[candymoan]

i've read nearly everything penned by bukowski, and i still admire his poetry.. this whole thread feels something along the lines of "i'm going to argue that marilyn manson is not goth, and the spooky kids will understand.."

much like music, literature is about the individual.. bukowski repeatedly attacked the hippies and the beats as they were trying to change the world the wrong way: trying to convert all to nonconformity makes a new norm of conformity..

bukowski did not hate women, he had suffered because of women, and was openly discussing such topics with a bitter sentiment.. he was alienated to an extreme point, had found semi-refuge in the bottle..

hunter s. thompson, anyone?
do you guys remember burroughs?
poe, baudelaire, they're not considered to be "ramblings under the influence..."

it's perfectly okay to say that you don't enjoy bukowski, but it's a whole other issue if you start name calling, and support a very inflexible idea based on hearsay and half-truths..

literature is a matter of taste.. there is nothing to discuss apart from views on specific topics regarding a writer.. i don't like kerouac that much, but i also understand his importance and influence - and i don't go around starting a thread against him..

basically, what are we arguing here?

partial points go to pookie and porkmarras to defending their stance, but they lose more points for closed-mindedness and hostility..

see you guys at the "vonnegut sux" thread for more gore and violence...