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12th out of 134 books
—
69 voters
Hollywood
Henry Chinaski siempre ha estado en pie de guerra, sin bajar la guardia contra el «establishment» y sus infinitos tentáculos. Pero en Hollywood no le será nada fácil: John Pinchot, un enloquecido director de cine, se empeña en llevar a la pantalla sus relatos de juventud, o sea la autobiografía de un alcohólico empedernido. Chinaski desconfía del proyecto, aunque acepta a...more
Paperback, 319 pages
Published
October 15th 1996
by Anagrama
(first published 1989)
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I loved this book. See a lot of 'eh' reviews. Have no idea if it's my own involvement in film, writing and Los Angeles of the past. Could be the writing alone.
This is Bukowski as Bukowski, not 'Hank'.
'Hollywood' was and still is a pleasure to read. A must have for any screen writer, rags to riches bum, alcoholic literary being, or the real reason to read Buk or Fante.. the Clean Line.
It's the story of 'Barfly' (a Bukowski book) and the making of that film. It starred Mickey O'Rourke. Bukowski ha...more
This is Bukowski as Bukowski, not 'Hank'.
'Hollywood' was and still is a pleasure to read. A must have for any screen writer, rags to riches bum, alcoholic literary being, or the real reason to read Buk or Fante.. the Clean Line.
It's the story of 'Barfly' (a Bukowski book) and the making of that film. It starred Mickey O'Rourke. Bukowski ha...more
Per Chinaski/Bukowski il raggiungimento del benessere economico e del successo può comportare una integrazione al sistema soltanto apparente. Pur nella manifesta soddisfazione di potersi godere una bella casa e una fiammante BMW nera ("Se vi dicono altrimenti, non credeteci. La vita comincia a 65 anni.”), i suoi eccessi sono quelli di sempre, soltanto un po' temperati dalle premure, neppure troppo assillanti, della giovanissima moglie "mandata dagli dei ad allungargli di dieci anni la vita ".
E...more
E...more
If you read this book you really should see the movie Barfly, which is the movie Bukowski talks about in this book. The book has a ton of references to that film here as well as references to his life before recognition. It is easily the tamest Bukowski I've ever read and to be honest it was almost awkward at times just how subdued he managed to be. Therefore, it is somewhat ironic that it deals with the film which chronicles him as a scrappy young drunk but it is also interesting to see how mu...more
خواندن این کتاب در مورد چندیدن موضوع میتواند شناخت مناسبی ارائه دهد:
اولین موضوع خود هالیوود است! بوکوفسکی سعی نموده که با لحنی طنزآمیز روند نوشتن یک فیلمنامه، تهیهکنندگی و کارگردانی یک فیلم را در فضای هالیوود شرح دهد همچنین از این طریق با بسیاری از اهالی سینما نیز شوخی نموده البته با تغییر اسامی.
به نظر من نوع دیدگاهی که بوکوفسکی از هالیوود ارائه میدهد در نوع خودش جالب توجه بوده و بسیار میتواند به شناخت محیط خاصی همچون هالیوود کمک کند اینکه روابط بین کارگردان و تهیهکننده و بازیگران و سایر عو...more
اولین موضوع خود هالیوود است! بوکوفسکی سعی نموده که با لحنی طنزآمیز روند نوشتن یک فیلمنامه، تهیهکنندگی و کارگردانی یک فیلم را در فضای هالیوود شرح دهد همچنین از این طریق با بسیاری از اهالی سینما نیز شوخی نموده البته با تغییر اسامی.
به نظر من نوع دیدگاهی که بوکوفسکی از هالیوود ارائه میدهد در نوع خودش جالب توجه بوده و بسیار میتواند به شناخت محیط خاصی همچون هالیوود کمک کند اینکه روابط بین کارگردان و تهیهکننده و بازیگران و سایر عو...more
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Per scrittori, sceneggiatori, registi e attori Hollywood è la Mecca, il trampolino da cui partire verso un futuro fatto di fama e soldi.
Non è così per il nostro Henry Chinaski, che vi approda a 65 anni dopo aver scritto libri di successo che gli sono valsi una certa notorietà, e accettando con una certa riluttanza di cimentarsi con la stesura di una sceneggiatura.
Con "Hollywood, Hollywood!" Bukowski scrive un romanzo in cui l’alter ego Chinaski scrive una sceneggiatura che narra la vita di un...more
Non è così per il nostro Henry Chinaski, che vi approda a 65 anni dopo aver scritto libri di successo che gli sono valsi una certa notorietà, e accettando con una certa riluttanza di cimentarsi con la stesura di una sceneggiatura.
Con "Hollywood, Hollywood!" Bukowski scrive un romanzo in cui l’alter ego Chinaski scrive una sceneggiatura che narra la vita di un...more
UN CHINASKI YA VIEJO VIVE PLÁCIDAMENTE SUS AÑOS DE GLORIA, JUNTO A SU MUJER, SUS GATOS, SU MÁQUINA DE ESCRIBIR Y SUS BOTELLAS DE VINO. TRAS DECENIOS DE BORRACHERAS SALVAJES, ESCÁNDALOS Y ESCRIBIR COMPULSIVAMENTE, SUS OBRAS HAN ENCONTRADO UN HUECO Y SU PÚBLICO SE MULTIPLICA, LO QUE REDUNDA EN UNA FAMA MÁS QUE MERECIDA Y, NATURALMENTE, UNOS INGRESOS TAN REGULARES COMO SUSTANCIOSOS. CHINASKI ES UNA LEYENDA, ODIADO Y RESPETADO, ADMIRADO Y REPUDIADO, PERO CON EL CARISMA SUFICIENTE COMO PARA QUE UN DI...more
One of my favorite Bukowski's for sure, up there with Post Office, a little ahead of Women. Unlike his other books which focus almost entirely on himself, this book has some great characters in it and Chinaski is one of the least interesting (Women also has some pretty good ones with the crazy chicks he dates).
This book is about Henry Chinaski the screen writer. His friend Jon, a french director, asks him to write a screen play because Jon has always wanted to make a movie written by Chinaski. T...more
This book is about Henry Chinaski the screen writer. His friend Jon, a french director, asks him to write a screen play because Jon has always wanted to make a movie written by Chinaski. T...more
Um livro escrito para eternizar a desesperança que o álcool traz. O submundo da produção dos filmes serve de pano de fundo a uma outra história, essa sim, a que fará perdurar o livro: a que desfila entre garrafas e copos. Sinto tanta identificação com este Bukowski que era capaz de lhe dar zero estrelas como avaliação! Ok, mas se o fizesse, não o estaria a avaliar a ele mas a mim. Da intenção de lhe dar 0, passo para umas...5 estrelas. O pq de avaliação máxima? Estou ansioso que a alfaguara lanc...more
I had a Chuck Bukowski kick back in 2004. I moved out of my father's house the year prior, inadvertently isolated myself from most of my friends, got a soul-draining job in retail, and fallen into a bit of depression (which hardly anyone noticed). Though I hardly remember what I read, it spoke to me because I was in a toxic environment and Bukowski wrote with an honest intensity that was lacking in my life at the time.
This is the only Bukowski book that stuck with me, and only because of a chara...more
This is the only Bukowski book that stuck with me, and only because of a chara...more
Now, this book is quite different from other Bukowski's works I've read before. In here we meet the successful Henry Chinaski, the one who has made it and is finally able to make a living from his writing. In this context, there's no stark or brutal stories as we have known them from previous books.
In this one, Chinaski is a well known author who is offered to write a screenplay. The book tells the story of the process of the screenplay writing, and the production and shooting of the movie (Barf...more
In this one, Chinaski is a well known author who is offered to write a screenplay. The book tells the story of the process of the screenplay writing, and the production and shooting of the movie (Barf...more
I'm not sure when the average reader finds out that the book is a painfully obvious autobiography of Bukowski's life. But after looking at some of his other work, it's probably painful just to read that first sentence; most (a lot? all? I don't know) of Bukowski's work is autobiographical.
The concept of this book is best done as a short story, and it really is - don't let the amount of pages fool you. It's a simple read with nothing of a poetic nature. It's as if you're reading a part of Bukows...more
The concept of this book is best done as a short story, and it really is - don't let the amount of pages fool you. It's a simple read with nothing of a poetic nature. It's as if you're reading a part of Bukows...more
This book came out in 1989 and is one of the last novels written by Bukowski (alongside 'Pulp'). He wrote it later in life at around 65 years old. I thought it came off as less bitter, or at least more at ease with bitterness, than the rest of his books. As Bukowski says one page 38: "Within an hour I was 45 thousand dollars richer. 30 years of starvation and rejection were starting to kick in."
The book is auto-biographical. It covers a period of time where Bukowski is writing the screenplay for...more
The book is auto-biographical. It covers a period of time where Bukowski is writing the screenplay for...more
Inside my used hardback copy of Hollywood, under the front cover, it says:
Paul King
Box 222
Poole's Creek Road #1
Cold Spring, Ky.
41076
Purchased
September 13, 1991
a Friday
Between pages 230 and 231, there is a very small and what appears to be a quite old match that looks as if the end of its cardboard stem was chewed off.
It'll be my last Bukowski novel, but certainly not my least. What I like about this one is that I can see all of his images in popular culture for the first time. Usually, I'm too...more
Paul King
Box 222
Poole's Creek Road #1
Cold Spring, Ky.
41076
Purchased
September 13, 1991
a Friday
Between pages 230 and 231, there is a very small and what appears to be a quite old match that looks as if the end of its cardboard stem was chewed off.
It'll be my last Bukowski novel, but certainly not my least. What I like about this one is that I can see all of his images in popular culture for the first time. Usually, I'm too...more
I'll start off by saying I'm a huge fan of Charles Bukowski and that this was the last of his novels that i read. I think I would have enjoyed this book even less had I read it before say, 'Ham on Rye' or 'Women'. There's just something a little less entertaining about reading Bukowski after he's become a hotshot (although at times in the novel he seems to be trying to cope with that reality and seems aware of this fact). Perhaps he wrote this novel realizing that what differed Hollywood from h...more
Bukowski's 1989 novel, "Hollywood" is loosely based on the writing of his screenplay and making of his 1987 movie, "Barfly" starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, which was loosely based on his life. I haven't yet seen this movie, but I have read other works by Bukowski so I am familiar with his personality... his drinking, his gambling at the horses and his attitude towards women. I also have lived in Los Angeles and I felt that this novel definitely portrays the movie industry exactly as it...more
ناگهان به شکل مسخره ای از همه چیز جدا شدم.با آدم ها که هستم ،چه خوب باشند و چه بد،تمام احساساتم تعطیل و خسته می شوند ،تسلیم می شوم.مودبم.سر تکان می دهم.تظاهر می کنم می فهمم،چون دوست ندارم کسی را برنجانم. این یکی از ضعف هایم است که بیشترین مشکل را برایم درست کرده،معمولا وقتی سعی می کنم با دیگران مهربان باشم روحم چنان پاره پاره می شود که به شکل ماکارونی روحانی در می آید.
مهم نیست.کرکره ی مغزم پایین می آید.گوش می کنم.جواب میدهم و آنها احمق تر از آنند که بفهمند من آنجا نیستم...
مهم نیست.کرکره ی مغزم پایین می آید.گوش می کنم.جواب میدهم و آنها احمق تر از آنند که بفهمند من آنجا نیستم...
Well, I love Bukowski. I was 22 years old living with an alcoholic chef and an ex-girlfriend in a terrace house on a quiet side street in Surry Hills, Sydney. The alcoholic chef used to come home at night, drink a good amount of beer and fill the place with cigarette smoke and new age music. He was also somewhat of an alternative literary man and hence how I was introduced to Bukowski. This book is a good easy drop. Like they say, a five year old could read Bukowski, but then again, a five year...more
Probably the best I can say about Bukowski is that you get what you expect. That's both praise and diminution. The art of his books is that they can inject his ego directly into your mind. When he's thrilled, your thrilled. When he's disgusted, so are you. The salvation of Hollywood is that most of the time he's bemused and curious. As plans go awry and the world upends, he's playing with a cat---"The cat liked to chase this piece of string."
Of course, that's the extent of it all. There's no de...more
Of course, that's the extent of it all. There's no de...more
Breezy, easy insight into the making of Barfly, which is a movie I liked before I read Bukowski. There's nothing affected about Bukowski - sure he lies and exaggerates, but that's something different. He's funny, gifted with access to the ore, and smarter than his casual prose. That's also the ah ha truth at the end of the book when a poet tells Bukowski that he'll always be read because he writes simple enough for children to read. This is true; but his writing is also rendered of all the fat o...more
I can't believe that it took me this long to read Bukowski. After I watched a documentary called Born Into This (currently streaming on Netflix) I decided to sample some of his work. Of the samples I read, HOLLYWOOD seemed the most relevant, given that I currently live off DeLongpre in Los Angeles, just west of one of his several Hollywood residences.
The book covers Bukowski's vices while letting one be behind the scenes as he writes his first screenplay which was made as the movie "Barfly."
I h...more
The book covers Bukowski's vices while letting one be behind the scenes as he writes his first screenplay which was made as the movie "Barfly."
I h...more
The introduction to this novel was written by the guy who wrote the biography and it seems that the reader is encouraged to view the one in the light of the other. (This is why I don't generally like biography, it is mostly fiction wrapped up in bogus authority) I had to fight this reading of Hollywood, my instinct is always to allow the work, the art, to stand or fall on its own. Surely that would be the author's intention? I wouldn't send the police to arrest someone who had written a novel ab...more
What can I say? Bukowski is one of, if not the most relevant, vibrant and essential writers of the last 50 years. His work is something else. A real laureate of American Low-Life. He can take a story or situation, and really pull it apart and reveal the absurd reality of it in one of the most uniquely funny, touching and honest ways possible.
Hollywood is the tale of his writing the screenplay for "Barfly" (The 1987 Mickey Rourke film). In the pages of Hollywood, Bukowski rips apart the mystique...more
Hollywood is the tale of his writing the screenplay for "Barfly" (The 1987 Mickey Rourke film). In the pages of Hollywood, Bukowski rips apart the mystique...more
Ah, the misadventures of Henry Chinaski.
I must preface this review because I am a huge Chinaski, ahem Bukowski, fan. I loved Post Office, Factotum, and Woman. I really enjoyed Tales of Ordinary Madness. But I thought Hollywood was just alright. The book chronicles Bukowski's escapade through Hollywood during the making of the only screenplay he penned, the Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke vehicle, Barfly.
It is classic Bukowski with lots of booze and hilarious stories but this isn't the same guy. C...more
I must preface this review because I am a huge Chinaski, ahem Bukowski, fan. I loved Post Office, Factotum, and Woman. I really enjoyed Tales of Ordinary Madness. But I thought Hollywood was just alright. The book chronicles Bukowski's escapade through Hollywood during the making of the only screenplay he penned, the Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke vehicle, Barfly.
It is classic Bukowski with lots of booze and hilarious stories but this isn't the same guy. C...more
É um livro bem legal. Não muito indicado para quem não conhece Bukowski, pois pode decepcionar um pouco. Eu gostei porque, apesar de ser o mesmo velho safado, é um livro bastante sossegado, em que o alter ego do autor, Henry Chinaski, escreve um argumento para o cinema e acompanha a produção do filme (como aconteceu com o próprio Buk com o filme Barfly).
Os diálogos são ótimos e os personagens também. O problema é que as complicações do enredo acabam tornando tudo meio arrastado, o que, na minha...more
Os diálogos são ótimos e os personagens também. O problema é que as complicações do enredo acabam tornando tudo meio arrastado, o que, na minha...more
Charles Bukowski’s Hollywood wasn’t as good as I was expecting. I’ve read one of his poem collections before, and this book mirrors the sarcasm and aloofness with man-kind that I found in those poems. I enjoyed his characters the most, especially Francois Racine, a gambling, eccentric, alcoholic Frenchmen who is friends with the main character (and Bukowski’s alias) Chinaski. The storyline flowed, but since it was based off his actual life experiences, it had kind of a chronological feel to it w...more
Esta fue, tal vez, la mejor decisión que tomé luego de empezar a estudiar Cinematografía.
Es mi primer libro de Bukowski, y capaz fue la mejor manera de empezar a leer al viejo borracho.
Puedo decir que me encantó cada página de esta historia. La forma en que habla de Hollywood y sus excentricidades es sumamente sencilla y al mismo tiempo te atrapa hasta que no puedes dejar de leer.
Me dejó muchas enseñanzas y también metas que lograr, aunque a simple vista no lo parezca.
Pero bueno, genial. Diverti...more
Es mi primer libro de Bukowski, y capaz fue la mejor manera de empezar a leer al viejo borracho.
Puedo decir que me encantó cada página de esta historia. La forma en que habla de Hollywood y sus excentricidades es sumamente sencilla y al mismo tiempo te atrapa hasta que no puedes dejar de leer.
Me dejó muchas enseñanzas y también metas que lograr, aunque a simple vista no lo parezca.
Pero bueno, genial. Diverti...more
I heard a lot of good reviews about Hollywood. I'm a fan of Bukowski's poetry, but somehow this novel just didn't hold the magic that his poetry contains.
Bukowski se ha convertido poco a poco en uno de mis escritores preferidos. Me encanta su forma de escribir, pesimista y absurdamente conmovedora al mismo tiempo.Es sencillo pero poético, no tiene la necesidad de adornar las palabras para decirte muchísimo y eso es algo que admiro.Lo único que recomiendo es que lean otros libros de Bukowski antes de leer Hollywood porque así lo aprecian mas y conocen el pasado de su alter- ego, Henry Chinaski y logran disfrutar mas el libro.Un buen comienzo para...more
The narrative in this novel is so crisp, clean, and compelling, I could cry my pants and shit my face. Bukowski is the motherfucker, taking it to the Hollywoodocracy, thinly disguising his targets. Okay, it's not really a novel. It's a novelized retelling of his writing of the screenplay for Barfly. I would have finished it much faster, but it's so damn good that my heart sinks about 10 feet below the surface of the earth after reading just a few pages. I have to put it down and wallow in the sl...more
This was given to me with caveats about it's quality, and maybe that colored my perceptions, but it seems it's way easier to sympathize with Chinaski's essential bastardness when you read about his miserable shitty childhood, and frustrated, or drunken, nihilistic youth, than when he's relatively well off, respected, and with a woman who he really doesn't seem like he deserves.
Even Bukowski seems to prefer it, as he waxes nostalgic for his time as a stew bum at the shithole bar where they film a...more
Even Bukowski seems to prefer it, as he waxes nostalgic for his time as a stew bum at the shithole bar where they film a...more
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Charles Bukowski was born in Andernach, Germany on August 16, 1920, the only child of an American soldier and a German mother. At the age of three, he came with his family to the United States and grew up in Los Angeles. He attended Los Angeles City College from 1939 to 1941, then left school and moved to New York City to become a writer. His lack of publishing success at this time caused him to g...more
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