Book of Longing

Cohen is a true original. These poems written after twenty years of not publishing poetry often take the form of songs. They are written in short rhyming lines in short stanzas, stanzas often being four lines. They sing of love and longing, of aging and the search for wisdom. They have brilliance and irony. A good part of the work is dedicated to the time that the Jewish Cohen is studying and living in a Zen Monastery in California on Mt. Baldy. But Cohen is no blind follower of any teacher and even the teacher he clearly admires he treats with irony. His love of women is Solomon- like and we get a strong sense of physical pleasure and his joy in beauty. But there is no story of a long- term relationship, of real fidelity of his own family. The focus is on himself and his own struggles with Life and Time. His drawings often provide an enhanced source of reader insight and pleasure. Cohen also has a very good sense of humor about himself. He is it seems to me a very accepting and non- rejecting person. His Jewish identity and background play a strong part in all his work and they are present here. But in terms of religious principles he wants to go beyond where he comes from, which for me marks out the weak point of what he does.
Still this is a most enjoyable book and Cohen is a poet and songwriter of real feeling and quality.

This is Leonard Cohen. You get tongue-in-cheek self portraits dispersed amongst words that are sometimes funny, sometimes shocking, sometimes brilliant observations and sometimes self depricating honesty that reveals the always human-ness and always unique voice of this living legend of a song writer, writer and poet, Mr. Leonard Cohen.

This guy is Interesting with a capital "I." Reason enough to check out his long awaited book of poems, drawings and essays. Another reason is that unlike most books of poetry it is 'entertaining' without sacrificing intelligence. His wry humour is laugh out loud funny in the the short essay, "The Luckiest Man in the World" and poems such as, "Never Once."

He speaks of things that matter to him: his teacher, Roshi, pine trees, G-d, women, sex, laughter, mists, women and most of all from what I see the unending mystery of "self" (and women). When that self is Leonard Cohen it is worth stopping what you are doing and reading what he has to say.

Then, if you are not familiar with Cohen's music, you are missing some of the best written lyrics and music, ever.

Enjoy,

Laurie

Though not Leonard Cohen's best poetry book, 2006's Book of Longing is a very worthy addition to his incredible canon, especially impressive in that it came out when he was seventy-two, an age when even the best artists have usually long since stopped producing quality work. It was appropriately titled in that fans had longed for a new book in the long years since 1984's Book of Mercy, his prior release. This work did not disappoint. It consists primarily of poems written during Cohen's 1990s sojourn at Buddhist retreat Mount Baldy as well as more recent ones but actually includes pieces dating back to the early 1970s. These works deal with classic Cohen themes like love, lust, religion, Judaism, and music with trademark wryness, black humor, and wit that is often self-deprecating. In contrast to some of his other collections, there are a variety of forms: rhyming and non-rhyming poems, various traditional pieces, prose poems, epigrams, and more. Also included are some lyrics from Ten New Songs and Dear Heather, his two most recent albums, sometimes with interesting changes and additions. As has been his recent wont, Cohen also inserts numerous drawings; while not his writing's visual equivalent, these are charming and often humorous, adding spice and effect. Anyone who likes Cohen's poetry or songs will enjoy this fine collection, but those new to him or familiar only with his music would be better off starting with the Stranger Music collection or a stronger work like Death of Lady's Man or The Energy of Slaves.

I read this book because another poet told me that Cohen's poems are songs waiting to happen. This book contains lots of engagement with Zen Buddhists ("steel-jawed zealots who consider themselves the Marines of the spiritual world.") which ends up in world-weary bewilderment (as captured in "A Note to the Chinese Reader"). His awe with Master Roshi comes through, as well as his amusement with the monk Jikan, who was born to make people laugh.

A poem I remember from this book is "Thousands," where Cohen considers himself one of thousands of fakes for every one genuine poet. Aspiring poets shouldn't read that poem unless they want their ambition gutted like a fish. Sorry, Leonard Cohen, you don't get off that easy.

I don't remember the name of the poem, but it's a short poem about how the conflicting flavors in the medicine he offers distracts the patient from his suffering. I happily remember that poem. His poetry is like cough drops with exotic herbal flavorings, distracting the cougher.

This is a book of wonderful poems by a man who is happy with his life, but not particularly proud of himself. He has a poem in a drawing that says "I didn't get rich. I didn't get the girl. Follow me."

These are just some of the themes explored by Leonard Cohen in this very excellent volume of verse.

But hold on - how do cigarettes qualify as a theme? Well perhaps they don't quite make it to the thematic level, but they do put in enough appearances to be seen as noteworthy.

Here is an excerpt from a poem entitled "The Cigarette Issue":

But what is exactly the same
is the promise, the beauty
and the salvation
of cigarettes
the little Parthenon
of an unopened pack of cigarettes

and Mumbai, like the Athens
of forty years ago
is a city to smoke in

Cohen manages to weave a smoke into his deft handling of the tension and attraction of opposites in "What Did It", which follows in its entirety...

An acquaintance told me
that the great sage
Nisargadatta Maharaj
Once offered him a cigarette,
"Thank you, sir, but I don't smoke."
"Don't smoke?" said the master,
"What's life for?"

And so it goes, dealing with life and death, love and lust, spirit and truth, and the path the author has walked in his quest for God, or G-d, as he chooses reverentially to refer to him.

While Cohen's wry humor and self deprecating detachment are at times in evidence, some verses are almost terrifying in their seriousness and immediacy. The following is from "By the Rivers Dark" which makes up the lyrics of a song by the same name on the excellent CD "Ten New Songs"...

then he struck my heart
with a deadly force
and he said, "This heart
it is not yours."

Interspersed throughout the volume is a series of self portraits of the artist as an apparently angst filled old man, juxtaposed against his arresting sketches of a number of exceedingly voluptuous women.

But in the end this is a wistful book and it is appropriate that it is entitled "Book of Longing".

Here is "Nightingale", in its entirety:

I built my house beside the wood
So I could hear you singing
And it was sweet and it was good
And love was all beginning

Fare thee well my nightingale
`Twas long ago I found you
Now all your songs of beauty fail
The forest closes `round you

The sun goes down behind a veil
`Tis now that you would call me
So rest in peace my nightingale
Beneath your branch of holly

Fare thee well my nightingale
I lived but to be near you
Though you are singing somewhere still
I can no longer hear you

The famous singer and song writer Leonard Cohen, invites us into his world of beauty, women, and lonesome hours. An emotional journey, honest and direct, still, and sometimes lost. Many poems have a beautiful rhythm, where you can imagine his superb low voice singing the verses. The book also contains delightful drawings. A pure delight to read.

Leonard Cohen, has been known as a "rock star" for as long as I can remember. After reading his volume of poetry and prose, Book of Longing, I must say, Cohen is a poet, first and foremost. It is very rare that I will read an entire volume of poetry in one setting. Poems should be absorbed, and I don't feel that reading poem on top of poem helps the reader accomplish this. But I could not stop reading Cohen's work. Each poem told a little more about his lifetime, searching for, or more appropriately, "longing", for something more than what he had achieved. Cohen makes multiple references to how he tried to subdue his overwhelming passions in poems about Mt. Baldy, like "Early Morning at Mt. Baldy" and "Leaving Mt. Baldy." Mt. Baldy was the monastery where Cohen stayed while writing this work. Even though he lived at a monastery he battles with his religion and faith. The fact that he leaves the "o" out of "God" is indicative of his guilt toward God and religion because of his passion. "A Lifetime of Errands" on page 66, is a great example of his struggle between passion and religion. The book also has Cohen's illustrations including many self portraits. My personal favorite accompanied the line, "I never found the girl. I never got rich, Follow me."

Leonard Cohen heads an elite class of poets/singer-songwriters. I don't like everything Leonard Cohen writes, but almost everything. When he's on, nobody does it any better. Nobody. And he may be getting older (aren't we all) but he still has all the melancholy and pent up feelings you can handle. His "Thousand Kisses Deep" is truly fantastic. Such imagery. Such passion. His poems explore religion, isolation, sexuality. His five years in seclusion as a Zen buddhist monk just helped Leonard focus his raw talent to better effect. This collection will delight the poetic heart.

Sex and love and Judaism and Buddhism and the mountains of the Pacific Northwest and the nature of human mortality and all that...all made gentle, humane, and lyrical by one of the greatest songwriters and underappreciated poets of our time. Go buy this and read it with someone that you love or that you want to love.

With Leonard gone
Whose words to compare
With those of his songs?

Not that I did compare,
But I do compare
Now that he's gone...

(Apologies to Annie for the above.)

===

A man needs a hundred or so poems to make a book, but only eight or ten for a music album. Sifting matters. Cohen's latest album, Popular Problems, is wonderful, youthful, fresh, wise and experienced, but his Book of Longing is... well I found it M'eh! An old man having a go at it. Power to him, but try getting this at the library before buying it.

Vincent Poirier, Quebec City

Cohen is Cohen and age has only increased is lack of filter resulting in uneven quality through out the book.
But as always there are sublime moments, that push the overall appeal of the book and make us forget some silly writings.

3 stars were probably the most fair rating but, hey, I'm a fan and I can't give Cohen more than he, in average, as giving me.

Bad drawing on the front cover, poor photograph on the back cover, unfavourable computer drawings included throughout, thrown together layout on the inside pages, can I also say bad choice of type face for the title too? I don't know why I'm attracted to this book so much. Trap a hair in between the pages and you could substantiate a love affair.

The vulnerabilty of the work in Book of Longing speaks to my soul, the humour makes me laugh, and the politics strengthen my spine. It sits with Shakespeare's sonnets on my living room table, within reach for spiritual nourishment

Great and enduring fan of Leonard Cohen in all of his manifestations. If you are philosophically inclined, particularly to the dynamic gentility of Zen, this is your source of reflection, encouragement, and endurance.