Reach for the Sun: Selected Letters 1978-1994, Volume 3 by Charles Bukowski

Reach for the Sun: Selected Letters 1978-1994, Volume 3 Reviews

• 
  Manik Sukoco

  As a long-time reader of Buk,and a friend to whom he wrote, I was deeply interested in what a few more letters from the last years might tell me about this spectacular American writer. I learned a lot. He made wise poetry out of his correspondence, and this writing is as good as any of his other writing. It's full of specifics, about writers, about Peformance poets (whom he detested), about writing versus 'getting famous',about the botched biography of him written by N. Cherkovski about his leukemia, about his contempt for Hollwood, and about his dying. Mostly, it's about the courageous and outrageous word-wizard, Bukowski, slinging his attitudes to those who were listening,about how to keep life alive when so many around are just making life into a dead boring heap of competition. It is likely one his wisest books, and his humor jolts out frequently at the oddest times, creating that laugh-out-loud shock of the Real as he lays his defining cement with the coolest, toughest trowel ever used by an American writer.This is more of Bukowski at his best, especially for those who like to read between the lines.
• 
  Matt Fish

  Bukowski is certainly a divisive literary figure, but those who take issue with themes and attitudes in his fiction would do well to give this a try. A collection of letters taken from the last two-or-so decades of his life, this book showcases Buk as a jaded but ultimately compassionate figure. Under the rough exterior was a artist so consumed by his craft and so averse to the grandstanding fakery that had washed over it like a fine mist. Taken as a summation of his views on the world and what it means to be truly alive, there’s a humanitarian lurking beneath the talk of constant drinking, health and relationship issues, and so on. It’s also arguably his strongest writing, as sharp and incisive as anything else he’s ever written.
• 
  Azzam Izzatal

  dari beberapa karya Charles Bukowski yang gw baca, novel maupun kumpulan puisi, justru buku berisi korespondensi surat menyuratnya antar sesama teman dan rekan penulis yang paling bernilai retensi untuk gw nikmati. retensi, you know, sekali di buka enggan berhenti
  
  Bukowski adalah penulis amerika yang merayakan dan membanggakan sikap menyendirinya. introvert at its best
  
  di surat ke Gerald Locklin tahun 1891, ia menjelaskan dirinya "i am one of these strange fuckers who finds great pleasure in being alone."
  
  di surat ke Mike Gold tahun 1982, ia mengkritik penulis yang merasa lebih berbudaya setelah karyanya di kenal banyak orang. baginya sastrawan macam itu tidak lebih penting dari tukang ledeng "i could never see how being an oft-published poet could give that person a feeling of being elite. for instance, i am a lot more in awe of a plumber than a poet. the plumber can really do me something useful and not get the fat head about it"
  
  tentang perempuan "What can a man do about women? When you first meet a woman she seems to show that she is different than the others but then when you get in deep with her she suddenly reverts and becomes exactly (with very minor variations) like the one which preceded her and the one which preceded that one and the one that…"
  
  tentang menjadi pribadi yang berbeda "the problem with judging is that is always, almost always, done from your perspective. We are not, thank the devil, all alike."
  
  tentang cinta sepasang kekasih "and you must understand that i have, still have, the love for both of you, here, now and later. your love for Jon was beautiful and holy. i always marveled at it, the almost maddening purity of it, the total. you brought him a gift that few men in our time, in our day, ever get."
  
• 
  Kimberly Seibert

  I've always appreciated the way in which he pushes boundaries. He sounds the same in letters as he does in his prose and poetry. This book gives you insight into the background of his writing. These letters were written to publishers, other writers, and average Joes; you learn a lot about Bukowski as a person in this read, from the beginning of his writing career till' his death.
• 
  Nicole

  What I had read, I liked. But I had put it down for so long that to be honest. I don't know if I'll ever actually read it.
• 
  Emily

  Beautiful view into a man whose poetry and prose sometimes showed a portrait of a cold strange man. I would recommend it for any Bukowski fan.
• 
  Paul Hansbury

  It was repetitive and sent me back to the real stuff. I wouldn't recommend it to any but diehard completists
• 
  Jim Taone

  I'm not one to tell someone how or what to read but if you're a fan of Bukowksi's novels and bout reading the collections of his letters you're doing something wrong.
• 
  Rosa

  este caballero fue soulmate.
• 
  Bobby Daugherty

  Insight into his schedule as he was a popular spoken word draw in the 70's.