Search - Charles Bukowski :: Reads His Poetry

Bukowski Reading

Robin Friedman | Washington, D.C. United States | 12/08/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Poetry is meant to be read aloud. Thus, although I have read a good deal of the poetry of Charles Bukowski (1920 -1994), I learned a great deal from this CD of his readings at the Telegraph Hill Neighborhood Center in San Francisco on September 14, 1972. The track includes 14 poems excerpted from the reading; an earlier recording of the complete reading is no longer available.



Known as the "poet of skid row", Bukowski became a cult figure for his portrayal of low life in Los Angeles. Bukowski's novels, stories, and poetry continue to be read, and his reputation has grown with the years. Bukowski's poems are short, easy to read, and tend to shock. They include ample reference to sexual and excretory functions but have their serious side as well. Bukowski's themes include death, women, horse racing, and loneliness. There is a sharpness and toughness to his best work.



Bukowski claimed to dislike live readings. But he used them to create his artistic persona with vulgarity, on stage drinking, and frequently ill-natured exchanges with his audience. That is the case in this reading. Bukowski arrives beers in hand, engages in heckling and threats with his audience, expresses his disdain for the reading, and belches several times while reciting his poetry. It is a rowdy and not entirely edifying performance.



There still is a poet at work here. Bukowski reads his works slowly in a declamatory style. He makes the most of his short, unrhymed lines, with careful rhythm, articulation, and emphasis. For all the notoriety of the reading, Bukowski took his poetry seriously. Bukowski's poem "Style", which he declaims on this CD, captures something essential about the man:



"Style is the answer to everything

A fresh way to approach a dull or dangerous

thing.

To do a dull thing with style is preferable to

doing a dangerous thing without style.

To do a dangerous thing with style is what I

call art."



Other poems I liked here include "The Death of an Idiot", "The World's Greatest Loser" and "the Best Love Poem." Some of the poems Bukowski reads here do not appear in his published collections of poetry - he published a substantial amount in little magazines - and this makes the reading valuable as well.



This is a short CD of only 40 minutes. But readers of Bukowski will enjoy it. Hearing Bukowski read his own poems reminded me that poetry is indeed an oral art.



Robin Friedman

"

An excellent reading but...

P. Couture | Santa Cruz, CA USA | 07/18/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This seems to be a resequencing of the recording released as "Poems and Insults" (five stars). It's not terribly different, but I prefer the original version."

Can't help but feel a bit cheated

TimothyFarrell22 | Massachusetts | 06/28/2006

(3 out of 5 stars)

"As for the material itself, it ranks with Bukowski's best. It demonstrates his wit and charisma easilly. The poems themselves are fantastic. However, this release is simply an edited version of the out of print "Poems and Insults" reading. The legendary performance was released a few years earlier complete and uncut. The producers of this CD obviously had the rights to that performance. This makes me wonder why they cut out several of the poems? Judging how the original performance isn't too hard to find, one can't help but feel a bit cheated when a company sells this album. The poems themselves are fantastic, but why did Takoma Records opt to not include several others. Judging how its hard to find a used copy of the "Poems and Insults" album from a few years ago, customers will have to buy this one for the time being."