Charles Bukowski: Hollywood

Most of Bukowski's novels deal with 'Tales of Ordinary Madness.' Yet he notes in this work that he has never witnessed anything just as mad as the Hollywood film industry.

In real life, he had the chance to write the screenplay for the film 'Barfly.' The book 'Hollywood' is a fictionalized account of this experience.

There are some really strange scenes, like the producer who threatens to cut off his fingers with a chainsaw unless the film is made. This helps the work stand out from the other Bukowski novels I have read. For despite his involvement, he is writing as an outside observer. He openly admits that he is not a movie buff and does not really enjoy films. He also claims that the reason these films get made is because we have got so used to bad films- we can't really tell the difference between good and bad anymore.

There are some beautiful moments of insight too- like imagining the actor who for most of his working life needs to pretend to be someone else. The tendrums of this actor are described as an inability to relate to people in any real context because of his lack of pyschological rooted-ness.

This book also gets to see Bukowski at the end of his life enjoying some real success. This is satisfying after reading about his childhood (Ham and Rye) and the mind numbing jobs he has had to suffer. (Post Office.)

This is a good book to leave and savour after getting through the other Bukowski corpus.

Charles Bukowski: Post Office

I have just finished the novel 'Post Office' by Charles Bukowski. It is an amazing piece of writing. While it does not try to impress it is impressive. The writing is simple and straight forward. It charts episodes in a eleven year period of a man working a deadbeat job and how such a man still tries to live and enjoy life.

There is much great material here- like how the soups (the supervisors) abuse their position and power and enforce silly rules. How drink and the racetrack counteract such abuse by giving a man a sense of freedom. It also explores racial tension in a period leading up to race riots in LA.

Bukowski's relationship with women is complex. There are moments of vulnerability and sensitivity in this novel while at other times there is a more extreme attitude. He was certainly a product of his 30's upbringing- though this can not excuse some of his more macho stances.

Overall this is still a worthwhile read. It compares well with writers such as Jack Kerouac. Both are great novelists but there is no religious undertones with Bukowski. He is out to make the best of a bad beat. He is not searching for answers but only for a way to survive.