Who Read Uke's Books Then?

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

A while back (I didn’t want to drag up the old post, some people seem to get very confused for some reason) Unclebeer decided to give Ukelele Ike the Herculean task of recommending books for all who posted to this thread.

So who read their book and what did you think?
Uke gave me Post Office by Charles Bukowski, and I have to shyly admit that I only just bought a copy and read it yesterday. It was one of the best books I’ve ever read and I’m planning on reading some more CB as soon as possible.
Cheers Uke!!!

2

I’ve read most of CB’s stuff and loved them all. They can be hard going and quite shocking but always thought provoking.

I’ll have a look at the thread and see if there’s anything that intersets me.

3

I got a copy of the book he recommended for me; I just haven’t read it yet. Probably do that sometime this winter when I get snowed in for a day or two.

4

After Ike and I had our mud-wrestling argument about which was the better Evelyn Waugh book—“Vile Bodies” (me) or “Decline and Fall” (him)—he actually sent me copies of both books.

I’ll admit “Decline and Fall” was better than I remembered, but I still stand, like Liberty Leading the People, with my “Vile Bodies” banner flapping in the wind.

5

Uke’s probably dead to the world right now, but if I poke him with a sharp stick, maybe he’ll wake up and continue my instruction, and tell me where to go after Ham on Rye which was rather good too.

6

So, apparently we are the only ones that made any effort at all. Hmmph. Knowing this crowd though, I’ll bet nearly all of these cocktails were sampled. Buncha’ drunks.

7

android:

My first encounter with Buk was the short story collection NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN. I think more of his shorter work than of his novels…the best collections, to my mind, are

TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN IN TOWN
(these were originally published as one volume by City Lights. Then somebody up in Marketing realized they could split it in two and double their profits.)
and SOUTH OF NO NORTH.

My favorite novel (after POST OFFICE) is FACTOTUM. WOMEN is okay, but a real step down from these two.

I would skip HOLLYWOOD and PULP completely. These were written after he’d gotten rich and fat and quit drinking.

The poems aren’t bad, but they’re rather slight, and lack the impact of the prose work. Bukowski’s strength is as a storyteller, rather than a stylist. IMHO.

Hey, and thanks for the bump! You too, Unc, for citing the cocktail thread. Now all the newbies will realize what a fascinating guy I am, and possibly offer to give me sex.

8

My daughter read hers – she’d asked for something pre-Civil War from the black point of view.

She’s been reading all the modern black writers for many years, and wanted something to sort of fill in some gaps.

Wonder if Uke would be willing to do this again? (He said something about newbies and sex . . . ) :wink:

9

I feel like I’m right at home.

My first exposure to his work was WOMEN. After that, in rapid succession, came POST OFFICE, NOTES OF A DIRTY OLD MAN, TALES OF ORDINARY MADNESS, BURNING IN WATER, DROWNING IN FLAME, HOT WATER MUSIC, and LAST NIGHT OF THE EARTH POEMS. I must say that you’re dead on about HOLLYWOOD and PULP. PULP was especially noxious. Just didn’t have a spark to it.

Bukowski is my hero. He’s my favorite author, hands down.

10

Don’t even think about it. {sits down firmly on UncleBeer’s keyboard, arms crossed}

Ogre: Get FACTOTUM, if you haven’t yet. It’s a short novel which focuses on Henry Chinaski’s endless succession of ghastly dead-end jobs.

Let me paraphrase a section; Chinaski’s walking through a sleazy area of New Orleans:

 *"Hey, buddy, a man in a doorway said. "You want a job?"
 I looked past him, into the building. There was a long table and men with hammers doing something to things on top of it. In the gloom the things appeared to be clams.
 I kept on walking.*
11

Uke,

I’ve read FACTOTUM. Once I discovered the Buk, I didn’t stop until I’d plowed through everything of his that I could find.

Not to hijack or anything, but speaking of sleazy New Orleans, have you ever read “A Confederacy of Dunces,” by John Kennedy Toole?

12

Thanks to Android, I just found this thread. Nothing much to add other than I’m also a HUGE Bukowski fan, and I enjoyed Hollywood. Sorry, I’m no purist.

13

Uke, you are the best! How about providing us newbies with a top 10 reading list and a drink in exchange for all the sex? You know we all worship you!