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53rd out of 198 books
—
80 voters
What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the Fire
This second posthumous collection from Charles Bukowski takes readers deep into the raw, wild vein of writing that extends from the early 70s to the 1990s.
Paperback, 409 pages
Published
June 1st 2002
by Black Sparrow Press
(first published June 5th 1999)
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One of my favorite poems by Bukowski in this volume, not anthologized much for some reason. There are others as well- all good and inimitably honest to whatever moment he's writing about, and sometimes humorous.
-------------------
"Born to Lose"
I was sitting in my cell
and all the guys were tattooed
BORN TO LOSE
BORN TO DIE
all of them were able to roll a cigarette
with one hand
if I mentioned Wallace Stevens or
even Pablo Neruda to them
they'd think me crazy.
I named my cellmates in my mind.
that one was...more
-------------------
"Born to Lose"
I was sitting in my cell
and all the guys were tattooed
BORN TO LOSE
BORN TO DIE
all of them were able to roll a cigarette
with one hand
if I mentioned Wallace Stevens or
even Pablo Neruda to them
they'd think me crazy.
I named my cellmates in my mind.
that one was...more
this was on my to read shelf but i'm pretty sure i've already read it because one of my favorite bukowski poems (everywhere, everywhere) is in it, unless it's elsewhere, too
but it's all beat up like it spent a week in my purse and i found dried flowers in it(??????) so i guess i have
but i guess i'm still going to finish it
the thing about bukowski is, and i'm pretty sure i said this last time i read a book of his poems, he's overwhelmingly boring. he knew that though. most of his books only have...more
but it's all beat up like it spent a week in my purse and i found dried flowers in it(??????) so i guess i have
but i guess i'm still going to finish it
the thing about bukowski is, and i'm pretty sure i said this last time i read a book of his poems, he's overwhelmingly boring. he knew that though. most of his books only have...more
My first Bukowski, other than the occasional poem here or there. For the first hundred pages or so, I didn't feel I "got" Bukowski at all. It just seemed like a bunch of uninteresting vignettes with strange line breaks. But gradually, I realised that Bukowski isn't about the individual poems; he's about the collective impression generated by all of them. No individual poem could have created the tapestry of love, hate, quiet joy, quiet desperation, brute indifference, and everything else that is...more
I love Bukowski, but sometimes it feels like reiterations of the same thing. He's got his general themes: seedy sex, American poverty, back alley transactions, loneliness and despair, and he doesn't stray too far from those motifs. The poems are true to the periods he lived in, and only Bukowski can make stuff like dog fights poetic. There were some great lines, though:
"feelin' bad, kid?" he asked/yeh, yeh, yeh/"kid," he said, "I've slept longer than you've lived."
-too soon
things get bad for all...more
"feelin' bad, kid?" he asked/yeh, yeh, yeh/"kid," he said, "I've slept longer than you've lived."
-too soon
things get bad for all...more
he's a difficult crank, too much bukowski is probably not good for the mental health, but there is beauty in the ugliness. or there is truth, which is sometimes the same thing. revelation.
in this book, i keep coming back to "white dog":
I went for a walk on Hollywood Boulevard.
I looked down and there was a large white dog
walking beside me.
his pace was exactly the same as mine,
we stopped at traffic signals together.
a woman smiled at us.
he must have walked 8 blocks with me.
then I went into a grocer...more
in this book, i keep coming back to "white dog":
I went for a walk on Hollywood Boulevard.
I looked down and there was a large white dog
walking beside me.
his pace was exactly the same as mine,
we stopped at traffic signals together.
a woman smiled at us.
he must have walked 8 blocks with me.
then I went into a grocer...more
Overall, Bukowski's book of poesy was more like a novel to me than some collected works. I really enjoyed reading this book, will prolly buy his others, and perhaps I will find a poster of him for my dorm room because he looks like an interesting drunk.
I liked him as an author with a couldn't-really-give-a-damn attitude who was able to criticize his own faults along with the faults of others around him with the experience of an old man. However, looking at some of his poems with an intent to an...more
I liked him as an author with a couldn't-really-give-a-damn attitude who was able to criticize his own faults along with the faults of others around him with the experience of an old man. However, looking at some of his poems with an intent to an...more
Overall, Bukowski's book of poesy was more like a novel to me than some collected works. I really enjoyed reading this book, will prolly buy his others, i likehim : he looks like an interesting drunk.
I liked him as an author with a couldn't-really-give-a-damn attitude who was able to criticize his own faults along with the faults of others around him with the experience of an old man. However, looking at some of his poems with an intent to analyze won't work out. Though some can hold deeper mea...more
I liked him as an author with a couldn't-really-give-a-damn attitude who was able to criticize his own faults along with the faults of others around him with the experience of an old man. However, looking at some of his poems with an intent to analyze won't work out. Though some can hold deeper mea...more
This one has some of my favorite Bukowski poems. At the end of almost all of them you are left with the feeling that he has lifted the veil and shown the world for what it truly is.
too much
too little
or too late
too fat
too thin
or too bad
laughter or
tears
or immaculate
unconcern...
-from "the crunch (2)"
'nuff said
too little
or too late
too fat
too thin
or too bad
laughter or
tears
or immaculate
unconcern...
-from "the crunch (2)"
'nuff said
Bukowski is always on my list but I never seem to find the time. Well, What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through The Fire was in my to be read box and since I made a pact with myself that I would read whatever book I pulled out so I really had no choice and I read it. The anthology contains poems from the Bukowski collection and is not his best work but if you like Bukowski you’ll like the book. The title alone should make you want to buy it. The poems were written between 1970 and 1990, an...more
Unlike many of his devotees, I cannot say that I would like to sit and have a drink with Charles Bukowski. I think it is safe to say that from what I know of the man, it would be an unpleasant experience at best for the both of us. Some people, however troubled or misanthropic (good word choice, yeah?) they may have been in life cannot help themselves...they write beautifully. And Charles Bukowski wrote so damn beautifully. His later poems are by far my favorite, the youthful anger tempered with...more
If you are afraid to break the bubble you are living in and transcending the bullshit, Bukowski is not the one for you. His compilation of poetry is blunt and depressing, yet more real than anything I have ever read. Bukowski has truly nothing to hide and his poetry gets down to the truth. Although he comes off as a very isolated and depressed individual, I can really understand where he is coming from as well as his trouble relating to society. What Matters Most is How Well You Walk Through the...more
Jun 02, 2008
John
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
angry poet types, misanthropes-gone-hopeless romantics, Mark Coleman
Recommended to John by:
Tim Schafer
This is the first book I've read of Bukowski's poetry, so the good news is I have nothing to compare it to (I did read Ham on Rye a couple years ago, which was inspired much more naseau and self-loathing than this). This collection of poetry, written while Bukowski was in his fifties and published a few years after his death, is as glum and sharp as one would expect. However, the book is not without its tender, even beautiful, parts. Some poems ('this moment') even suggest a very vivid sense of...more
Hank's posthumous book is not as refined as his other collections, but it is altogether still very raw as any true fan would expect and he remains unbridled and vulnerable in his writing. The fragile, enduring, warm and heart wrenchingly broken man that we've grown to love him to be is typing away on his typewriter, I can imagine it. Frankly, this is not my favorite collection but I still enjoyed it very much.
Jul 08, 2008
Matt
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Blue-Collar Intellectuals, People Who Are Smart and Mad, Poets and fans of Poetry
I think I've got a handle on Bukowski now, on the basics anyway. And I like him, mostly. His poems are at their best when he's talking about his life and feelings, and when he's not afraid to be a little raw-- which is most of the time.
On the downside, the fact that he is clearly the speaker in every single poem is a little bit of a drag. Not bad exactly, but limiting. And I don't really like most of his poems about how hard it is to write poems. They're the equivalent of 24 Hour Comics where th...more
On the downside, the fact that he is clearly the speaker in every single poem is a little bit of a drag. Not bad exactly, but limiting. And I don't really like most of his poems about how hard it is to write poems. They're the equivalent of 24 Hour Comics where th...more
An excellent poetry collection overall. The middle got a little weird and it felt like it was more of a collection of journal entries or something, but I found a number of poems that I enjoyed very much. Below I have included a list of the ones I liked:
- the railroad yard
- pershing square
- too soon
- the pretty girl who rented rooms
- the people
- white dog
- some notes on Bach and Hayden
- lifedance
- full moon
- about a trip to Spain
- one more good one
- hard times on carlton way
- hunchba...more
- the railroad yard
- pershing square
- too soon
- the pretty girl who rented rooms
- the people
- white dog
- some notes on Bach and Hayden
- lifedance
- full moon
- about a trip to Spain
- one more good one
- hard times on carlton way
- hunchba...more
Este libro es el culpable de que últimamente descargue mi rabia en forma de poemas malísimos que jamás verán la luz. Es que no sabía que se podían contar estas cosas en verso libre.
Me gustan sus poemas, sexismo y autoconciencia incluidos, me gusta el ritmo, pero me gustan así como de lejos, sin mucho sentimiento. No tengo curiosidad alguna por su vida, y no tengo ganas de conocer a ningún megafan suyo, miedo. Pero los poemas molan.
"There are times when those eyes inside your brain stare back at...more
Me gustan sus poemas, sexismo y autoconciencia incluidos, me gusta el ritmo, pero me gustan así como de lejos, sin mucho sentimiento. No tengo curiosidad alguna por su vida, y no tengo ganas de conocer a ningún megafan suyo, miedo. Pero los poemas molan.
"There are times when those eyes inside your brain stare back at...more
I need to read these poems again, many times over, but beneath a certain meanness and self-loathing, I found moments of pleading beauty. Several of the poems are rattling about my head, echoes rising and falling like some train passing near. Bukowski has a startling voice; above all, I can smell his poetry.
While undeniably not one of his best books of poetry this is easily one of my favorite of the multiple posthumous collections. It contains several excellent poems and two of which I would happily label among my 'best of' by Bukowski. Most definitely worth a read.
It's terrible, it's great, it's sad, it's true, it's funny, it's Bukowski. Read it front to back and you'll definitely enjoy it. Flick through it and you'll hate it (if you want to read a couple to see that it's worth the buy, read these: "lifedance", "Christmas poem to a man in jail", "one more good one" and "the crunch (2)")
My absolute favorite Bukowski book. People say he's overrated and too popular now days, and he is...he would have HATED the popularity he's managed to master in death. I appreciate him for what he is: a lowlife waste-less drunk. I respect him for that.
My favorite poem titled, "Christmas poem to a man in jail" is found in this powerful book of Bukowski writings. This book helped me remember why I feel so alive when I digest the words and even simply just seeing them displayed on the page.
Nothing spectacular about this collection, usual Bukowski but nothing that stands out. I also find it interesting that the poem it gets its titled from, "How is Your Heart?," is not included.
You could probably knock out two-thirds of this and be at a more regular "poem" book length, but why take that chance? They go quick. Garrison Keillor put me onto this.
I read this book in high school based on a recomendation and i am very happy that i did. This book made me want to write. I would recomend it to anyone.
I love Bukowski. He was a dirty, cranky, old asshole who loved dogs more than people and kept it real. Nothing moves me more than the truth.
This is the only book of his poetry that I own at the moment, but I plan on remedying that. His poem "BlueBird" is one of my all-time favorites, but alas - it isn't in this one. I must get that book.
This is the only book of his poetry that I own at the moment, but I plan on remedying that. His poem "BlueBird" is one of my all-time favorites, but alas - it isn't in this one. I must get that book.
Tender, wistful, dour, and sometimes hilarious poems, portraying a middle-aged writer in Los Angeles: "too much / too little / too fat"
Excellent collection of poems. Naturally some stick out more than others, but there's definetely some real gems there.
I don't have anything really useful to say except that Charles Bukowski was a brilliant poet and I could die happy if I had half his talent.
Bukowski lived a tough life
but had his fun
and jesus could he write it down.
but had his fun
and jesus could he write it down.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
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| Is there a book containing Bukowski's complete works? | 5 | 33 | Mar 22, 2013 01:16pm |
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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“I remember awakening one morning and finding everything smeared with the color of forgotten love.”
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“Things get bad for all of us, almost continually, and what we do under the constant stress reveals who/what we are.”
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I think a few of his poems are really great, tho, amidst the crap...more
Sep 10, 2012 09:20am