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50 reviews for:
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness
Charles Bukowski
3.3 AVERAGE
50 reviews for:
Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions, and General Tales of Ordinary Madness
Charles Bukowski
3.3 AVERAGE
dark
funny
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Tengo sentimientos encontrados acerca del libro, recibi muy buenas criticas acerca del autor, a pesar de la crudeza que se refleja en las historias, me deja un mal sabor de boca. creo que al final lo termine por mi incapacidad de dejar un libro a medias. No es que las historias me inspiraran a nada.
True to Bukowski’s tradition and the very title of the book, it is a collection of stories of various lowlifes in Los Angeles including himself & his literary equivalence Henry Chinaski, and of course it contains a lot of profanities, drunkenness, absurdities, and violence. I guess I was just bored (it seemed to be my general weariness when it comes to his literary arsenal) when I finally picked it up with the intention of only reading the first chapter, but it opened so strongly with A.45 to Pay the Rent I was suddenly not bored anymore.
Each person has a little madness in their own unique way, whether it’s an ex-con having to resolve back to violence and crime only to make enough money to support his family thanks to a soul-crushing rehabilitation system, people actually raping and killing each other for fun in prison, or a poet not knowing what he’s doing but drink to pass time and assignments. To my distaste, there was just a little too heavy a dose of himself in the stories (as in talking about his own experiences and fucking LITERATURE and POEMS and POETS and RACING HORSES shit. BUKOWSKI.) and the nonchalance present did entice not much than mild annoyance. It was morbidly fun to read, however. The chapters are short, easy to read, almost funny in their extremity, and most importantly sincere. They won’t make you feel better about yourself though, you self-centered prick.
A few chapters that I actually enjoyed:
- A.45 to Pay the Rent (strong intro game, probably the best story)
- Nut Ward Just East of Hollywood (reminds me a little of both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Infinite Jest)
- Goodbye Watson (that ending paragraph)
- GREAT POETS DIE IN STEAMING POTS OF SHIT (it’s only apt to write in all caps, and it felt like Tony Soprano having to talk to an overly enthusiastic parent of his children’s friend’s in a BBQ)
- Rape! Rape! (they’re all disgusting)
- A Dollar and 20 Cents
- A Rain of Women
- Purple as an Iris
- One for Walter Lowenfels
- Notes of the Pest (possibly even better than A.45 to Pay the Rent, but it did feel somewhat rehashed and pretentious)
I’m still not convinced that Bukowski is remarkable.
Each person has a little madness in their own unique way, whether it’s an ex-con having to resolve back to violence and crime only to make enough money to support his family thanks to a soul-crushing rehabilitation system, people actually raping and killing each other for fun in prison, or a poet not knowing what he’s doing but drink to pass time and assignments. To my distaste, there was just a little too heavy a dose of himself in the stories (as in talking about his own experiences and fucking LITERATURE and POEMS and POETS and RACING HORSES shit. BUKOWSKI.) and the nonchalance present did entice not much than mild annoyance. It was morbidly fun to read, however. The chapters are short, easy to read, almost funny in their extremity, and most importantly sincere. They won’t make you feel better about yourself though, you self-centered prick.
A few chapters that I actually enjoyed:
- A.45 to Pay the Rent (strong intro game, probably the best story)
- Nut Ward Just East of Hollywood (reminds me a little of both Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Infinite Jest)
- Goodbye Watson (that ending paragraph)
- GREAT POETS DIE IN STEAMING POTS OF SHIT (it’s only apt to write in all caps, and it felt like Tony Soprano having to talk to an overly enthusiastic parent of his children’s friend’s in a BBQ)
- Rape! Rape! (they’re all disgusting)
- A Dollar and 20 Cents
- A Rain of Women
- Purple as an Iris
- One for Walter Lowenfels
- Notes of the Pest (possibly even better than A.45 to Pay the Rent, but it did feel somewhat rehashed and pretentious)
I’m still not convinced that Bukowski is remarkable.
Cred ca nu am râs in viata mea la o carte,mai mult ca la aceasta
Hay que aclarar que este libro no es para todo el mundo. Como ya reseñé hace poco más de un año este autor fue uno de los malditos de la sociedad americana de los años 50. Charles Bukowski: poeta, escritor, cartero, apostador empedernido, bebedor, fumador y varias cosas más.
Este libro de relatos es parte de una serie que editó la editorial Anagrama, ya que la producción de relatos del autor fue bastante importante. En este volumen hay varios cuentos e historias donde predomina la voz del alter ego de Charles, Henry Chinaski, y a través de él iremos conociendo los personajes y vidas de una tragicomedia americana: prostitutas, apostadores, bebedores empedernidos y demás personajes peculiares. En ellos encontraremos relatos con el autor como protagonista, aunque hay otros donde siempre nos queda la duda si el es el verdadero personaje o no. Las historias que encontramos tienen humor negro, sexo y muchos otros ingredientes picantes y bastante interesantes.
Reseña completa: http://rapsodia-literaria.blogspot.com/2013/02/la-maquina-de-follar-de-charles-bukowski.html
Este libro de relatos es parte de una serie que editó la editorial Anagrama, ya que la producción de relatos del autor fue bastante importante. En este volumen hay varios cuentos e historias donde predomina la voz del alter ego de Charles, Henry Chinaski, y a través de él iremos conociendo los personajes y vidas de una tragicomedia americana: prostitutas, apostadores, bebedores empedernidos y demás personajes peculiares. En ellos encontraremos relatos con el autor como protagonista, aunque hay otros donde siempre nos queda la duda si el es el verdadero personaje o no. Las historias que encontramos tienen humor negro, sexo y muchos otros ingredientes picantes y bastante interesantes.
Reseña completa: http://rapsodia-literaria.blogspot.com/2013/02/la-maquina-de-follar-de-charles-bukowski.html
This book is very Bukowski. I don't know how else to describe it.
Most of these stories are not only funny but somehow educational. This is the kind of book that makes you stop and think for a second, which is impressive considering bukowski was drunk when he wrote most of these (according to him).
My favorites were:
• a dollar and twenty cents
• a quiet conversation piece
• a bad trip
Most of these stories are not only funny but somehow educational. This is the kind of book that makes you stop and think for a second, which is impressive considering bukowski was drunk when he wrote most of these (according to him).
My favorites were:
• a dollar and twenty cents
• a quiet conversation piece
• a bad trip
DNF on page 88, I am a little disappointed bc i really wanted to like this book and this author but It was really boring (I like how he write btw but I didn’t like the novels)...
maybe I should have started with another one... (sorry for my English I’m French)
maybe I should have started with another one... (sorry for my English I’m French)
This was one of those rare books that made me laugh out loud, with my heart; and yet behind these funny moments a grim reality was lurking underneath.
The first time I saw Bukowski's photo, for a moment I thought he was the prolific Greek poet Yannis Ritsos and then I realised he was not. But beside the beard and the long wavy hair and their prolific writing careers they don't seem to share anything else.
Ritsos is more lyrical more benign in his writing.
Bukowski is more straightforward, with an in-yer-face rawness.
I first learnt (spring 2015) more about Bukowski as a poet and writer through a few documentaries and videos I saw of him on YouTube and from reading about him online.
Two and a half years later I stumble upon this book of short stories at a thrift shop and I said It's about time I read something by him
I realised that this is some classic Bukowski by just reading the info on the back cover stating that the tales of this volume were originally collected together with more stories in a single volume entitled Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness
... Thus, I dived in ...
At the beginning I was a bit annoyed by his (characters') attitude towards women but as the stories became more and more autobiographical I started enjoying them more.
Bukowski isn't hiding behind his words, he isn't using beautifying descriptions for things that can't be said, he isn't afraid to say what he feels.
He is honest, filthy, misanthropic, has an acid pen and caustic humour, criticises everything from American life to Anna Karenina. He is Charles Bukowski.
So, I won't say more about this book but I will leave you with a random extract that illustrates pretty well what I said about his writing:
The first time I saw Bukowski's photo, for a moment I thought he was the prolific Greek poet Yannis Ritsos and then I realised he was not. But beside the beard and the long wavy hair and their prolific writing careers they don't seem to share anything else.
Ritsos is more lyrical more benign in his writing.
Bukowski is more straightforward, with an in-yer-face rawness.
I first learnt (spring 2015) more about Bukowski as a poet and writer through a few documentaries and videos I saw of him on YouTube and from reading about him online.
Two and a half years later I stumble upon this book of short stories at a thrift shop and I said It's about time I read something by him
I realised that this is some classic Bukowski by just reading the info on the back cover stating that the tales of this volume were originally collected together with more stories in a single volume entitled Erections, Ejaculations, Exhibitions and General Tales of Ordinary Madness
... Thus, I dived in ...
At the beginning I was a bit annoyed by his (characters') attitude towards women but as the stories became more and more autobiographical I started enjoying them more.
Bukowski isn't hiding behind his words, he isn't using beautifying descriptions for things that can't be said, he isn't afraid to say what he feels.
He is honest, filthy, misanthropic, has an acid pen and caustic humour, criticises everything from American life to Anna Karenina. He is Charles Bukowski.
So, I won't say more about this book but I will leave you with a random extract that illustrates pretty well what I said about his writing:
Bukowski hates Santa Claus. Bukowski makes deformed figures out of typewriter erasers. when water drips, Bukowski cries. when Bukowski cries, water drips. o sanctums of fountains, o scrotums, o fountaining scrotums, o man's great ugliness everywhere like that fresh dogturd that the morning shoe did not see again; o, the mighty police, o the mighty weapons, o the mighty dictators, o the mighty damn fools everywhere, o the lonely lonely octopus, o the clock-tick seeping each neat one of us balanced and unbalanced and holy and constipated, o the bums lying in alleys of misery in a golden world, o the children to become ugly, o the ugly to become uglier, o the sadness of sabres and the closing of the walls - no Santa Claus, no Pussy, no Magic Wand, no Cinderella,p.152
no Great Minds Ever, kukoo - just shit and the whipping of dogs and children, just shit and the wiping away of shit; just doctors without patients just clouds without rain just days without days,
o god o mighty that you put this upon us.
Bukowski pode ser um velho safado, nojento, escrever sobre temas polêmicos com uma naturalidade absurda, mas ele sabe conquistar o leitor e tem um humor FANTÁSTICO. Não é meu tipo de livro favorito, mas não posso ser injusta com esse cara.