Reviewing one hundred years of Charles Bukowski

Art does not go out of style. This is demonstrated by the writer born in Germany, although based in the United States, known as Charles Bukowski. According to the El Heraldo media, this poet would have turned 100 years since his birth last month, being especially influential for all those aspiring writers within society.

He is an archetype of all aspiring poets, who seek to make a living from what they are passionate about: generating feelings through reading. In other words, a cult was established around his figure, where you have aspirations to become a writer, so you start reading his work and you realize that anything is possible.

This is demonstrated by the Río Negro website , which emphasizes the 100 years of this figure, characterizing him as an "old punk" who became a very strong literary brand, based around "dirty realism" and the lineage of the losers. Let's see, then, his history and influence on societies.

The story of Charles Bukowski

The Milenio website describes him as "one of the most corrosive writers of the twentieth century", who was born in Germany, but quickly established himself in the United States from the age of 3. His story is also related to the origins of the working class and undesirable migration, so we speak of a person who did not know how to find his place until he grew up.

Some of this could be seen in the book The Path of the Loser, which was released for the first time in 1982. It is an autobiographical novel that showed us the differences that existed between the famous "American Dream" and the life of those who live in the country. Even, as the specialized website of El Cultural highlights, that pain of hiding from others allowed him to discover that the words "made your mind vibrate", so that one could live without pain, with hope.

Even today, his figure is seen as controversial. We can appreciate this with what La Razón mentions, highlighting him as a “provocateur” of the politically incorrect, something that is sustained by some of his actions and life philosophies.Thanks to his complicated childhood, he managed to become skeptical of art, being with many women or getting tired of almost everything.

This is why his figure is conceived as a symbol of facing the pre-established. He is a poet who, although tender, was also honest. He did not need to follow what society demanded, but wrote what he wanted, without fear of what they would say.

Along the same lines, the Página 12 website mentions that his work “still generates fervent adherence”, since he was never a writer who caused indifference. Through his narratives, he shows that the past can influence the present. For example, at age 13 he began to write, after being strongly depressed due to his parents' abuse and severe acne that prevented him from socializing as he wanted.

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The El Mundo website cites one of his most iconic phrases, which also explains his way of being. Basically, he mentioned that he "needed pain like a typewriter", which led him to become an alcoholic, who managed to have a lot of sentimental adventures that, at the same time, influenced his writings.

The writer for Women, a work published in 1978, also described the world with "dirty realism." Even, from the perspective of El País, his story has to be explained by the "women of his life", since it oscillated between casual sex and furious fights with his lovers. What is clear is that this writer left his mark on the world, since, even today, his work continues to be the subject of debate.