Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

One of Charles Bukowski's best, this beer-soaked, deliciously degenerate novel follows the wanderings of aspiring writer Henry Chinaski across World War II-era America. Deferred from military service, Chinaski travels from city to city, moving listlessly from one odd job to another, always needing money but never badly enough to keep a job. His day-to-day existence spirals into an endless litany of pathetic whores, sordid rooms, dreary embraces, and drunken brawls, as he makes his bitter, brilliant way from one drink to the next.

Charles Bukowski's posthumous legend continues to grow. Factotum is a masterfully vivid evocation of slow-paced, low-life urbanity and alcoholism, and an excellent introduction to the fictional world of Charles Bukowski.

FACTOTUM by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

Hank and his wife, Sarah, agree to write a screenplay, and encounter the strange world of the movie industry.

HOLLYWOOD by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

Hot Water Music is a collection of short stories by Charles Bukowski, published in 1983. The collection deals largely with: drinking, women, gambling, and writing. It is an important collection that establishes Bukowski's minimalist style and his thematic oeuvre.

HOT WATER MUSIC by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

"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.

POST OFFICE by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

Opening with the exotic Lady Death entering the gumshoe-writer's seedy office in pursuit of a writer named Celine, this novel demonstrates Bukowski's own brand of humour and realism, opening up a landscape of seamy Los Angeles.

PULP by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

South of No North is a collection of short stories written by Charles Bukowski that explore loneliness and struggles on the fringes of society.

SOUTH OF NO NORTH by Charles Bukowski

PERFORMED BY CHRISTIAN BASKOUS

Low-life writer and unrepentant alcoholic Henry Chinaski was born to survive. After decades of slacking off at low-paying dead-end jobs, blowing his cash on booze and women, and scrimping by in flea-bitten apartments, Chinaski sees his poetic star rising at last. Now, at fifty, he is reveling in his sudden rock-star life, running three hundred hangovers a year, and maintaining a sex life that would cripple Casanova.

With all of Bukowski's trademark humor and gritty, dark honesty, this 1978 follow-up to Post Office and Factotum is an uncompromising account of life on the edge.

WOMEN by Charles Bukowski

Background, poem text, and context: http://www.brainpickings.org/index.php/2013/08/09/charles-bukowski-reads-friendly-advice-to-a-lot-of-young-men/

Charles Bukowski reads his "Friendly Advice To A Lot Of Young Men"

Charles Bukowski - The Genius Of The Crowd

Charles Bukowski reads his poem "don't come round but if you do..." over a loop of Tom Waits' "Wrong Side of the Road"

Charles Bukowski "don't come round but if you do..."/Tom Waits "Wrong Side of the Road"

ثمَّة طائر أزرق في قلبي 
يهمُّ بالخروج
لكنني أقسو عليه
أقول له : 
إبق في الداخل هناك
فلستُ أسمح لأي أحد أن يراك
، ثمة طائر أزرق في قلبي
يهمُّ بالخروج ،
لكنني أرتشف الويسكي
وأستنشق دخان السجائر معه
دون أن تعرف العاهرات
سقاة الحانة 
وعمّال المخازن
إنَّهُ في الداخل هناك
ثمة طائر أزرق في قلبي
يهمُّ بالخروج
، لكنني أقسو عليه
، أقول له : إبق هادئا 
، هل تريد أن تثير جنوني ؟
وتقود أعمالي الى الفشل ؟
هل تريد أن تحرق مبيعات كتبي في أوربا ؟
ثمة طائر في قلبي يهم بالخروج
لكنّني ذكي جدا
فقد سمحت له
بالخروج ليلا وحسب
في بعض الأحيان
عندما يكون الجميع نائمين
أقول له:
أعلم أنَّ مكانك هناك
فلاتحزن
ثم أعيده ثانية
لكنه يقتصد بالغناء هناك
فأنا لم أمنحه فرصة أن يموت تماما
وننام معا 
بحالتنا هذه 
مع صندوق أسرارنا
وإنَّه من الجميلِِ جدّاً
أن تجعل رجلا يبكي
لكنّي لاأبكي
،،
هل تبكي أنت ؟؟

تشارلز بوكوفسكي - طائر أزرق  .. charles-bukowski - bluebird

your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.

~Charles Bukowski (Recited by Tom Waits)

Tom Waits recites The Laughing Heart by Charles Bukowski

الاهلاوية

(Read by: Tom O'Bedlam)

"الطريق كلّه - للشاعر: تشارلز بوكوفسكي - ترجمة: أوس خليل" 


إذا كنت عازما على التجربة، أمضي الطريق كلّه
و إلّا، لا تبدأ مطلقا.
قد يعني هذا فقدان صديقات حميمات، زوجات، أقارب، وربما عقلك.
قد يعني هذا عدم تناول الطعام لثلاثة أيام أو أربع.
قد يعني التجمّد على دكّة حديقة عامّة.
قد يعني السجن.
قد يعني السخرية.
قد يعني الإستهزاء \العزلة.
العزلة هي الهدية.
الجميع سيختبرون قدرتك على التحمّل، وكم تريد حقًا أن تفعل ذلك.
وانت، ستفعلها، على الرغم من الرفض وأسوأ الإحتمالات.
وستكون أفضل من أي شيء يمكنك تخيّله.
إذا كنت عازما على التجربة، أمضي الطريق كلّه.
ليس هناك شعور يضاهي هذا.
ستكون وحيدًا مع الآلهه.
والليالي سوف تشتعل بالنار.
سوف تروّض الحياة مباشرة لضحكة مثالية.
إنها المعركة الجيدة الوحيدة هناك.


"If you're going to try, go all the way. Otherwise, don't even start. This could mean losing girlfriends, wives, relatives and maybe even your mind. It could mean not eating for three or four days. It could mean freezing on a park bench. It could mean jail. It could mean derision. It could mean mockery--isolation. Isolation is the gift. All the others are a test of your endurance, of how much you really want to do it. And, you'll do it, despite rejection and the worst odds. And it will be better than anything else you can imagine. If you're going to try, go all the way. There is no other feeling like that. You will be alone with the gods, and the nights will flame with fire. You will ride life straight to perfect laughter. It's the only good fight there is."


- Charles Bukowski, Factotum


[ Charles Bukowski - All The Way ] - [ تشارلز بوكوفسكي - الطريق كلّه ]

Read by Roger Wayne

About the Book

A raw and tenderly funny look at the human-cat relationship, from one of our most treasured and transgressive writers.
“The cat is the beautiful devil.”

Felines touched a vulnerable spot in Charles Bukowski’s crusty soul. For the writer, there was something majestic and elemental about these inscrutable creatures he admired, sentient beings whose searing gaze could penetrate deep into our being. Bukowski considered cats to be unique forces of nature, elusive emissaries of beauty and love.

On Cats offers Bukowski’s musings on these beloved animals and their toughness and resiliency. He honors them as fighters, hunters, survivors who command awe and respect as they grip tightly onto the world around them: “A cat is only ITSELF, representative of the strong forces of life that won’t let go.”

Funny, moving, tough, and caring, On Cats brings together the acclaimed writer’s reflections on these animals he so admired. Bukowski’s cats are fierce and demanding—he captures them stalking their prey; crawling across his typewritten pages; waking him up with claws across the face. But they are also affectionate and giving, sources of inspiration and gentle, insistent care.

Poignant yet free of treacle, On Cats is an illuminating portrait of this one-of-a-kind artist and his unique view of the world, witnessed through his relationship with the animals he considered his most profound teachers.

ON CATS by Charles Bukowski

My Madness, Written By Charles Bukowski, read by RM.

Bukowski

Madowna Caw