves as they wish on planet Earth without fearing the loss of livelihood, total erasure from the internet's social spaces, a jumped-up bogus criminal record for some sort of perceived "micro-incivility" or most likely, a bike lock smashed in their forehead from a peer.
That's the worst consideration of all when it comes to the contemporary interpretation of what it means to live as a 'countercultural', 'anti-establishment' or a natural-born creative transgressive type: you have to be frightened or wary of your own indulged, spoilt, entitled little fascist peers. They've been well conditioned into doing the job of the new Stasi and are happily doing the snooping, reporting, rioting, book-burning, censoring and destroying. How did this happen?! Where do 'problematic' writers go these days???!! Is it worth being beaten like Andy Ngo and having nobody in authority really care?! Why is this goofy censorious, violently solipsistic new fascism tolerated and how did it become normalised? How many great writers will I never know about because of the current state of society and the hideous mind virus warping people's thinking and behaviour in this era? Intolerance, the hive mind, cry-bullying and coercion really are important topics for discussion.
True dat✊️
dont forget to take your meds bro
@@sunkintree Don't forget to pop your spectacles on so you can recognise a female face when you see it..."bro".
@@ciganyweaverandherperiwink6293 Hey man, youtube comments are significantly cheaper than therapy, but are unfortunately not nearly as effective. If you need I have some extra cash lying around I would be happy to help you afford it. Whether you need my financial support or not, just remember when you get there to let them know that you have a hard time dealing with imaginary enemies stemming from a persecution complex. These are really big words but don't worry, the experts know what they mean, don't be afraid to use them, it will help them help you faster
@@sunkintree Dad...is that you?!
He’s such a funny guy to listen to
A poet lectures about why he finds writers boring. I mean yeah no shit dude ofc you don't like creative writing, that's pretty self-explanatory, it's not your art-form. You can't write every book like a poet, only few ppl exist that have that sap in every single sentence, especially in the long novels. He's equating everything in a book to the structure, style and rhythm of poetry as if they're the same thing.
Yeah it's all subjective. To me, the only novelist with the heart and mind of a poet was Scott Fitzgerald. Pure talent. True art. (I haven't read much Shakespeare but I suspect he's up there.) Everyone else just has a mixed skillset of realism, pretty prose, plot lines, characterization, pacing, even vocab, and so-called juice
Bukowski had his juice and characters/dialogue but not much else. Still good tho.
And yet it's the truth of the pinnacle of great writing.
@@BriantWebster well ofc shakespeare had that, but he's a playwrite. not a novelist.
@@brightestlight9462 yeahh, you're right. The good thing is there are many people with different tastes and preferences.
@@BriantWebster true enough. If you haven't read much Shakespeare and you enjoy good writing though, I mean I can't recommend enough. Obviously see a Shakespeare performance if you can, but if the performance isn't good you lose out on the joy of being able to appreciate his poetry. There never was and never will be anyone who writes quite like Shakespeare. There's a reason he's still SO relevant.
The way he talks man, it's just something else. "Oh that's ookaaaay..."
People in this thread insulting Bukowski are the same stock of people who made his life impossible lol nice to see that the same turds Buk fought against his whole life are still around, proving his point.
Write a book about it.
@@vaxrvaxr smooth brain
@@johngoldsworthy7135 Alcoholic.
@@vaxrvaxr Don't have to, Buk has written enough about it and has given you people enough attention.
@@vaxrvaxr you doin okay man?
Tough men together, through the horrors of Life