Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life – Howard Sounes

Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life is the classic biography of Charles Bukowski, the hard-drinking barfly whose semi-autobiographical books about low-life America made him a cult figure across the globe. Extensive original research and unique contributions from friends, family and associates - including Mickey Rourke, Robert Crumb, Sean Penn, Norman Mailer and Allen Ginsberg - as well as personal photographs and drawings by Buk himself make this a must for Bukowski devotees and new readers alike

Genre: Non-Fiction, Biography, Poetry, American
Publisher:  Canongate Books
Year: 1998
Rating: 5/5 

I discovered Charles Buokwski a few years ago. I was flicking through literature pages on Stumbleupon, and happened upon a page about Charles Bukowski. I had never heard of him before, yet the author of the page hailed him as an American literary legend. I didn't think much of it, until a friend posted a poem of his on Facebook. I fell in love. From there on in, I was hooked. 

I spent ages trawling the net reading Bukowski's poetry. I really don't have anything new to say about it, and am probably rehashing what many before me have said, but it spoke it me. Bukowski's poetry is raw and honest. It is gritty and to the point. It speaks of life how it is without embellishments. That is what I love about it. It is real. 

I have written a few reviews on Bukowski's novels, Ham on Rye and Post Office. His novels are just as enjoyable as his poetry (Ham on Rye was fantastic) and I couldn't recommend them enough. 

As a certified Bukowski fan, I felt it was time I indulged in a biography about his life. I had heard much about Bukowski's life before. His novels are semi-autobiographical and his exploits are infamous, but I wanted to read more. I wanted to know more about my man, Bukowski.

To be perfectly honest (and I have said this before) I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with Bukowski. As much as I love his work, as a person I am not so sure. I saw a YouTube video of an interview once, and Bukowski kicked his girlfriend and called her a 'S'. That is just abhorrent. I makes me wish Bukowski were alive today so I can tell him how much I love his work, and then punch him in the face.

Charles Bukowski: Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life by Howard Sounes was a great biography. Sounes is obviously a big Bukowski fan, because his love for his work and admiration of Bukowski as a poet and a person, flowed off every page. 

In one respect this was great, as I felt a camaraderie with Sounes while reading this book, and enjoyed it immensely. On the other hand, I felt Sounes built Bukowski up a bit and made him seem more noble and moral than he really was. 

Was Bukowski just a misunderstood soul who was misjudged? Was he really a good guy who did a few bad things out of character? Or was he a raging drunk with a bad temper? I personally always felt the later but Sounes makes it seems like the former. 

Despite that, this book is a worthy read for Bukowski fans. If you want to know more about his life and how he made his way from dorky nobody to famous poet, this is a great place to start. If you are looking for an objective piece of work, then this isn't for you. 

My only other criticism is Sounes took a lot from Bukowski's novels. He quoted, referred to and used the material from his novels as a basis for the 'facts' in this book. I can understand why, since Bukowski's novels were semi-autobiographical and they are important in researching his life, but Sounes seemed to use them as a crutch. 

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am pleased it now has pride of place on my shelves. That said,  I do look forward to reading a more researched and original work on Bukowski in the future, if it exists. 

I think I'll end this review with some poetry from the Buk.... cause how else can we celebrate such greatness without a word from the man himself? This is one of my personal favourites. Enjoy. 

blasted apart with the first breath

running
out of days
as the banister glints
in the early morning sun.

there
will be
no rest
even in our dreams.

now all there is to do
is reset broken moments.
when even to exist seems a
victory
then surely our luck
has run thin
thinner than a bloody stream
toward
death.
 

life
is a sad song:
we have heard too many voices
seen too many faces

too many bodies

worst have been the faces:
a dirty joke that no one
can understand.

barbaric senseless days
total in your skull;
reality is a juiceless
orange.

there is no plan
no out
no divinity no sparrow of joy.
we can’t
compare
life to anything
- that’s too dreary
a prospect. 

relatively speaking
we were never short on
courage
but at best the odds remained
long
and at worst
unchangeable.

and
what was worst:
not that we wasted it
but that it was wasted
on us:

coming
out of the Womb
trapped in light and darkness
stricken and numbed
alone in the temperate zone
of dumb agony
now running out of days
as the banister glints
in the early morning
sun.

– Charles Bukowski 1920-1994

Ham on Rye - Charles Bukowski

With his fourth novel, legendary barfly Charles Bukowski follows the path of his alter ego Henry Chinaski through the high school years of acne and rejection, drinking his way through the Depression, and ends at the start of World War 2. 

Genre: Semi-autobiographical Fiction
Publisher:  Canongate Books
Year: 1982
Rating: 5/5 

Ham on Rye is a semi-autobiographical novel about the infamous Henry Chinaski, known as Charles Bukowski's alter ego. 

I first was introduced to Chinaski in Post Office, which explored the meaningless drudgery of working in a job you hate, with no hope of bettering your situation. In Ham on Rye, we learn about Chinaski's life before he enters the US Postal Service.

A bit of a loner, Chinaski is bad at sports, prefers to read, is awkward with girls, is mercilessly beaten and emotionally abused by his father and suffers from disfiguring acne. Being an adolescent is hard enough but with all the other things Chinaski has to deal with, life just sucks. No wonder he develops a bad attitude, sarcastic way of dealing with people and a drinking problem! 

Written in Bukowski's signature style, Ham on Rye is crude, insightful, poetic, disgusting, honest, raw, entertaining, sickening, compelling, endearing and exhausting. I loved every second of it.

There were times that I laughed out loud, others where I felt sad for Chinaski, times when I disliked him with a passion and a few key scenes where I just wanted to put the book down and go throw up.  I seriously hope that the scene where he is visiting his friend is one of the fiction parts of this novel, I am not sure if I could handle THAT being true. If you have read it I am sure you know which scene I am referring to. YUK! Totally warped.

Ham on Rye is a brilliant novel and is a must read for Bukowski fans. If you aren't a Bukowski fan and want to experience his work, this novel would be the place to start. Just be warned, you are in for a wild ride!

Freedom – Jonathan Franzen

Patty and Walter Berglund were the new pioneers of old St. Paul – the gentrifiers, the hands-on parents, the avant-garde of the Whole Foods generation. Patty was the ideal sort of neighbour who could tell you where to recycle your batteries and how to get the local cops to actually do their job. She was an enviably perfect mother and the wife of Walter′s dreams. Together with Walter – environmental lawyer, commuter cyclist, total family man – she was doing her small part to build a better world. But now, in the new millennium, the Berglunds have become a mystery. Why has their teenage son moved in with the aggressively Republican family next door? Why has Walter taken a job working with Big Coal? What exactly is Richard Katz – outré rocker and Walter′s college best friend and rival – still doing in the picture? Most of all, what has happened to Patty? Why has the bright star of Barrier Street become ′a very different kind of neighbour′ – an implacable Fury coming unhinged before the street′s attentive eyes?

Genre: Fiction, American
Year: 2010
Publisher: Fourth Estate
Rating: 3/5

Freedom follows the story of Patty and Walter Berglund, and their disintegrating marriage. This novel is presented in different sections. We begin with an overview of the Berglund family from the point-of-view of their nosy Barrier Street neighbours. Seemingly the perfect couple, perfect family and perfect neighbours... but no one's lives are ever like they seem on the surface.

This is followed by the autobiography of Patty (surprisingly written in third person) where she documents her upbringing and her teenage years. She talks about her time at college, her rise to greatness and then disappointing decline as a basketball player. Her college relationships, including those with Eliza, her strange and clingy friend; Richard, the sexy yet aloof musician who Patty is in love with; and Walter, Richard's best-friend and geeky roommate, a man who is timid, caring and nice. Everything Richard is not.

This novel examines Patty and Walter's lives after college as they create their family and Patty tries to adjust to being a mother and housewife, and as Walter builds his career, which takes an unexpected turn. 

Finally, as Patty and Walter's marriage comes to a climatic end, we explore the lives of their two children, Jessica and Joey, and how the choices parents make can impact on their children in different ways. 

I found this novel slow going. That is not to say it was bad, or that I didn't like it, just that it was slow. I think my main problem is that I found it difficult to connect with the characters and try as I might, it just never happened. 

The characters in this novel are wealthy, healthy and intelligent. They have the whole world it their fingertips, and yet they continue to make bad choices and then cry when their lives are tough..... they get depressed because their lives lack meaning, yet they have created this fake little 'perfect' world for themselves to live in, then can't hack the emptiness in their lives.

I think the feelings of the characters was summed up nicely in one part of this book, when they are discussing music and a song by the Dave Matthews Band, "the banality of the lyrics, 'Gotta be free, so free, yeah, yeah, yeah. Can't live without my freedom, yeah, yeah." This is exactly how the characters view their lives... being free is banal, uninspiring and depressing.

I have no patience for people who 'have it all' and it still isn't enough. We live in such a materialistic world. No one is EVER happy with the life they have been dealt. So what? That is life. Suck it up and get some perspective! 

So maybe I am a little harsh. Considering this book is examining contemporary, middle class America, it has done an excellent job. Maybe I wasn't 'supposed' to like the characters... who knows. I just found them all (except poor Walter) to be so selfish, self-absorbed and arrogant. If that was Franzen's goal then he succeeded. 

Patty just annoyed me. What sort of person marries the best friend of the man she is in love with, then whinges about her life not being how she wanted? Not a very nice one, I can tell you. This novel examines the consequences of the choices we make when we are young, and how they effect our whole lives in ways we never planned. And it does a great job of painting a picture of middle aged regret.... But I just didn't connect with that. 

I honestly think I am not old enough to appreciate this novel. I am in my late twenties. I am still beginning my career, planning my marriage to my partner and looking forward to all life has to bring. I am excited about my future! Maybe if I were 20 years older and wishing I'd done things differently, then I would 'get' this novel. 

There were a few redeeming characters in this novel. Like Richard Katz. Sure, he was as selfish as Patty, but he never tried to hide it or be anything different. From the outset, Richard made it clear that he was an arsehole, and happily followed through. I admire that kind of honesty in a person. 

There was also Walter... poor, misguided, in love with a woman who doesn't love him the same way, Walter. He was so nice, always willing to help those in need and put others before himself. he really didn't fit in with those around him, and he suffered for that. You can only pity people like him. 

As for their children, Jessica and Joey... like mother like son. Jessica was the only one who turned out to not only have strong moral beliefs, but a backbone. Good for her. 

The theme of 'freedom' ran throughout this whole novel, in many different ways. Franzen examined national freedom, personal freedom and liberties. 

Overall, I wish I liked this novel more. I wish I connected with the characters and wanted to read about them. Instead, I found myself hurrying through the last pages of the novel so I could read something else. That is always disappointing. 

You may like this novel if you are around the same age as the main characters, as I said, I think I am too young to appreciate it's sentiment. I just hope that I don't end up like them.... 

Want to grab a copy of this book? Try Book Depository or Amazon!