Women: A Novel

El problema no es el lenguaje, mucho menos el tema escogido por Bukowski, el problema es que se vuelve totalmente repetitivo con la historia hasta el punto de perder el efecto inicial. Tal vez le faltaba un poco de reflexión. Hubiese sido una mejor novela si en vez de escribir la obra en cuatrocientas páginas la hubiese escrito en doscientas. A fin de cuentas, la repetición es lo que termina matando el texto. También la falta de imaginación, el no saber a dónde va realmente con lo escrito.

Todo esto me lleva a la conclusión de que lo que verdaderamente impresiona en este escritor no es la estructura ni la historia (al menos la pulpa, el núcleo como tal), sino lo colateral: el sexo. Bukowski es uno de los pocos que se atrevió a finales del siglo XX estadounidense a llamar las cosas por su nombre sin temor, a narrar lo que la gente hace y piensa sin pedir permiso, sin preguntar si se puede o no decir, si se puede o no escribir. Eso es loable; pero no suficiente para ser considerado un gran escritor, y menos en un país con una tradición literaria de altura como es la tierra del tío Sam.

I've concluded that most people who discovered Charles Bukowski in their teenage years eventually grow out of the old crank. The few readers who don't go the other way and come to idolize Bukowski even more. When I was 17 or 18, I went on a Bukowski binge, reading "Post Office," "South of No North" and "Factotum" in about a week. This was around the same time that the movie "Barfly" came out. (The picture stars Mickey Rourke in what remains his best performance as Bukowski's alter ego, Henry Chinaski.) Bukowski then wrote a novel about the moviemaking experience in "Hollywood," which I also read a few years after the initial Bukowski binge. (For the record, I haven't been exposed to any of Bukowski's poetry.) Well, now twenty years have passed, and I decided to revisit a writer who played a role in my formative years and picked up "Women," which, like many of Bukowski's novels features his stand-in, Chinaski, the former postal worker turned poet and novelist. I can't say I was disappointed by "Women," because I knew what to expect going in. That said, the semi-autobiographical work just didn't connect with me on the same level as the books that I remember from decades ago. This could be for a number of reasons. First, Bukowski works better in short doses. "Post Office" was a breezy, hilarious read. "Women" comes in at almost 300 pages, and quickly turns repetitive. It's basically the same story told 20 times: Chinaski meets a much younger woman, beds her, they argue, break up, get back together, break up again, with lots of drinking and gambling in between. Second, Bukowski/Chinaski was a better read when he was a struggling writer. In "Women," Chinaski has achieved a small amount of fame, so the reader has to put up with endless poetry readings in the narrative. Third, and perhaps most important of all, Bukowski's ranting and raving might strike a chord with younger readers, but to more mature readers, he just comes across as a really mean old man. In short, Bukowski is the same, but I've changed.

After passing the store's literary exam, I feel like I don't need to tell you more than this: a drunk womanizer in Los Angeles who NEVER uses a cellphone. So it's a good read to help one imagine what life would be like if one were a drunk womanized in Los Angeles before the advent of cellphones. Books!

It's ok. The narrator basically just gets drunk a lot and does crazy stuff and says crude things. I feel like Bukowski unwittingly inspired a bunch of clowns to act like him under the impression that they're cool.

"Women" is one scene going around and around. Henry does a reading, meets a babe, gets drunk, beds the babe, gets drunk,gets a letter from a babe, meets the babe, beds the babe, gets drunk, does another reading....etc.....
Most of the women in this book are sleazy.
I liked "Ham on Rye" and "Postoffice" much better.

There's not really much happening in the story. I guess it might have been shocking as a style of language when coming out but doesn't really give you much today. Lots of drinking and sex and not much else.

for a long time i've resisted reading bukowski becuase i sort of thought it might be a bit adolescent . How wrong can you be .This was superb honest and moving .A real account of real relationships and real existence. It's also very funny at points . The narrator chinski is unfailingly honest about himself and the live he leads which stops the book becoming a series of macho conquests .The women give as good as they get in the main and chinski comes across as less of an aggressor and more of a victim of his own desires (as men in real life generally are ) He also allows himself to be very vulnerable, which is what is missing from almost all literary novels .The authors have the technique down....but not the desire to show themselves in all their disgusting, faded ,glorious, human detail . After reading this i went on to read 'Factotum' , 'Love is a dog from hell and other poems' and 'Ham on rye'. All were quite superb ...particularly ' Ham on rye '. It's been a very long time since i've discovered a writer who makes me want to read book after book ..... and also effects the way you see life . You begin to understand through bukowski that the pain we all feel at times in life, is not some terrible thing fate has singled us out to suffer.... but is a part of life to be accepted. In cocnclusion, I'd give it 6 stars if i could.....