The Most Beautiful Woman in Town, by Charles Bukowski

Analysis

Audiobook

Tales of Ordinary Madness, Wikipedia

Factotum, Wikipedia

Factotum, movie

Barfly, Wikipedia

Barfly, movie

Tales of Ordinary Madness, movie

Charles Bukowski chez Bernard Pivot

SUMMARY, by Begoña Devis

Despite the nice title, that story is in fact a very sad one, very Bukowski-esque. The most beautiful woman in town is also the unhappiest. She feels her beauty is a curse, believing no one can see beyond the obvious: her perfect body, her attractive and unique face. That’s why she attacks herself, constantly at war with herself and with everyone else; and even having found someone capable of seeing her inner beauty, and with whom she could perhaps be happy, she doesn’t allow it, probably because she doesn’t feel worthy of it, and finally decides she can no longer live in a world that seems too cruel and heartless to her. Her soul is too sensitive to bear it, and she’s also too angry, too young and too immature to have the ability to see things any other way and give herself a chance.
    In a few sentences, Bukowski gives us very important details about this beautiful girl so we can understand her behaviour. What happiness could she feel as a child in her family with an alcoholic father, who probably plunged them into poverty and abandonment? How could she believe she deserved happiness after being abandoned by her mother along with her four sisters following her father’s death? How could she trust others if all she received was envy from her sisters and sexual abuse from men? Even during the years she spent in a convent with her sisters, she didn’t live in peace; she was too beautiful not to be envied and rejected. It was only natural that she hated her beauty and decided to put an end to it once and for all.

 
PERSONAL OPINION
 
Childhood abandonment, alcoholism, and the sensitivity hidden behind rudeness and outbursts are recurring themes in Bukowski, who narrates his own miserable life through his stories. This one, coming from its author, is as heartbreaking as it is predictable, though always interesting to read, due to his direct, abrupt, and at times almost pornographic style, which makes it unique and compelling.
    Aside from the story itself, I personally —although I understand it couldn’t be any other way— have always found it deeply unfair that an unhappy childhood leads to a difficult life, while a happy one greatly contributes to making adulthood much more enjoyable. It’s like a win-or-nothing game, and only a few manage to turn things around, reconcile with their past, and live a full and happy life despite a difficult start. This wasn’t the case for the most beautiful woman in town.

QUESTIONS

-Cass was misusing her beauty. What do you think of working as a model? Is it a job as any other one, or it isn't a job you wouldn't like for your children? Is it a sexist job?
-Would you like to live for a time in a convent? Do you think it would be a benefit for people who lead a stressing life?
-What can be the reason of a self-inflicted wound? Has it anything to do with masochism?
-After making love, the narrator asked the girl her name. What would be the first questions you ask in a first date?
-"Once you accept a drink, you create your own trouble". How true / sexist is this sentence, in your opinion?

VOCABULARY

zap, of age, forged, fair, dramatics, schitzi, elephant ear, bail, fad, hustling, haggle, wearing, pecker, pace, shack, offhand

Collector, by Raymond Carver

Summary and analysis

Review

Deep analysis

BIOGRAPHY: click here

SUMMARY

Mr Slater is at home alone. Outside, it’s raining. He is out of work and has been waiting for the post man for some time. He’s expecting an important letter.

Then somebody knocks at the door, but it isn’t the postman, because he knows his tread. Mr Slater doesn’t move at the knocking, but the man outside insists. It turns out to be a salesman, Mr Audrey Bell. He was looking for Mrs Slater, because he says she had won a prize. But there is no Mrs Slater in the house. Later we learn that the “prize” is a free vacuuming of the house.

Mr Bell comes into the house a little bit as if he was invading it: Mr Slater doesn’t really invite him to come in, but, although he puts up some resistance at the beginning, he soon seems a bit indifferent to the intrusion. The salesman takes off his coat and his galoshes and starts to assemble a contraption that turns out to be a vacuum cleaner. He behaves as if he were at home, and even asks for an aspirin because he says he has a headache.

Once the machine is ready, he goes to the next room and starts to clean a mattress. It is an easy task because the blankets are on the floor, as if nobody wanted to sleep on it anymore.

After that, Mr Bell goes to the sitting room and asks for some dirt or a full ashtray. Mr Slater gives him a full ashtray and Mr Bell empties its contents onto the carpet there; he wants to demonstrate how well the machine works. All the while, the owner of the house has been watching the salesman’s operations without complaining, but also keeping telling him he isn’t going to buy anything.

While the salesman is doing his demonstration, the letter Mr Slater was waiting for arrives. The postman has slid it inside through the mail slot. But neither Mr Slater nor the Mr Bell go to pick it up.

When the salesman has finished his work, picks the letter up, reads the recipient (that was Mr Slater), folds the letter, puts it in his pocket, puts on his coat and galoshes, and goes away. Never Mr Slater tries to get the letter; he only makes sure he was indeed the addressee. He doesn’t buy the vacuum cleaner.

 

QUESTIONS

 

-I suppose you had paid attention that in the story the dialogues are not marked (with quotations marks, for example). Why do you think the author uses this stylistic device?

-In your view, why does the salesman mention some important writers? What do you know about Auden, Rilke, Voltaire and Madame Châtelet?

-Mr Bell pulled his lips? What can be the meaning of this gesture? Do you remember some other curious gestures or grimaces?

-In your opinion, what is the relation between the title and the story?

-The story is very simple, but it has to have a deeper meaning: for you, what is its true meaning?

 

VOCABULARY

 

notices, railhead, corns, matted, churchly, scoop, tugged