The Writings of Charles Bukowski: A Well-known Novelist and Poet

Henry Charles Bukowski, a well-known German-American author, novelist, and poet, influenced many cultures and people with his writings. His works are a piece on the poor American culture, alcohol, relationship with women, the principles of writing, and how he handled himself daily. He published six novels, numerous short stories, and many poems. His work is known to be as controversial then as now. This author is known to have an ordinary yet distinct understanding of who people are and how they behave in a particular situation.

Bukowski made sure that he showed the reality of situations by putting his own experiences in his writings. His poetry determines the cruelty and difficulties experienced by a normal person living under the normality of our culture. No matter how he wrote, he has influenced and still influences many people through his basic vocabulary and the nature of his writings. He did not write to matter to people, he wrote because he wanted to write. While he was alive, he was flattered by the receiving of fan letters and sometimes even people dropping by his apartment in Los Angles, where he lived most of his life.

Figure 1: Portait of Henry Charles Bukowski (Andersen 2005).

In 1981, he once told an interviewer, "I get many letters in the mail about my writing, and they say: 'Bukowski, you are so fucked up and you still survive. I decided not to kill myself.'. . . So in a way I save people. . . . Not that I want to save them, I have no desire to save anybody. . . . So these are my readers, you see? They buy my books—the defeated, the demented, and the damned—and I am proud of it." (Kirsch, 2005). Bukowski was a writer who influenced many lives, using typical wordplays for his experiences, without knowing the effects his writing had on people. Although his work filled the bookstores, he was never a mainstream writer compared to the mainstream writers, which results in a non-mainstream fandom. His reputation is as he is: a self-centered man, an alcoholic, a womanizer, a gambler, now added to these, a beautiful writer. When the movie "Barfly" came out in 1987, in which Bukowski was portrayed by Mickey Rourke, he received great attention.

A few autobiographical novels and a few poetries mentioned an alter ego, the pseudonym so transparent, Hank Chinaski. Charles' full name was Henry Charles Bukowski Jr., but to his friends, he was Hank. He implied that he was writing his own experiences; therefore, he wrote as a first-person narrator. There is a really blurry line between Chinaski and Bukowski's character. With the way of his writing, the blurriness is the writer's secret, combining character with his own life in a matter that shows people the truth. Bukowski's poems are appreciated in an adventurous style that reflects on the daily life of an ordinary man. His writing has an effect on the people who have read him. It is hard to come to the conclusion of not being affected by what he wrote.

Figure 2: Charles Bukowski in 1978 (2019).

During the 1960s and 1970s, his poetry had a significant impact on the writers. His freestyle poetry attracted a large audience. Even though he was not the first person to write this kind of poetry, the way he presented his work was a result that freestyle also had the same impact as other types of poetry.

He could write in a formal yet dense manner that an average person could understand and relate to. He could convey his feelings in a funny yet understandable way. He had a feature that could make you laugh in situations that you might not, and that was something many writers could not do. His writing is a means to the art of honesty, poetry, discipline, persistence, and survival.

Some of his major works are:

Post office (1971) Mockingbird Wish Me Luck (1972)

Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness (1972) Love Is a Dog from Hell (1977) Women (1978) Shakespeare Never Did This (1979); expanded (1995) The most beautiful woman in town (1983) The Bukowski/Purdy Letters (1983) You Get So Alone at Times That It Just Makes Sense (1986) Hollywood (1989) The Last Night of the Earth Poems (1992)

Bibliographical references

Poetry Foundation. (nd). Charles Bukowski. Retrieved from:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poets/charles-bukowski Kirsch A. (2005, March 07). The Transgressive Thrills of Charles Bukowski. The New Yorker. Retrieved from:

https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/03/14/smashed Wikipedia contributors. (nd). Charles Bukowski. Retrieved from:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Bukowski#In_popular_culture

Visual Sources

Figure 1: Andersen, U (n.d.). Portrait of Charles Bukowski [photograph]. Retrieved from: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/03/14/smashed

Figure 2: Andersen, U. (n.d.). Portrait of Charles Bukowski [photograph]. Retreived from: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/02/20/books/review/charles-bukowski-on-drinking.html