Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Love Is a Dog from Hell: Poems, 1974-1977

Reviews tagging 'Sexism'

Love Is a Dog from Hell: Poems, 1974-1977 by Charles Bukowski

11 reviews

kissedbyjupiter_'s review against another edition

3.5

challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

h_motionless's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

The appeal of Bukowski is so difficult to describe and even to justify. It’s unbelievably vulgar, crass, disturbing, and downright gross, yet it’s genuinely fascinating. The quality of the writing itself is great, and many of the poems reflecting on alcoholism, wasting your life away, and the process of writing are poignant and memorable. What disrupts this is the blatant and entirely overt paedophilia and oversexualisation of women - it’s commonly accepted that Bukowski writes women absolutely terribly so I come to expect this when picking up his work, but as soon as he sexualises children with no suggestion that it isn’t autobiographical or satirical, he loses me entirely.

Content Warnings

ethaninglis72's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

laurencelitdeslivres's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

mme_carton's review against another edition

2.0

emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

Content Warnings

_quinnsreads's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional funny sad fast-paced

Raw, unfiltered and repulsively beautiful. One of the best poems I've read in years. There's just something about Bukowski's writings that captures your soul. And I know not everyone might agree, but I like the way he plays with words to formulate his thoughts and feelings. Although he was pathetic. But overall, I loved it.

Content Warnings

gorgnzla's review against another edition

0.5

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I would give this zero stars, except it was so impactful that it made me never want to read anything by Bukowski ever again. So I guess that’s something?

Highly do not recommend. His writing felt lazy and uninspired, not to mention the blatant pedophilia and misogyny. This book was essentially him griping about “his wh*res,” shitting, and people obsessing over him. Not sure why, when he mentions every other segment that his underwear has shit stains. Not much to adore there. It feels like a case of narcissism to me, but that’s just my opinion.

It’s got to be some dedication that he wrote over a hundred pages of (subpar, mind you) poems that essentially boil down to “I have a red hair fetish.” I finished the book out of pure spite. And, out of even more spite, I don’t think I’ll ever pick up another one of his books again.

Content Warnings