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Charles Bukowski – Dangling in the Tournefortia | Review

April 15, 2017 danecobain

Title: Dangling in the Tournefortia

Author: Charles Bukowski

Type: Poetry

Page Count/Review Word Count: 288

Rating: 4*/5

Charles Bukowski – Dangling in the Tournefortia

It’s always difficult to review a Charles Bukowski book, because they usually leave me feeling somewhat stunned. It’s like being assaulted by words and beat around the head until you get to the final page and realise it’s left you with a minor concussion. But that’s a good thing – Bukowski truly had a way with words, and in many ways he’s at his best here. Although equally, it’s hard to recommend any one of his poetry books above another.

That’s because each of Bukowski’s collections has a sort of soul of its own, and this one has an older soul to go with the age of the man who wrote it. That’s not to say that he avoids any of his traditional subjects, though – women, booze and horses are out in force here. But he does look at them with the advantage of age, and it’s interesting to see how that changes his opinion on things over time.

Overall though, this is just a rock solid poetry collection with some incredible chunks of wisdom on offer. You know what you’re getting with a Bukowski book – if you’ve read one before, that is – and this is a pretty typical example. Because of that, it’s not a bad collection to start with, especially because if anything, he’s a little tamer here. It reads like the collection of a man who’s finally coming to terms with his life, which in many ways, it is. That means it’s not always easy to read, but it is always sublime, and it’s entertaining along the way too. Give it a go!

Charles Bukowski

Click here to buy Dangling in the Tournefortia.

Charles Bukowski – Women | Review

January 12, 2017 danecobain

Authors A-E (By Surname)Non-Fiction

Title: Women

Author: Charles Bukowski

Type: Non-Fiction

Page Count/Review Word Count: 308

Rating: 4*/5

Charles Bukowski – Women

This book is a difficult one to categorise, because the line between fiction and non-fiction is a blurry one here. But then, that always happens with Bukowski – his stories are often autobiographical, but he also takes details from the stories that his friends told him to create his alter ego, Hank Chinaski.

In this book, we follow Chinaski through a succession of different women as he drinks booze and plays at the race tracks. Because of that, in many ways, it’s a quintessential Charles Bukowski book, and if you’ve read any of his prose before then you’ll already know roughly what to expect. For me, some of the pieces even gave me a sense of deja vu, as though I’d read them before. It’s hard to tell whether that’s because they were collected elsewhere and I had actually previously read them, or whether it’s because Bukowski’s style is so iconic that once you’ve read a few of his books, you’ve effectively read them all.

Now, I definitely wouldn’t say this is my favourite Bukowski book, but in many ways that’s because there’s so much choice on the market. But it is a very good introduction to his work and his writing style, and it’s an essential part of any Bukowski fan’s collection. Sure, he may have been an alcoholic, gambling–addicted womaniser, but the man could write. I imagine his work is probably more controversial now than it was when it was first published, in part because of his attitude towards women, but if you can separate the man from his art and just enjoy his brutally simple style of writing, you’re going to have a lot of fun.