![]() Bukowski’s publisher has issued something like 20 volumes from “Buk” since the writer’s death in 1994, frequently with large chunks of them scavenged from previously published writing. At this point, new books by Bukowski tend to be pretty old. Which brings us to Charles Bukowski’s latest book, ON DRINKING (Ecco/HarperCollins, $26.99). The drunken poet, according to this view, isn’t merely drunk in the way a lawyer might be drunk, or an orthopedic surgeon, or even just a sad, anxious person. ![]() After all, if the goal is to transcend yourself and cross boundaries, few things will help you on your way as speedily as Old Overholt. The second is that it leads easily to the assumption that booze and drugs aren’t merely a poet’s occasional companions, but his indispensable partners. The first is that it puts an emphasis on who a poet is (“a seer”) rather than on what he creates (poems). This way of thinking has two notable consequences. The poet’s sense of self becomes like a medieval tapestry obscuring a secret passage it must be torn aside so that what waits in the darkness - monster or treasure - can be discovered. ![]() The idea behind this outré behavior was that “deranging the senses” doesn’t simply mean sitting at your desk having especially unusual thoughts it means actively surrendering to your own unconscious and often unconventional desires. As for Rimbaud it frequently was his flailing misadventures with his lover Paul Verlaine are a case study in knives, bullets, profanity, theft and dubious personal hygiene. As the 16-year-old Arthur Rimbaud famously put it, “The Poet makes himself a seer by a long, gigantic and rational derangement of all the senses” - a description that, but for the careful inclusion of “rational,” makes poetry seem less a craft than an extreme lifestyle choice. It’s often thought that to become a poet, it helps to be a little gonzo.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |