Women: A Novel
by Charles Bukowski
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recommends it for:
Writers (in quotation marks)?
I read the first 9 pages of Bukowski's Women and realized I wasn't going to learn anything new about women from this alcoholic egotist. I read the next 300 pages because he's funny as shit!
I've never read anything by Bukowski, save for the poem about the Blue Bird which I really liked and transcribed on napkins for some reason, from my friend's book collection when I was drunk because I didn't want to buy the collection. Then I realized you ...more
I've never read anything by Bukowski, save for the poem about the Blue Bird which I really liked and transcribed on napkins for some reason, from my friend's book collection when I was drunk because I didn't want to buy the collection. Then I realized you ...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
Readers.
If Pulp is Bukowski's intellectual candy, then Women is a main course. His prose is still wonderfully simple and quirky as seen in the last few lines of the novel:
"... I opened the door and walked out on the porch. There was a strange cat out there. He was a huge creature, a tom, with a shining black coat and luminous yellow eyes...
I opened him up a can of Star-Kist solid white tuna. Packed in spring water. Net wt. 7 oz."
As with Pulp, I relished that his prose re...more
"... I opened the door and walked out on the porch. There was a strange cat out there. He was a huge creature, a tom, with a shining black coat and luminous yellow eyes...
I opened him up a can of Star-Kist solid white tuna. Packed in spring water. Net wt. 7 oz."
As with Pulp, I relished that his prose re...more
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Eh. This definitely had its laugh-out-loud moments, but mostly it read like a trashy mass-market romance for boys. I'm friends with people who can write better porn than this in their sleep. I'm just not feeling the talent. Maybe it's because my own generation is long since over the idea that someone from the working class could also -- gasp! -- be a writer? I won't dismiss him entirely without first reading some of his poetry, though.
_____________________________
*UPDATE*
Okay, now t...more
_____________________________
*UPDATE*
Okay, now t...more
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Read in March, 2008
I'm not quite sure what to say about this book. I really enjoyed the writers ability to be blunt and thorough with the sex scenes. Just when yout think you have Henry figured out, just when you assume that it's about to become redundant and mundane, something out of the ordinary happens. You can almost feel what he feels for these women, but you're not quite sure why you feel that way.
On the other hand, I find Henry's character to be unbelievable. I am not convinced that this 50 year old ...more
On the other hand, I find Henry's character to be unbelievable. I am not convinced that this 50 year old ...more
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Read in December, 2007
This book was about 85% done and then... I just put it down. It was beginning to seem like a waste of time and energy. So many women, so much booze, and one stinking degenerate to tell me about it all.
But then I came across an LA Times Book Review of "Pleasure of the Damn: Poems, 1951-1993" (which was going to released the following week). The reviewer said some really harsh things about Bukowski and his place in the literary pantheon in LA. After that, I was inspired to fini...more
But then I came across an LA Times Book Review of "Pleasure of the Damn: Poems, 1951-1993" (which was going to released the following week). The reviewer said some really harsh things about Bukowski and his place in the literary pantheon in LA. After that, I was inspired to fini...more
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Read in February, 2008
In the words of a reviewer on Amazon, "First off, this book will offend people. It will probably offend you." This book hit a little too close to home (you could say I've met and loved this man in real life). At first, reading it was easy; the language is not complex and the material is the definition of "page-turner" - sex, love, drugs, alcohol - in raw, unapologetic realism. And then around page 200 it all became too much. Chinaski does another poetry reading, beds (an...more
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This book is pretty derogatory toward women. There are some funny and insightful passages though and it's amazingly honest.
"People with no morals often considered themselves more free, but mostly they lacked the ability to feel or to love. So they became swingers."
"I took my bottle and went to my bedroom. I undressed down to my shorts and went to bed. Nothing was ever in tune. People just blindly grabbed at whatever there was: communism, health foods, zen, surfing, ballet,...more
"People with no morals often considered themselves more free, but mostly they lacked the ability to feel or to love. So they became swingers."
"I took my bottle and went to my bedroom. I undressed down to my shorts and went to bed. Nothing was ever in tune. People just blindly grabbed at whatever there was: communism, health foods, zen, surfing, ballet,...more
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Read in January, 2008
recommends it for:
people familiar with Bukowskis works.
(NB: English is not my native tongue...)
My first Bukowski (aside from seeing the film 'Factotum (2005)', directed by Bent Hamer).
Not sure of what to write about this book. First: don't let my rating fool you - you will probably have a totally different view of it.
I think that my first problem is all the drinking and all the f******. I get it. He was living the low life of society. Then, after almost finishing the book...more
My first Bukowski (aside from seeing the film 'Factotum (2005)', directed by Bent Hamer).
Not sure of what to write about this book. First: don't let my rating fool you - you will probably have a totally different view of it.
I think that my first problem is all the drinking and all the f******. I get it. He was living the low life of society. Then, after almost finishing the book...more
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The best thing about this book is that it is nothing it is not supposed to be. It is a telling of a sad lonely old man who knows he is not what he is supposed to be. It captures the self pity and destruction of a fictional writer who is very obviously a reincarnate of Bukowski. The story is forced forward only by the coming and goings of the women he meets, as I imagine Bukowski's own life was propelled. He doesn't sugar-coat these meetings. The sex is raw and disgusting and there is no lov...more
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Misogyny, misogyny, misogyny....that's all everyone sees. Few see the true character of Hank, only the brutal sexual descriptions, the words beginning with "C" and his practice of "mounting" whatever drunken soul may have wandered into his piss-stained bed. This is one of the most American novels I have ever read. It tells the story of the common man, overburdened by the memories of his abusive youth, beleagured by his own unsightly appearance and wallowing in the depths of a...more
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Read in May, 2002
recommends it for:
Someone looking for something wild and very different
This book is CRAZY!!! I cannot believe I read the entire thing in 3 days. You can't put it down. In fact, it made it's rounds through at least 8 people I know of, and it's probably still making the rounds. Everyone had the same experience. You start it and Bukowski goes into the most sexist, vulgar, repulsive descriptions of the main character's relationship to women, nut something makes you keep reading. I stopped at several points wondering, "why the hell am I reading this?", yet I w...more
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Read in April, 2007
Easy, quick read. Bukowski can create a quiet, soft, almost tender quality in his style; he alternates this with the raging emotional fury of a social-cripple. He is physically brave, I think this exudes in his writing, but he is spiritually and emotionally weak, the opposite of a superior writer like Henry Miller. Bukowski's misogyny is stunning even though you know to expect it. But Bukowski also hits those high, clean, powerful notes that are unquestionably the product of heavy talent. His gr...more
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recommends it for:
everyone
You can't be squeamish to read Bukowski. The man had the inimitable ability to make entertaining the aggrivations of every day life. This novel talks of his exploits with various women, including the one he eventually married.
He is not a misogynist; he merely tells the truth. Actually, I think Buk loved women but he never, ever pretended to understand them. And that's probably the wisest thing any man ever did.
I read this while having woman troubles of my own. Hey, it helped a lot...more
He is not a misogynist; he merely tells the truth. Actually, I think Buk loved women but he never, ever pretended to understand them. And that's probably the wisest thing any man ever did.
I read this while having woman troubles of my own. Hey, it helped a lot...more
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Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
The painfully alone
My first Bukowski will not be my last, though the novel did not leave any lasting impressions on me besides:
1. The protagonist has a lot of sex.
2. With girls mostly thirty years younger than him.
That is pretty much the plot of the book, follow an ex-postman turned poet around on his sexcapades, and I say that without any touch of moral judgment. There is a line or two of real mastery, but mostly I spent the book flipping back a page or two to figure out which girl was which.
[A short li...more
1. The protagonist has a lot of sex.
2. With girls mostly thirty years younger than him.
That is pretty much the plot of the book, follow an ex-postman turned poet around on his sexcapades, and I say that without any touch of moral judgment. There is a line or two of real mastery, but mostly I spent the book flipping back a page or two to figure out which girl was which.
[A short li...more
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Read in March, 2008
Yeah, man. Although this one took me a little while to get into, 75 pages or so, this is Hank at his best. It’s easy to dismiss this novel as pure pornography but it’s honest. An obsessive and his ruminations on and adventures with the fairer sex are both sad and funny. Most of the humor comes from exploitation of character. Hank writes details you don’t generally see in novels and yet they are very ubiquitous to all people. A very loose structure to the story without great epiphanie...more
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The problem with books about meaningless sex is they're all pretty meaningless themselves. The author is so busy not caring about the women he sleeps with one wonders why he bothered to write about them in the first place, besides to stroke his penis-shaped ego. I think the most startling thing about this book is the overwhelming, unabashed weakness of the main character. The novel seems like one long, meandering projection of male self-hatred onto women, just like men have been doing for centur...more
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I surprised myself.
I love this book for complex reasons that aren't really, after all, so complex. But I don't think I can write them down as well as I could explain it to you in person. I do think you can't judge it too quickly, by which I mean if you haven't read the whole thing you haven't read it. I found this book sticking around. What it says about writing stuck with me. So did the vulgarity, the liminal nature of all the relationships, and the skirting of pathos. So did the calmer m...more
I love this book for complex reasons that aren't really, after all, so complex. But I don't think I can write them down as well as I could explain it to you in person. I do think you can't judge it too quickly, by which I mean if you haven't read the whole thing you haven't read it. I found this book sticking around. What it says about writing stuck with me. So did the vulgarity, the liminal nature of all the relationships, and the skirting of pathos. So did the calmer m...more
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if you are in your mid-20's, have a penis and an ever expanding sexual appetite you should probably read this. it just might be fun. my favorite scene is when our good ol protagonist, the lovable, familiar chinaski, accuses a lady-friend of having a rather large vagina. only a man with class most of us will never possess could pull of something like softly clutching said vagina and calmly announcing "i know your tragedy". amazing. bukowski is like a really loyal friend who says pussy t...more
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Read in November, 2007
recommends it for:
Self - centered loners
Another gem from Bukowski. The title of the book pretty much suns up what it's all about. Bukowski basically tells tales of the women who drifted in and out of his life, and interjects a little of his views and philosophy here and there. It seems a lot of women spent time with Bukowski, mostly seeking him out for his low level of fame. he's ok with that though, since he's basically out for sex anyway. The man is brutally honest in his writing, and admits to having certain thoughts and feelings ...more
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Read in May, 2008
Ah Bukowski
Where would we be without him
With the humor aside I find his desire to cheat death fascinating
Plus the fact that he constantly is saying how he hates other writers and detests it when they talk to him
I find his loathing for new york city a bit confusing, since he doesn't talk about in such a negative way when actually describing it, he only just states he hates it, then in his description he describes the ballet of constant traffic.
Of course ultimately a man has to live wher...more
Where would we be without him
With the humor aside I find his desire to cheat death fascinating
Plus the fact that he constantly is saying how he hates other writers and detests it when they talk to him
I find his loathing for new york city a bit confusing, since he doesn't talk about in such a negative way when actually describing it, he only just states he hates it, then in his description he describes the ballet of constant traffic.
Of course ultimately a man has to live wher...more
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book data (includes all editions)
avg rating (all editions): 3.89 (2126 ratings) avg rating (this edition): 3.89 (2055 ratings) number of reviews: 211popular shelves
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quote
"That's the problem with drinking, I thought, as I poured myself a drink. If something bad happens you drink in an attempt to forget; if something good happens you drink in order to celebrate; and if nothing happens you drink to make something happen."
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