To the Beats he was an outsider. To the rest of society he was a freak. But regardless of the number of insults and derision's that can thrown his way, there's one thing that can't be denied when it comes to Charles Bukowski: he was the real deal. Born in Germany and raised in Los Angeles to parents that he grew to rightfully loathe, Bukowksi relied on only himself for the duration of his life. The story of his life is one that is both hilarious and tragic, largely documented in his poetry and collected works. He wasn't one of the young and prolific; he finally took up writing full-time at the age of 49, starting and completing his first novel in less than a month. Before his death at the age of 73, brought on by a lifetime of drinking and smoking, he had published six novels and over sixty collections of poetry. These figures alone are unquestionably impressive.
His works were largely autobiographical, documenting his experiences in the underbelly of Los Angeles during the time of the Beat Generation. But despite the obvious themes and topics that his writings covered, he was all the same a little late to the twenty-year long party occupied by the likes of Ginsberg, Kerouac and Burroughs, if he was even present at all. His disciples and detractors are more prominent today than they ever, and there are commentators existing on both sides of the fence; one side argues that he was a genre all on his own - whether this equates to him being on a higher level than the Beats or not - and the other argues that he was indeed one of them, despite having limited contact with any of the primary writers typically associated with the Beat Generation. So where did Bukowski really belong?
The first thing that needs to be considered is the most basic questions; what did the Beats stand for? When the likes of Kerouac, Cassidy and Ginsberg come to mind, their reported experiences follow closely behind. They refused to adhere to the distorted values of the post-war United States, throwing off traditional ideals and portraying humanity and all of it's vices with a plain and poetic honesty. From these criteria alone Bukowski can be classed amongst the Beat writers. Almost all of his work portrays a grisly and often painfully honest view of the dark side of post-war America, his autobiographical escapades commonly following themes of alcohol-wridden sickness, the strangers of the night, and downright deranged sexual encounters throughout Los Angeles.
However, for all his anti-establishmentism, one trait the Beat Movement conveyed was a sense of unity. While Kerouac and Ginsberg remained lifelong friends alongside Burroughs, one of Bukowski's most well-known and prominent traits was his self-imposed loneliness. It's evident from Ham On Rye, his largely autobiographical novel following the childhood, adolescence and early adulthood of his alter ego Henry Chinaski, that Bukowski had suffered a psychologically tormenting childhood that resulted in a serious case of lifelong misanthropy and an absolute distrust of every human but himself. Reading Ham On Rye is an evocative and heartbreaking experience to say the least and secures him as an outsider in the world.
Even the previously mentioned central characters of the Beat Generation, many of whom he may have potentially been able to relate to on some level, remained at a distance from him. Bukowski expressed little to no admiration for them, aside from the occasional member such as Neal Cassidy. Cassidy himself was one of the more rebellious of the group, a characteristic exhibited prominently in Kerouac's magnum opus On The Road, and likely the primary reason for his admiration. They bore countless similarities; a lust for drink, a working class background and a devil-may-care attitude that landed them both in hot water on countless occasions.
The conclusion to Bukowski's inclusion amongst the Beats seems to exist as a technicality; while exhibiting the typical literary and personal traits of the Beats movement, such as his rebellious nature, a distaste for the establishment and an affliction for alcohol, he remained at a distance from the primary figures of the generation, effectively an outsider to the outsiders. Online forums are rife with arguments both for and against Bukowski's inclusion as a Beat writer, slating and commending his works back and forth, and as long as people continue to read his works there can be little doubt that this argument will continue infinitely. But the fact that there is debate at all confirms one thing; good or bad, Bukowski's legend is here to stay.
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