Charles Bukowski on dying and how to write

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  • Опубліковано 25 лис 2024

КОМЕНТАРІ • 2,5 тис.

  • @ivanbrave_
    @ivanbrave_ 4 роки тому +1360

    "If you write dull shit, it doesn't matter what you die of." What a king.

  • @maxjrboii
    @maxjrboii 9 років тому +3249

    I'd be so honoured to be told from Bukowski, "I like you as a person." damn must be nice.

    • @denobai3413
      @denobai3413 9 років тому +73

      I would cream myself

    • @gypsyfolkart
      @gypsyfolkart 8 років тому +20

      +denobai Me too! What an honor it would be.

    • @NeroVuk
      @NeroVuk 8 років тому +1

      +M. Nero your name, though

    • @sukhuk1486
      @sukhuk1486 8 років тому +15

      Is that Kurt Cobain in your dp? If it is, why the Fuck do all the ppl who listen to his music read Bukowski? (I'm one of those ppl) I guess it just comes to show that one has to be really broken to love these guys.

    • @gypsyfolkart
      @gypsyfolkart 8 років тому +2

      Yes indeed M. Nero, it does.

  • @niriop
    @niriop 8 років тому +8139

    He's kind of cheerful and miserable at the same time.

    • @sonicfoxxmusic4281
      @sonicfoxxmusic4281 7 років тому +338

      Cheerful because he's drunk..miserable because he's...miserable.

    • @kylewhitehead1684
      @kylewhitehead1684 7 років тому +61

      By all accounts he died a pretty happy guy o I guess if you put in the word you can get what you earn. He was probably pretty blissed out near the end after all those years of hard drinking and whatnot.

    • @Henchman.24
      @Henchman.24 7 років тому +255

      Cheerfully miserable, like when you understand how broken the world is but maintain a positive attitude anyway

    • @coreycox2345
      @coreycox2345 6 років тому +8

      Alcohol?

    • @Huxtee7
      @Huxtee7 6 років тому +17

      ALL OF US

  • @colingallagher1711
    @colingallagher1711 5 років тому +2852

    It's a misconception that Bukowski is miserable or pessimistic or cranky. He's not. He's neutral. He understands the manure pile and the misery as well as the beauty of life. In fact, he sees both things as the same. It's all neutral.

    • @breeeegs
      @breeeegs 5 років тому +45

      Read "Dinosauria, We" and tell me that's not pessimistic. But I'll take pessimism and raw honesty over phony platitudes any day.

    • @Pavlovlovlov
      @Pavlovlovlov 5 років тому +7

      nah mate you need to read more

    • @nadominhoca
      @nadominhoca 4 роки тому +25

      Despite other posts contradicting you, I totally agree with your comment. Its a fact that Bukowski carried this existence burden on his back during his whole life, but we was able to identify the little details, the nuances, the beauty of simple things.

    • @davuswentzel8847
      @davuswentzel8847 4 роки тому +13

      I don’t think Bukowski likes his own stance. No pessimist enjoys their pessimism

    • @ferise1
      @ferise1 4 роки тому +3

      Colin Gallagher he seems way kinder and positive than everybody.

  • @johndoe-ox7ns
    @johndoe-ox7ns 2 роки тому +413

    “The free soul is rare, but you know it when you see it - basically because you feel good, very good, when you are near or with them.” -Bukowski

    • @moatasemkassab4517
      @moatasemkassab4517 2 роки тому +20

      Fucking hell, what a line, that line was full of juice flavor and power, and I quickly related to it closely and personally, I'm serious, Bukowski is an extraordinary writer judging by this quote.

    • @wordimobi5765
      @wordimobi5765 Рік тому +2

      This is so true to those of us who've been around these extraordinary individuals.

    • @NovChivon
      @NovChivon 7 місяців тому +2

      the truly free person has no soul...no mind...he exists in everything everywhere..all his karma has been wiped out and rather than being a manifestation of limited mind he is a manifestation of infinite essence

    • @NovChivon
      @NovChivon 7 місяців тому

      I was just thinking of this for some reason at the end of my meditation & see someone gave comment a like...bukowski probably met a few enlightened or saintly people in his time...from my experience everybody near the arahant monk feels peaceful & blissful & it's like everyone is bathing in his radiance but it ain't a religious thing...could be a christian or hindu or seikh...the very good person will have dropped all desires...living celibate ..probably a quiet person...anyone coming close to them will feel good because their energy field is large...it was said of the buddha that his aura covered an entire town so everybody in that space would feel uplifted...really as stated the holy person has no soul (spirit body) because he has no karma and a spirit or soul is made up of karma...he has let go and let go and.let go until his energy is that of the akasha ..the ether in which all things seem to exist...the highest understanding is nothing is happening and nothing exists

    • @brianbarrett192
      @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому

      @@NovChivon Buddha

  • @jackbotkins3587
    @jackbotkins3587 10 років тому +2093

    I love how the great artists can never describe what they do... they just do it

    • @TheLisergicQueen
      @TheLisergicQueen 9 років тому +23

      True! The real Art require no explanation :)

    • @i_t_f_e___proems
      @i_t_f_e___proems 9 років тому +1

      poets can so... artaud and most poets bio have elevated phrases about there burn

    • @ianmccormick7051
      @ianmccormick7051 9 років тому +142

      Jack Botkins He just did describe it. Bim Bim Bim. Didn't you listen?

    • @jackbotkins3587
      @jackbotkins3587 9 років тому +2

      ***** Brilliant article. Thanks for sharing.

    • @Westermann15
      @Westermann15 9 років тому +47

      +Dan Donneley Your thinking is very similar to Schopenhauer's. Distinguishing genius from talent:
      ''Talent works for money and fame; the motive which moves genius to productivity is, on the other hand, less easy to determine. It isn’t money, for genius seldom gets any. It isn’t fame: fame is too uncertain and, more closely considered, of too little worth. Nor is it strictly for its own pleasure, for the great exertion involved almost outweighs the pleasure. It is rather an instinct of a unique sort by virtue of which the individual possessed of genius is impelled to express what he has seen and felt in enduring works without being conscious of any further motivation. It takes place, by and large, with the same sort of necessity as a tree brings forth fruit, and demands of the world no more than a soil on which the individual can flourish.''(Arthur Schopenhauer)

  • @Furcatt
    @Furcatt 8 років тому +5394

    He makes more sense as a rambling drunk than half of the people in American society.

    • @JeffryFeffry
      @JeffryFeffry 8 років тому +50

      +Will K Definitely one of the best things I've ever read. That could be a quote on the back of his books, honestly.

    • @DAREDEVILBKLYN
      @DAREDEVILBKLYN 7 років тому +23

      True, a real out of the matrix philosopher and artist.

    • @lisalovelylpa
      @lisalovelylpa 7 років тому +1

      Will K LOL he does make sense.
      Winks
      Lisa

    • @katemccrew
      @katemccrew 7 років тому +2

      laughed out loud

    • @thespacefrogdigbaby2508
      @thespacefrogdigbaby2508 7 років тому

      The Rock .....Who are they??

  • @alonespirit_1Q84
    @alonespirit_1Q84 4 роки тому +968

    "Drink some more scotch, Forget this an interview, I like you as a person by the way, we are tough men through the horrors of life, Cheers."
    Yep

    • @punkseth1
      @punkseth1 4 роки тому +33

      So freaking wholesome right

    • @ciupenhauer
      @ciupenhauer 4 роки тому +3

      Yep

    • @free2playpcgames523
      @free2playpcgames523 4 роки тому +10

      he talks about in other interviews how much he hates people. must be nice to hear that from him. or he was just drunk as shit.

    • @italianoDOCG
      @italianoDOCG 4 роки тому +2

      @@free2playpcgames523 was he ever sober?

    • @free2playpcgames523
      @free2playpcgames523 4 роки тому +6

      @@italianoDOCG Good point. But I'm sure there were still different levels of drunkenness.

  • @EmanueL-f2t
    @EmanueL-f2t 4 роки тому +2354

    Everyone: "Bukowski's words are so profound".
    His words: "BIM BIM BIM BIM - BIM BIM BIM - BIM BIM BIM

    • @monharris28
      @monharris28 4 роки тому +22

      lol bim bim

    • @martinkremen6387
      @martinkremen6387 4 роки тому +8

      Great coment :DD

    • @SundayCookingRemix
      @SundayCookingRemix 4 роки тому +2

      Timing

    • @YasirKhan-oo3oo
      @YasirKhan-oo3oo 4 роки тому +9

      I was so attentively listening to him and when I saw your comment it made me laugh out loud 😂

    • @Khamomil
      @Khamomil 4 роки тому +21

      I try to achieve BIM BIM BIM by rewriting sentences as I go, eliminating all the unnecessary words so it sometimes entails changing the order of propositions. If the sentence is shortened by 15% and still has the same meaning, then there's more BIM for the buck. I also chose carefully what words I emphasize by placing them at the end of the sentence, because that's where they'll be remembered in the following sentence, whereas if I start the sentence with the most important words, the sentence ending will be weak and the reader will be bored.

  • @RealJap
    @RealJap 4 роки тому +291

    He is so right about how writers setup their story with a lot of boredom and trivial things. When I start a new book I always dread the first couple of pages; here we go again with the weather/time/place settings.

    • @FuckyWucky
      @FuckyWucky Рік тому +12

      Every single interview piece a journalist writes starts with them describing whatever restaurant or office space they chose to interview in, I HATE IT. It just reeks of "we all had the same high school english teacher"

    • @oharryc
      @oharryc Рік тому

      its to set up the mood a little. @@FuckyWucky

    • @TigerPrawn_
      @TigerPrawn_ 8 місяців тому

      @@FuckyWuckyOh fuck my life. Yes. I have to skim past what the interviewee is wearing, what they ordered, if they just came in from the rain, to the first question they ask them about their life.

    • @jrgenm.dsollie4849
      @jrgenm.dsollie4849 7 місяців тому +4

      Bukowski made one really great advice: "Don't be boring. The libraries of the world has jawned them self to sleep over your kind."

    • @brianbarrett192
      @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому +1

      Yet this is the standard model for writing today, taught in most schools. Also, MUST there be an obvious conflict for the story to be interesting or enlightening? I say no.

  • @33hegemon
    @33hegemon 10 років тому +2585

    The interview sounds like Borat: "You have a nice wife!"
    Hahah.

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  10 років тому +27

      Haha :-)

    • @TheJavaMonkey
      @TheJavaMonkey 9 років тому +51

      "In my country, they would go crazy.
      "For her... Not so much."

    • @jdessell
      @jdessell 9 років тому +41

      I thought he said "You have a nice life."

    • @TheJavaMonkey
      @TheJavaMonkey 9 років тому +12

      @jdessell I think he did, in fact, say "You have a nice life." At the very least, it would make more sense in the context of the fear/lack of fear in the face of death.
      Still, if you listen really closely, it sounds much more like "wife" than "life," though that's probably due to his accent.

    • @DJchrismiller1
      @DJchrismiller1 9 років тому +2

      jdessell
      he's a troll... he has no idea what Bukowski said, he doesnt even know who bukowski is...
      TROLLL TROLLL TROLLL..... look it up for Christmas sakes... Urban dictionary

  • @wachiraphongruengnithikong8385
    @wachiraphongruengnithikong8385 7 років тому +146

    "It was not dying that
    mattered, it was the
    sadness, the wonder.
    The few good people
    crying in the night.
    The few good people."
    - Charles Bukowski
    I love this man dearly.

  • @JOHNNYCORREIA
    @JOHNNYCORREIA 9 років тому +2652

    BIM BIM BIM...BIM BIM BIM!

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  9 років тому +38

      +Johnny Correia BIM BIM BIM!

    • @najeebmmarker2013
      @najeebmmarker2013 9 років тому +22

      bim bim bim, bim!

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  9 років тому +25

      +Najeeb Mahmood BIM BIM BIM!

    • @kayu_music
      @kayu_music 8 років тому +28

      +Johnny Correia Bluh bluh bluh . . . dah dah dah . . . the flies were walking around . . .

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  8 років тому +11

      Haha, yeah :-D

  • @maticbauman5957
    @maticbauman5957 Рік тому +66

    And when nobody wakes you in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. What do you call it, freedom or loneliness?
    -Charles Bukowski

    • @Jason-ww3xi
      @Jason-ww3xi 2 місяці тому +1

      Does anyone know what book of his this quote is from?

  • @GloopSerious-nt9dv
    @GloopSerious-nt9dv 3 роки тому +112

    He was so right. Every line he wrote, was short, concise, right where it should be. He describes you a room in 12 words and 3 sentences and you have the whole picture! That is where his power was, and it will be really hard to beat that.

    • @ИгорьИжщенков
      @ИгорьИжщенков Рік тому +4

      Ernest Hemingway was like that too and Hemingway, like Bukowski, emphasized making descriptions using less but very effective words in order to avoid boring the reader with superfluous nonsense.

    • @deathchips926
      @deathchips926 Рік тому +3

      I wonder what he would say about Cormac McCarthy's writing. He can be concise at certain points and at others he penned propulsive, long-winded, achingly gorgeous passages that exploded into the next page.

    • @brianbarrett192
      @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому

      Yes!!!

  • @quittersremedy
    @quittersremedy 9 років тому +738

    "Yeah I did, and I yawned myself to shit."

    • @johnnypastrana6727
      @johnnypastrana6727 7 років тому +22

      Yeah, and the interviewer grew quiet and resentful after that and B picked up on it, hence the compliment.

  • @crizish
    @crizish 8 років тому +302

    "If you write dull shit, it doesn't matter what you die from" A fucking MEN.

    • @johnnypastrana6727
      @johnnypastrana6727 7 років тому

      Sure, a good line there...

    • @keepingupwiththecichlids
      @keepingupwiththecichlids 7 років тому +6

      I think adding, "If you die from alcohol, it's a glorious thing" beforehand, is important for this statement.; Nonetheless, a great line of wisdom.

  • @squidgyquijabo2422
    @squidgyquijabo2422 8 років тому +1635

    He was a miserable bastard but his words were so damn profound.

    • @Gibby8100
      @Gibby8100 8 років тому +101

      And his words would never had been if he wasn´t.

    • @k4ir0s
      @k4ir0s 7 років тому +143

      "don't feel sorry for me.
      I am a competent,
      satisfied human being."

    • @johnnypastrana6727
      @johnnypastrana6727 7 років тому +63

      How many truly happy people have you known in your life? I am still looking for my first...

    • @isaiahmartinez3350
      @isaiahmartinez3350 7 років тому +49

      he wasnt miserable, that makes him sound like a spoiled person who weakly complained about small things, he was one of the strongest people ive studied

    • @elchunkacabra1450
      @elchunkacabra1450 7 років тому +81

      he was intelligent and enlightened. the only way to true happiness is to be oblivious. this man was a realist. he saw life for what it is.

  • @bonginkosinkosi8546
    @bonginkosinkosi8546 4 роки тому +476

    "This man isn't even a professional drunk" - 😭

    • @AnnaLVajda
      @AnnaLVajda 4 роки тому +22

      Bukowski was a professional he died of bone cancer not choking on vomit or liver failure or anything.

    • @pateris
      @pateris 3 роки тому +3

      @@AnnaLVajda Actually his French publisher who launched him said it was mostly an act. He knew he was selling a character (not throwing the first stone, considering he's been dirt poor for a long time) and stated so in "Blue Bird" : "are you thinking about my sales in Europe ?"

    • @sowhat...
      @sowhat... 5 місяців тому

      ​@@AnnaLVajda wym he was a professional?

  • @IMNfilms
    @IMNfilms 3 роки тому +16

    This is not an interview. It's a short film, and a great one. With a twist ending. Thanks, Buk.

  • @Stunatra
    @Stunatra 8 років тому +297

    This cracks me up every time I watch it. I love this old fuck.

  • @thescoobymike
    @thescoobymike 5 років тому +727

    "Bim bim bim
    bim bim bim"
    - Charles Bukowski

    • @KLGroupUK
      @KLGroupUK 4 роки тому +4

      🤣🤣🤣🤣

    • @robbiepeterh
      @robbiepeterh 4 роки тому +4

      His best line 😂

    • @vevvenennevvev5945
      @vevvenennevvev5945 3 роки тому +4

      In all seriousness, this is his quote I think about most frequently

    • @tonydon7441
      @tonydon7441 3 роки тому +2

      Bim bim bim
      Bim bim bim
      Lmfaooo

    • @Illnessss
      @Illnessss 3 роки тому

      Bim.. Bim.. Bim.. Id you all know what he really wanna say.. But alcohool f*** his tongue.. As a Muslim I know what does it mean bim bim bim..

  • @whitneyangelie3682
    @whitneyangelie3682 7 років тому +1054

    Bukowski changed my life when I was an adolescent and found his writings and I understand exactly what he's talking about here. Sometimes when I'm writing in a funk I'll find myself hiding my true voice, almost like I'm trying to sound like an "important writer" like someone who's trying too hard. When I read it back I notice that the voice that's coming out isn't my own and it's not what I really want to say (or how I want to say it). Then once I find my groove it's like I just vomit out everything I want to say and it cuts right to the white meat. That's when it's interesting, that's when it stops being staid and boring.

    • @EinarKuusk
      @EinarKuusk 6 років тому +10

      Precisely.

    • @ivywoods13woods31
      @ivywoods13woods31 6 років тому +6

      Goddamn right

    • @robertz1962
      @robertz1962 5 років тому +6

      YES

    • @theliquidskyyyoo7583
      @theliquidskyyyoo7583 5 років тому +37

      Hemingway put this also in a good quote: "There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and bleed." So damn precise. You and him :)

    • @timbrady6473
      @timbrady6473 5 років тому +1

      Whitney Angelie Dark meat has way more juice , fat , depth of flavor....it’s closer to the bone.

  • @ricoco7891
    @ricoco7891 4 роки тому +31

    "We're tough men together, through the horrors of life." Sounds like something a character would say. What a great man.

  • @tonytee5121
    @tonytee5121 Рік тому +6

    Charles Bukowski allowed me to see the world in a totally different light. He provided a lens for me that other writers hadn't. Gritty realism, that's his game and I bloody love it!

  • @RossIvanov
    @RossIvanov 7 років тому +817

    he's absolutely right about 99% of all writers.

    • @zaidshah4535
      @zaidshah4535 4 роки тому +25

      Debatable, everybody in this comment section is treating him like a god.

    • @jodawgsup
      @jodawgsup 4 роки тому +13

      @@zaidshah4535 Imagine treating the mediocre writer that is Bukowski as a god, which he clearly was not, in writing or elsewhere.
      He merely parrots what Orwell said about writing.

    • @andyayala9119
      @andyayala9119 4 роки тому +1

      @@zaidshah4535 a lot of people are stupid

    • @erikleith4670
      @erikleith4670 4 роки тому

      opiumpoetry naw

    • @RossVassilev
      @RossVassilev 4 роки тому +5

      @@jodawgsup genius poet but lousy prose writer.

  • @mobbinhard42
    @mobbinhard42 9 років тому +527

    "we're tough men together! through the horrors of life!" gotta love it

  • @cameronroyce1761
    @cameronroyce1761 7 років тому +96

    People always focused on Bukowski's cynicism of others but this right here shows his true compassion for others, he just shows tough love. He knew that there is a little beauty in this fucked up mess

    • @brianbarrett192
      @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому +1

      Yes! He observed that the interviewer was offended and hurt as he critiqued the other author. And then he tried to reassure the interviewer at the very end. It was touching. Bukowski was a perceptive and compassionate human being.

    • @shriharihudli
      @shriharihudli 8 днів тому

      @@brianbarrett192He was never a pessimist, only a realist. Calling out the bullshit that others were too delusional to see.

  • @trollfinger
    @trollfinger 4 роки тому +207

    "It's nice to die of alcoholism. It's very glorious, but if you write dull shit it doesn't do any good what you died from." Great line.

    • @CookedOnions
      @CookedOnions 2 роки тому

      Alcoholism is the best disease when you think about it. It's the only disease were the cure is DRINKING ALCOHOL - Norm Macdonald RIP

  • @eazymethod01
    @eazymethod01 5 років тому +37

    "If you write dull shit it doesn't do any good what you die from."
    I fucking love this so much lol.

  • @emily-qe3yu
    @emily-qe3yu 8 років тому +170

    Holy shit that interviewer's life must have been made when Bukowski said "I like you as a person, by the way".

  • @silversnail1413
    @silversnail1413 8 років тому +935

    The man who taught me to walk through the fire.

  • @musicisbrilliant
    @musicisbrilliant 6 років тому +365

    "I yawned myself to shit..." Really think about that. Really picture it. Such funny poetry, but at least its honest!

    • @martijnbodde2481
      @martijnbodde2481 5 років тому +19

      This is when you yawn hard. The top part of your head tilts too far to the back. The neck snaps and the body collapses. And as you lay dying on the floor and the room grows dimmer, you think to yourself: 'This is a good time to die. I was bored anyway.'

    • @AlexanderNefodov
      @AlexanderNefodov 4 роки тому

      Thats the word, honesty. When you´re honest with yourself, this can resonate with other people´s strings of the soul.

    • @musicisbrilliant
      @musicisbrilliant 3 роки тому

      @Ghost Heart Haha, good point. :D I imagined him yawing until he turned into a pile of sh*t. That was how I envisioned it.

  • @shaneludwick2139
    @shaneludwick2139 4 роки тому +824

    "He died swallowing his own vomit. Great." -Charles Bukowski

    • @erniebuchinski3614
      @erniebuchinski3614 4 роки тому +31

      If it's good enough for Jimi Hendrix, Bon Scott and John Bonham, it's good enough for me. 😂

    • @JohnSmith-dq4dx
      @JohnSmith-dq4dx 4 роки тому +12

      @@erniebuchinski3614 Jimi is the best, he gets a pass. Otherwise, NO. Fucking AMATEUR ALCOHOLIC shit to die from that, THAT'S WHAT BUKOWSKI WAS SAYING! Bukowski wasn't saying that it's glorious to die like that, he said what a fucking CHUMP you are for dying like that. "He wasn't even a fuckin' professional drunk!" ~ Bukowski.

    • @CornbreadXVX
      @CornbreadXVX 4 роки тому +2

      @@JohnSmith-dq4dx i banked a secondary needle bath!

    • @MatthewC137
      @MatthewC137 3 роки тому +10

      beats the hell out of dying from swallowing someone else's vomit 🤨🍻

    • @rylanhudson9319
      @rylanhudson9319 3 роки тому +13

      ‘BIM BIM BIM’
      By Charles Bukowski
      “BIM BIM BIM”
      “BIM BIM BIM”
      “BIM BIM BIM”

  • @benjones4389
    @benjones4389 5 років тому +40

    This is a different age, it's the atomic age - this man was brilliant, one of the best of his time, one of the few writers, like kafka and Dostoevsky before him, who had a profound ability to write with genius

    • @4968ace
      @4968ace 2 роки тому

      dostoyevskys lines are electric. a small child can read his works but only an adult can know what he's talking about

  • @scaredypicker
    @scaredypicker 7 років тому +672

    Life is only beautiful because it's finite. Happiness is only great as a break from unhappiness. Who wants to live forever? Who wants to be happy their whole lives?

    • @chickenfinger7829
      @chickenfinger7829 6 років тому +24

      scaredypicker I mean, I'd be fine with both haha

    • @bob733333
      @bob733333 6 років тому +30

      Who wants to be sad and dead?

    • @chickenfinger7829
      @chickenfinger7829 6 років тому +31

      bob733333 That's what I'm saying, haha. Death is an inevitability, so we're forced to either get comfortable with the thought of it or go crazy. Almost all human action is a result of our mortality, and insecurities with it. In the process of coming to terms with our individual transitions so many people convince themselves that death is good, it gives life meaning.
      No, we give life meaning. Individually while navigating these experiences we construe our own purposes and reasons for life. Losing things isn't what makes things valuable, it just makes the memories more valuable. In fact, you lose enough things while alive you might even wind up wishing for death. So much of that comes from the loss of loved ones or our health; Which assuming we couldn't die means we wouldn't have poor health either; Meaning that longing to pass on, that growing feeling they we belong less and less on this world as the years go on and on, would be gone. Sure, MAYBE an eternity could get boring but it's a big world that is constantly changing, so I doubt it would get too bad. I'd pick life for sure, but I know that's just the mass of molecules cobbled together talking right now. That these same molecules were apart of countless other things since the dawn of time, that we are the primordial force of the universe, experiences itself, subjectively. That we never end, only change. I like what I am now, what I have. I'll enjoy it while it's here, not because one day it will be gone, but because today I'm here too.

    • @GrassTalk4202
      @GrassTalk4202 5 років тому +17

      chickenfinger7829 Honestly the thought of never dying would be much more daunting I'd be scared to think what life would be like living forever rather then just living long

    • @alxl.929
      @alxl.929 5 років тому +11

      @@bob733333 He's talking about being happy all the time or living forever. Happines exists because unhappiness exists, life exists because death exists, light exists because darkness exists, I know it sounds kinda cringe but it's true.

  • @sparx550
    @sparx550 9 років тому +92

    Life is wonderful when people like this exist and leave us with so much delight.

    • @stayhydrated4339
      @stayhydrated4339 5 років тому +4

      Bukowski even said that life needs less bukowski's. I hope u understand that line

    • @bukowski1183
      @bukowski1183 4 роки тому

      @@stayhydrated4339 fammmm i saw what you did there and understood what u meant by that
      Im in shock like raaah that makes bare sense. Thank you for your comment mann

    • @MedranoHijo
      @MedranoHijo 4 роки тому

      Because they tell us the total truth.

  • @hollandoates961
    @hollandoates961 8 років тому +198

    great interview. bukowski describes why i love him. He makes you crave the next line, the next page. those who get tired of him are really tired of accepting life as it is.

    • @ousooners5193
      @ousooners5193 8 років тому +10

      +tony stanza he was a stammering drunk spouting off platitudes and edgy "I want to die" stuff. There are a lot of great writers in history that have captured life and struggle and beauty far better than he did.

    • @hollandoates961
      @hollandoates961 8 років тому +17

      great to know. yaaaaaaaaaawn

    • @cjizzle2561
      @cjizzle2561 7 років тому +6

      the Whaler you can't top somebody's OPINION. or there wouldnt be as many writers as there is. its all already been said. its how you say it. and if people like the way he says it. then let them

    • @abetterhandle
      @abetterhandle 5 років тому +1

      @@ousooners5193 just finished factotum, and its without a doubt the most boring, unimportant book I have ever read.

  • @annishilcock4587
    @annishilcock4587 4 роки тому +15

    Not just writing advice but excellent advice for alcoholics too. This man is a fountain of wisdom.

  • @jimw.4161
    @jimw.4161 3 роки тому +15

    The greatest explanation of writing I have ever heard.
    Writing MUST never be boring.
    What else do you need to know?

  • @retrorenaissance9497
    @retrorenaissance9497 6 років тому +153

    3:30 PM on a southern morning...
    but honestly, Bukowski is so easy to read and this philosophy is exactly why. He wastes no time, he lets your brain imagine all the details he intentionally leaves out because he knows you will

  • @leejardine_
    @leejardine_ 7 років тому +58

    "If you write dull shit it doesn't matter what you die from" lol

  • @frenzy1225
    @frenzy1225 9 років тому +89

    I've never seen him speak so passionately. remarkable

  • @truthgiant6487
    @truthgiant6487 4 роки тому +45

    I love this man. Everything he said is 100% correct.
    "Writing must not be boring"

    • @DonaldFranciszekTusk
      @DonaldFranciszekTusk Рік тому

      Why? Boredom is a part of life.

    • @martindang7333
      @martindang7333 Рік тому +2

      @@DonaldFranciszekTusk isn't life boring enough without books?

    • @gorkaaustin5306
      @gorkaaustin5306 Рік тому +1

      @@DonaldFranciszekTusk yes but there is virtually no artist that WANTS to bore you with their work

    • @DonaldFranciszekTusk
      @DonaldFranciszekTusk Рік тому

      @@gorkaaustin5306 And it's sad! They want to be popular, not great :D

    • @normang3668
      @normang3668 6 місяців тому

      It's the most important thing: Don't be boring... It can also be the hardest thing to achieve, because too many people don't know how to not be boring.

  • @dtracke
    @dtracke 4 роки тому +53

    The interviewer sounds like Borat at 0:10 "Why? You have a nice wife"

  • @yingyang1008
    @yingyang1008 7 років тому +221

    "every line has to have juice" - so true
    Every so often I feel like I've lost some of my higher faculties and can't get into books like I used to, but then a book (with juice) will come along and I'll read it in two days
    When you're in the zone and feel inspired and write a good letter or whatever, that's the juice coming out
    That's why so many writers and musicians are tormented and alcoholics, they've known life in that zone and want it all the time
    If a book isn't captivating you then just put it down, either it's no good or isn't good for you - either way, there's no point struggling through

    • @505johnny
      @505johnny 5 років тому +7

      Man I crave for the feeling of flow state it’s so raw yet so genuine

    • @Belleeex27
      @Belleeex27 5 років тому +4

      I feel so guilty when not able to finish a book so this was nice to hear

    • @youarelife3437
      @youarelife3437 5 років тому +3

      It's easier to get in this 'zone' as a kid/teenager. But once you get success, it becomes difficult by putting effort in, by knowing that people are watching you and expecting something great..so many things poison your next work of art that many people fail.

    • @Nostalgiator
      @Nostalgiator 4 роки тому

      There's always point to struggling. Writing is a job and a job not always fun. Anyway, how many books you wrote?

    • @yingyang1008
      @yingyang1008 4 роки тому

      @@Nostalgiator Haven't written any books but I work as a writer
      Struggling to do my job is fine as it isn't art - struggling to make art is usually going to be pointless - you have to be in a flow state

  • @TristanDesnos
    @TristanDesnos 7 років тому +303

    I have just discovered this guy. I need to learn more juice

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  7 років тому +24

      Congratulations! I recommend his poetry - check out his book of poems titled "Last Night of the Earth Poems". I also encourage feeling the draw to the more heroic elements in his writing... check out the poems, "Roll the Dice", "Too Late", "Bluebird".

    • @painiscupcake5433
      @painiscupcake5433 5 років тому +2

      A trip to Israel might help

    • @AkiraFollower
      @AkiraFollower 4 роки тому +8

      I just discovered him 3 hours ago. I can’t believe what I’ve missed.

    • @Lytewerkproductions
      @Lytewerkproductions 4 роки тому +1

      the juice is what you get from a brush stroke the juice comes from a pen the juice is when they sign something on a contract the juice man that's the juice the juice comes from an executive order the juice comes from a the strike of a pen the juice comes from a little child scribbling away on a piece of paper and making a picture that's the juice the juice comes in many forms the juice will never run out out of colours the juice juice comes in many pens their are crayons if you like and some charcoal or some chalk if you like the dust if you like the dust

    • @Lytewerkproductions
      @Lytewerkproductions 4 роки тому +1

      drawing a picture in the sand with a finger that's the juice graffiti on the wall that's the juice ink is juice acrylic paint is juice also known as rocket fuel but it's still the juice

  • @oscarhaydenperditionbound1195
    @oscarhaydenperditionbound1195 8 років тому +237

    Someone should've carved "Bim! Bim! Bim!" on his gravestone

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  8 років тому +3

      +Oscar Hayden (Perdition Bound) Hahaha, I like that. BIM BIM BIM!

    • @raanelom
      @raanelom 8 років тому +11

      his gravestone actually says "Dont Try"

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  8 років тому +10

      "Somebody asked me: "What do you do? How do you write, create?" You don't, I told them. You don't try. That's very important: not to try, either for Cadillacs, creation or immortality. You wait, and if nothing happens, you wait some more. It's like a bug high on the wall. You wait for it to come to you. When it gets close enough you reach out, slap out and kill it. Or if you like its looks, you make a pet out of it."
      - Charles Bukowski

    • @Germoney2000
      @Germoney2000 8 років тому

      raanelon = his gravestone actually says "Don't even try!" with a carving of a boxer....

    • @Germoney2000
      @Germoney2000 8 років тому +15

      raanelom = I stand corrected.... his gravestone truly says "Don't Try".... there's a Story behind it.... People asked him how he creates and he answered he "I don't try.... I just wait for it to happen....

  • @islaadele1212
    @islaadele1212 Рік тому +7

    Spoken like a poet. Prose is leisurely, poetry is an intense distillation of emotion. Not everyone can do it.

  • @kltanisha
    @kltanisha 2 роки тому +5

    bimbimbim the first time i read bukowski i was absolutely shocked by his writing. Thanks old man. bimbimbim

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  2 роки тому +2

      BIM BIM BIM! BIM BIM BIM!

  • @BushyHairedStranger
    @BushyHairedStranger 5 років тому +13

    “We’re tough men together through the horrors of life!!”-Charles Bukowski
    What a beautiful thing to have said about you and from such a beautiful man!!

    • @brianbarrett192
      @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому

      I think he was motivated by kindness; he recognized he's hurt the interviewer's feelings with his harsh critique of his favorite writer.

  • @ivanleseigneur8152
    @ivanleseigneur8152 7 років тому +91

    Bukowski was the Rolling Stones of literature, forget the adjectives and adverbs, get to the core of the story. I love this guy

    • @silversnail1413
      @silversnail1413 2 роки тому +4

      Interestingly enough, Bukowski attended a Rolling Stones show in the 70's and wrote an article about it for Creem magazine. I don't think he was very impressed since he preferred classical music to rock 'n roll but it's a pretty hilarious piece of work and well worth reading.

    • @louskunt9798
      @louskunt9798 2 роки тому +1

      What instrument did he play?

  • @alexjamesjoaquin3406
    @alexjamesjoaquin3406 6 років тому +18

    One of my favourite high functioning alcoholic. He generated questions yet he partly lacked answers and I don't blame him. Nonetheless, thank you Charles. A modern poet I embraced dearly.

  • @rickydiggler7950
    @rickydiggler7950 3 роки тому +4

    Charles Is one of a kind. You'll never see another beautiful soul like this ever again.

  • @arthurd6495
    @arthurd6495 4 роки тому +33

    "we're tough men together through the horrors of life" :)

  • @Uncletoast52
    @Uncletoast52 5 років тому +251

    He must have been pretty good. His books that I owned were stolen.

    • @LeeWanner
      @LeeWanner  5 років тому +62

      Now THAT BIMS!

    • @salamisammy
      @salamisammy 4 роки тому +2

      biggest fear 😳

    • @DocHoliday444
      @DocHoliday444 4 роки тому +10

      Who the hell steals books, especially from other people?

    • @k.k9206
      @k.k9206 4 роки тому +4

      I'm going to assume his books are from the library.
      How else do you know when a book is stolen?
      I also would assume that they were probably just getting rid of the stock.

    • @cohenkane2148
      @cohenkane2148 4 роки тому +5

      Must have been good? Ya didn't read them? I'm glad someone stole them.

  • @sarahsssable
    @sarahsssable 7 років тому +496

    An immortal man can't be afraid of death.

    • @anaranjadisimo
      @anaranjadisimo 6 років тому +32

      Zero juice in your phrase

    • @JosephE-yd6ks
      @JosephE-yd6ks 6 років тому +9

      A valiant attempt at profundity

    • @Ch0sen33
      @Ch0sen33 5 років тому +4

      Well I guess "profundity" is subjective, I liked your statement :)

    • @unabashed26
      @unabashed26 5 років тому +2

      Sara Sina nor an immoral one.

    • @basementgang6911
      @basementgang6911 4 роки тому +5

      Dont listen to the haters, thats a dope ass statement

  • @whit2642
    @whit2642 6 років тому +9

    I love to listen to him. His voice and the way it drones along yet weaves through all types of thought. He is a favorite poet of mine. “Each line must have it’s juice. Bem bem bem.” Yes. Exactly.

  • @voicegirl555
    @voicegirl555 4 роки тому +1

    Happy Happy 100th Birthday! I am a recent fan of yours and like your poetry. I wish I had met you. You were like nobody else. One of a kind!!

  • @Malegys
    @Malegys 2 роки тому +1

    I have this whole interview/special on Bukowski on an old video tape from Belgian TV. Will have to get it digitally transferred one day.

  • @markmarsh27
    @markmarsh27 7 років тому +39

    Mickey Rourke impersonated Bukowski to create his incredible Barfly performance. ...... and the book the movie is based on was WRITTEN by Charles Bukowski. .... amazing movie .... highly recommended.

  • @xanthirudha
    @xanthirudha 8 років тому +625

    You need to have juice in each line...

    • @rahimel-mulla2894
      @rahimel-mulla2894 6 років тому +24

      Jonas Kgomo
      Like BIM BIM BIM & BIM BIM BIM

    • @welhynole4082
      @welhynole4082 5 років тому +18

      That’s a quote from Jon Jones

    • @jacobbegley5026
      @jacobbegley5026 5 років тому +1

      309 divided by 3 is 103

    • @DanQVeryMuch
      @DanQVeryMuch 4 роки тому

      @@welhynole4082 You're a fucking genius, mate.

    • @nc375
      @nc375 4 роки тому

      why don't they just say that in school?

  • @AFO_AnalyRics
    @AFO_AnalyRics 5 років тому +126

    Depending on who you are and where you are in life, you'll find this very wise or very meaningless...... and that's what art is all about.

  • @thomasodonnell9221
    @thomasodonnell9221 4 роки тому +23

    He was quite a writer. I think his stories will be read centuries from now.

    • @ff-gi3ge
      @ff-gi3ge 4 роки тому

      Its timeless. Written in the 70’s, I can picture it being written tomorrow.

    • @alfogel3298
      @alfogel3298 4 роки тому +5

      He was very prolific and diverse and could write poetry, short stories, novels, essays, and even paint.. We had a Correspondence in the late 70s and I had about 28 letters from Bukowski. They were great.
      All love,
      Al

    • @patrickmohan2220
      @patrickmohan2220 4 роки тому +1

      @@ff-gi3ge He was writing right up until his death in the 90's. 'The Last Night of the Earth Poems' his last collection is pretty sad and worth a read. An old dog lying down after all that madness. Poems about watching his cat and wife out in the garden when he knows he's dying. Stunning and heartbreaking

    • @ff-gi3ge
      @ff-gi3ge 4 роки тому

      Patrick Mohan thanks man, I will definitely check that out. I read the ”Notes of a Dirty Old Man” and I agree, Bukowski’s life went down hill straight from the beginning.

  • @dileep-kumar
    @dileep-kumar 4 роки тому +7

    Seeing him reminds me being a failure in 30's is not an end to the life. Thanks for interviewing such a great inspiration and personality who do not emphasize on rat race.

  • @pevensielavere22
    @pevensielavere22 6 років тому +9

    I freaking love this guy. Tells it like he sees it. Great poet of glister and grit. BUK!!

  • @Shardul280694
    @Shardul280694 6 років тому +113

    Jack Nicholson would have been a great choice to play this man, if ever!!

    • @Dachshundlovr
      @Dachshundlovr 5 років тому

      oh that would be marvelous !

    • @JonathanNelsonOfficial
      @JonathanNelsonOfficial 4 роки тому +1

      Christian Bale too

    • @adamisaac4685
      @adamisaac4685 4 роки тому +9

      Mickey Rourke did a good job in barfly.
      "Fuel I need fuel"

    • @dimmykarras9287
      @dimmykarras9287 4 роки тому +1

      With that overused trademark smile of his and fake mannerisms? I don't think so.

    • @messianic_scam
      @messianic_scam 4 роки тому

      @@JonathanNelsonOfficial
      Noooo

  • @marcottavi2655
    @marcottavi2655 10 років тому +15

    that is amazing. when hes looking at the interviewer at the end.. a fuckin big heart man..

  • @archiepratt2499
    @archiepratt2499 3 роки тому +5

    I can listen to him talk until the scotch is gone, he's honest and constructive with his criticism.
    But at the same time he can make u enjoy life, happy or sad, he brings an energy that cannot be replicated.
    I didn't even meet him but I felt like he gave me years of experience that'll help me down the road.
    My I welcome death as an old friend.
    And I hope he brings some Canadian whiskey with him.

  • @poem
    @poem 3 роки тому +7

    ❤️‍🔥
    “Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think
    I'm not going to make it
    but you laugh inside
    remembering all the times you've felt that way”
    ❤️‍🔥
    ~ Charles Bukowski 😎

  • @ege5804
    @ege5804 9 років тому +121

    I would just like to sit next to him open up a bottle of scotch and listen to his words till the fucking sun comes up .

    • @ianmccormick7051
      @ianmccormick7051 9 років тому +32

      Ege Coskunsoy I get the sense that you wouldn't. The fact that you would want to be around him would only piss him off, and make him want to piss you off. If you bought the alcohol he'd drink it all himself. If he bought it, he'd let you drink it and then cuss you out for not being grateful enough. From everything I've read about the man he was a prick who didn't have much use for people, and only happened to be a great writer. I love his books, but I'd stay the fuck away given the chance to meet the man for more than a few minutes.

    • @ege5804
      @ege5804 9 років тому +8

      Ian McCormick That is a nice nice point of view actually .

    • @MrBrunothedog
      @MrBrunothedog 7 років тому +20

      Wow you just out hipstered a hipster

  • @andreww5574
    @andreww5574 7 років тому +128

    we're tough men together through the horrors of life.

  • @dameerdj5403
    @dameerdj5403 7 років тому +8

    I've stumbled upon this vid a couple of mins ago and Hank took me back to days when I was 17. He was my fave writer. I just figured out that I didn't do much for the last 26 years of my life. Shit happens tho.

  • @camrynhernandez5996
    @camrynhernandez5996 2 роки тому +4

    I gravitate to Bukowski’s cadence. When reading other “famous” writers I feel a little drowned with set up and slow beats that I sometimes lose interest. Bukowski, for me, makes reading enjoyable. It’s like a fun conversation with a friend. Then you check your page number and can’t believe you’ve screamed passed 20 pages already. Hollywood was the first book of his that I read and was completely captured from the start. Same with Post Office. Really enjoy his point of view.

  • @dominicdiorio
    @dominicdiorio 4 роки тому +5

    His style of writing seems similar to Orwell’s. Brevity and power over length and precise detail. Love this guy.

  • @truecrimewjared2469
    @truecrimewjared2469 5 років тому +12

    The man truly was a genius, he had demons like Us all, but he was spot on in his description of how every single sentence should be a motivator for the reader to continue to the next page.

  • @ricgus2883
    @ricgus2883 6 років тому +27

    his last two lines demonstrate his entire point: be sharp and quick, like Nietzsche instructed. "we're tough men together, through the horrors of life."

  • @lizvill73
    @lizvill73 9 років тому +8

    Just discovered this guy. Oh my god, I'm so happy. Oh fuck....

  • @brianbarrett192
    @brianbarrett192 Місяць тому +1

    I love this interview. I learned so much about writing from it. Also, it is philosophically profound, the ending statement (which is obscured by the over-play of Tom Waits music): "We're tough men, together, through the horrors of life!" If the loud music can be removed, this clip would be much better.

  • @mulliniks51
    @mulliniks51 5 років тому +20

    Leonard Bernstein once said ' The only bad music is boring music . Music should never be boring "

  • @ryadh456
    @ryadh456 4 роки тому +6

    Godamn I love his voice, it's southern, deep and just elongated.

  • @fazsaeed
    @fazsaeed 5 років тому +5

    "We are tough men together through the horrors of life" - Charles Bukowski firing off some poetry gold off the cuff.

  • @PoetMountain
    @PoetMountain 9 років тому +70

    You have to put some juice into your words. Great way to put it.

  • @EnligUlv
    @EnligUlv 4 роки тому +5

    His description of each line “bim bim bim” reminds me of Sam Shepard’s style of short writing as in Cruising Paradise which reads exactly this way. Great stuff. 🤙🏼

  • @marcconyard5024
    @marcconyard5024 Рік тому +1

    Some of the most confrontational yet satisfying stuff I’ve ever read. RIP you bastard❤️

  • @benjones4389
    @benjones4389 7 років тому +8

    There is no doubt he was a great man, so charismatic, so real

  • @spacealienjesus709
    @spacealienjesus709 5 років тому +5

    To me Bukowski was the most real writer to put thoughts to paper
    My favorite author..

  • @moussetache1815
    @moussetache1815 3 роки тому +20

    That was the best ending to any video on UA-cam, period.

  • @omainomai
    @omainomai 4 роки тому +1

    Watching a string of these interviews back to back, the repeat that he mentioned in this one stood out. Especially at the end when noticed the interviewer lost interest because they couldn't grasp what he was talking about. Those are some tasty bits Bukowski.

  • @ericdts
    @ericdts 3 роки тому +4

    His words are strong stuff and true, specially about "the juice". Art has to have that juice. And the end is sick: "we are tough men together through the horrors of life"

  • @HenryChinaski614
    @HenryChinaski614 3 роки тому +3

    A genius in the content and honesty of his writing. I can only imagine the impact his writing has on people.

  • @seanodonnell5868
    @seanodonnell5868 8 років тому +8

    Hank in this interview talks about boring writing by giving the example of flys walking around. In his last novel (Pulp) such is dedicated to bad writing. The first page he writes about a man sitting at his desk and then swats a fly. What seems like a throwaway analogy stuck with him years later in 1994 when he wrote the book.

  • @dannydproductions4476
    @dannydproductions4476 5 років тому +36

    As I sit on this porcelain throne I spew these words which entice you and bring you further in. You wonder what the point is in my speech. I wonder what the point is as well. I wonder where I will go, I wonder where I am.
    Everyday I live my life knowing that one day I will look back and say "those were the good days". I try to make them worth living so I have more reason to stick around. I have reason to know that I can do it. Why not do something ridiculous? Why not take a chance? We make millions of decisions a day, so what if I make a few dumb ones?
    I find myself revelating on some of the dumbest decisions in my life. I think about them on repeat. A constant reminder that that's not who I wanna be.
    I hope reincarnation is real. I hope I am not the last generation. I hope that god let's the world turn until another outside force makes it stand still. It must be this way. It has to be that way
    All your greatest fears have been built into you. Nothing is impossible in this world. But when you constantly build the walls up you find them impossible to take them down. Until you see the walls you will not even realize they're there.
    Everything you do has consequences. Everything you are is a gift from an outside force, a force that has no logic or real meaning. It just is.
    I guess what I'm trying to say is, if you wanna be complacent you can sit there in the confines of your own comfort. Or you can make it a game, a game to see how strong you can get, a game to see how far you can go, a game to see how high you can jump past these walls you've created.
    This is just rambling from some random UA-camr though. Have a good day anyone who read this!

  • @bowlingstoned2113
    @bowlingstoned2113 Рік тому +1

    I come back to this and every other interview and doc to remind myself from time to time to not let the embers die.

  • @anonymousconflict2881
    @anonymousconflict2881 4 роки тому +2

    Almost done with his biography. Absolute savage 😂❤️ RIP to a legend.

  • @batfly
    @batfly 6 років тому +5

    The illusion of grasping onto to the somethings which never existed to begin with; This is what you're after. And the way you feel when you think you got hold of it.

  • @ritwikghosh1438
    @ritwikghosh1438 3 роки тому +3

    Buk loved his cat.. This is for you, Buk!
    I always loved cats over dogs
    It's not that I have something against dogs
    But there’s something gross about them
    Like the way they always bark on wrong people, roam in herds..
    My mind is not at all gregarious
    I love to roam alone
    And a cat makes me feel close to my spontaneous nature
    And its stealthy ways
    Playing close to the vest makes me conscious
    About not to let my folly run wild.
    I love my cat
    She is as close to my heart as no human being can be
    With their superiority
    At all the wrong dimensions.

  • @joenavanodo3780
    @joenavanodo3780 4 роки тому +4

    “Every line has to have its own power,” I love this guy.

  • @punkseth1
    @punkseth1 4 роки тому +2

    I enjoyed his version of" bad writing" even! I love the flies walking around that's such a damn nice line. I wanna sit on the porch in Georgia and watch the flies walk around and BIM BIM BIM

  • @anonimust4203
    @anonimust4203 4 роки тому +1

    Easier said than done, it takes a truly great poet to talk about words this way because they come so effortlessly to him.