Charles Bukowski is one of America's best-known contemporary writers of poetry and prose, and, many would claim, its most influential and imitated poet. He was born in Andernach, Germany, and raised in Los Angeles, where he lived for fifty years. He published his first story in 1944, when he was twenty-four, and began writing poetry at the age of thirty-five. He died in San Pedro, California, on March 9, 1994, at the age of seventy-three, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.
Biography
During the course of his long, prolific literary career, Charles Bukowski was known as a poet, novelist, short story writer, and journalist. But it is as a cult figure, an "honorary beat" who chronicled his notorious lifestyle in raw, unflinching poetry and prose, that he is best remembered. Born in the aftermath of World War I to a German mother and an American serviceman of German descent, he was brought to the U.S. at the age of three and raised in Los Angeles. By all accounts, his childhood was lonely and unhappy: His father beat him regularly, and he suffered from debilitating shyness and a severely disfiguring case of acne. By his own admission, he underwent a brief flirtation with the far right, associating as a teenager with Nazis and Nazi sympathizers. After high school, he attended Los Angeles City College for two years, studying art, literature, and journalism before dropping out.
Although two of his stories were published in small literary magazines while he was still in his early 20s, Bukowski became discouraged by his lack of immediate success and gave up writing for ten years. During this time he drifted around the country, working odd jobs; fraternizing with bums, hustlers, and whores; and drinking so excessively that he nearly died of a bleeding ulcer.
In the late 1950s, Bukowski returned to writing, churning out copious amounts of poetry and prose while supporting himself with mind-numbing clerical work in the post office. Encouraged and mentored by Black Sparrow Press publisher John Martin, he finally quit his job in 1969 to concentrate on writing full time. In 1985, he married his longtime girlfriend Linda Lee Beighle. Together they moved to San Pedro, California, where Bukowski began to live a saner, more stable existence. He continued writing until his death from leukemia in 1994, shortly after completing his last novel, Pulp.
Bukowski mined his notorious lifestyle for an oeuvre that was largely autobiographical. In literally thousands of poems, he celebrated the skid row drunks and derelicts of his misspent youth; and, between 1971 and 1989, he penned five novels (Post Office, Factotum, Women, Ham on Rye, and Hollywood) featuring Henry Chinaski, an alcoholic, womanizing, misanthrope he identified as his literary alter ego. (He also wrote the autobiographical screenplay for the 1987 film Barfly, starring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway.) Yet, for all the shock value of his graphic language and violent, unlovely images, Bukowski's writing retains a startling lyricism. Today, years after his death, he remains one of the 20th century's most influential and widely imitated writers.
"It began as a mistake." By middle age, Henry Chinaski has lost more than twelve years of his life to the U.S. Postal Service. In a world where his three true, bitter pleasures are women, booze, and racetrack betting, he somehow drags his hangover out of bed every dawn to lug waterlogged mailbags up mud-soaked mountains, outsmart vicious guard dogs, and pray to survive the day-to-day trials of sadistic bosses and certifiable coworkers. This classic 1971 novel—the one that catapulted its author to national fame—is the perfect introduction to the grimly hysterical world of legendary writer, poet, and Dirty Old Man Charles Bukowski and his fictional alter ego, Chinaski.
發表於2024-05-26
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第一次閱讀布考斯基,雖然說不上有多喜歡,但感覺足夠震撼。 和其他作傢不一樣,布考斯基的作品不是為你打開一扇窗,而是在你腳下深挖瞭一個洞,讓你直接跌入生活的最底層。剛開始你或許會有些許不適,但會漸漸感覺其真實。那底層的逼仄,陰暗,潮濕,甚至是絕望,這些並不遙...
評分從《郵差》到《女人》再到《夾心麵包》,布考斯基一直試圖在底層生活的摺磨中掙紮生存。《郵差》裏的主人公亨利•切那斯基正是他的人生一部分的縮影。亨利是美國社會典型的失敗者,但他本人絲毫不介意。從事著勉強糊口的郵差工作,支撐他的是啤酒、威士忌、賽馬和一夜之歡的...
評分這要取決於站在什麼樣的立場上。 這並不是一部能夠一直吸引我讀下去的小說,並不像是某些鴻篇巨製一樣,一旦你被編織到瞭巨大的人物脈絡與故事情結中的時候,便無法自拔。 而《郵差》不同。我一直在想,他——作者要和我們說什麼,他想錶達什麼。沒有什麼有意思的情節,一天一...
評分大約十年前,我還是個奔波於泰晤士河畔上課或者打工的留學生,每天很晚纔能迴到住處,坐在紅色的巴士上昏昏欲睡,不知錯過站多少次。 中國留學生習慣紮堆住在一起,保持著和國內沒有區彆的娛樂。這並不完全適閤我。當時我不習慣英倫的摩登藝術,質疑自己在國內受到的教育,感覺...
評分圖書標籤: CharlesBukowski 小說 美國 美國文學 外國文學 Charles_Bukowski 英語 英文原著
簡直幽默的一比。醉醺醺的口吻又偏偏押韻的詩一般的倒黴人生。
評分第一本布考斯基。中年版麥田守望者。
評分今兒剛買的 太牛逼瞭 從第一頁就開始喜歡 沒讀完先給5星
評分勞動人民的日常生活,上個世紀初洛杉磯的寫照;以及如何manage out一名郵差或者軟件工程師(給他髒活然後說沒在規定時間內完成)。語言特幽默
評分第一本布考斯基。中年版麥田守望者。
Post Office 2024 pdf epub mobi 電子書 下載