Bukowski vs. Houellebecq – Bukowski Wins
Charles Bukowski is one of my favorite poets, unexpectedly to some. There is a general consensus that in a contest between Charles Bukowski and Michel Houellebecq (author of Elementary Particles) Bukowski would definitely win in terms of who is more disgusting (Bukowski is famous for writing about his relationship with prostitutes and his life on the streets, whereas Houellebecq is famous for his blunt, mechanical description of crazy sex acts). Personally, I find Houellebecq more disturbing – where Bukowski is a spokesman for the free, unfettered life. Here is one of my favorites from him:
starting fast
we each
at times
should
remember
the most
elevated
and
lucky
moment
of
our
lives.
for me
it
was
being
a
very young
man
and
sleeping
penniless
and
friendless
upon a
park
bench
in a
strange
city
which
doesn’t say
much
for all
those
many
decades
which
followed.
To me, this one is about what happens when you stop living on the edge and you start living too safely. A year or so ago when I read these lines, I was launched into a crisis, feeling the same about my last 10 years. But since I have resolved it by leaving a job, a terrible roommate and an ambivalent guy, starting my own business, making new friends and getting back into writing. Now my life is better since I went through that crisis.
My favourite kind of writer is someone who lives as true a life as possible (not pretending for themselves or others) and expresses the experience genuinely in a way that inspires, promotes compassion and self-forgiveness and creates connections. Bukowski, at the best of times, does this.
Great literature does more than just inspire – it is a mirror – showing all aspects of life – both inspired and uninspired.
my favorite bukowski is dinosauria, we
http://rasml.org/?page_id=66
Bukowski is one of my favourites. His writing woke me up and afforded me permission to write more grittier.
Me too – he wrote from the heart – and there was nothing fake about him. On his gravestone it says “don’t try” – which doesn’t mean like Homer Simpson “don’t bother” it means don’t force things, just be. Nothing against Homer though – he was cool and about as good looking as Bukowski
.