Charles Bukowski – Love Him Or Hate Him

I am a long time fan of Buk, and when I want to see someone who has had it harder than I, I turn to his poetry or prose. Buk was quite prolific, and was at his typewriter more often than not. If you have read anything about Bukowski, you would understand that his childhood was less than perfect, and his father features quite often in his writing. I imagine that taking a beating from his father more often than not caused a lot of Buks problems, but nonetheless he was a compex character.

His writing is very evocative, and you get a sense of there being more than one personality in Buk. His sensitive, soulful side is a joy to behold, and when he turns it on there is nothing to compare in modern day prose. To his credit, he tapped away even when the muse escaped him, which was quite often. You will find quite a few tired clauses scattered through his work, but that does not detract from the rest of his brilliance:

Wind The Clock

It’s just a slow day moving into a slow night.
it doesn’t matter what you do
everything just stays the same.
the cats sleep it off, the dogs don’t bark,
it’s just a slow day moving into a slow night.
there’s nothing even dying,
it’s just more waiting through a slow day moving
into a slow night.
you don’t even hear the water running,
the walls just stand there
and the doors don’t open.
it’s just a slow day moving into a slow night.
the rain has stopped,
you can’t hear a siren anywhere,
your wristwatch has a dead battery,
the cigarette lighter is out of fluid,
it’s just a slow day moving into a slow night,
it’s just more waiting through a slow day moving
into a slow night
like tomorrow’s never going to come
and when it does
it’ll be the same damn thing.

Buk is very clever in some of his constructions, and manages to very easily evoke that 3am feeling, which most of you with insomnia will recognize very well.

This particular poem was featured in the film ‘Factotum‘ with Matt Dillon and Lili Taylor, and the poem featured as a song in the film called ‘Slow Day’

Many of Buks poetry books seem to repeat, but that is generally thematic. His personality weaves back and forth from sensitive to bar brawling lunatic, and his propensity for getting himself into the worst kind of situations seemed to feed off into his writing very well.

Here are my picks for his best work:

‘What Matters Most Is How Well You Walk Through The Fire‘ 1999 (Later on in his writing career, but very smart and switched on)

‘Love Is A Dog From Hell‘ 1977 (All class)

‘The Roominghouse Madrigals: Early Selected Poems‘ 1988 (Some poems are rough, but overall a shining diamond!)

Buk is a very amiable companion late at night, and I have found his work to be of great comfort on some occasions. However he lived, and whatever he did to get by, I have no complaints. I salute his ability to carry on, under what must have been some very trying conditions. Reading about some of his days without food are particularly heartbreaking, but he did it his way, and took no prisoners.

Here’s to you Buk!