Call number
811 COH
Collection
Publication
Ecco (2007), Edition: Reprint, 256 pages
Description
This new collection--20 years in the making--of poetry and original illustrations by the legendary Leonard Cohen is timed to coincide with the release of the feature-length documentary, "I'm Your Man."
User reviews
LibraryThing member ChuckB
Musician, poet, and songwriter--Leonard Cohen has produced another collection of poetry that is a pleasure to read--with some simple "in your face" verse that is easy to understand and others that make you dig deeper, surprising you with each successive reading.
LibraryThing member Ponies
I loved this collection of poetry. It's an eerie-beautiful mix of lamentation (about aging) and pressing on, still loving life.
LibraryThing member nearlycivilized
This was the first book of poems I read by Leonard and I found it to be truly inspiring. His writing draws you in and takes you places that you can only dream of being. He has had such an eventful life which makes me want to travel around the world.
I highly recommend it.
I highly recommend it.
LibraryThing member loosha
I keep this one in the kitchen, where I can take a solitary moment during meal prep to enjoy a page again. Sometimes, rarely, I force my guests to read a passage aloud, but only on special occasions. Hey, they almost always enjoy it!
Next to it was [The Tent], Atwood's volume of very very short
Next to it was [The Tent], Atwood's volume of very very short
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stories and some poems. I lent it out to a very good friend who I believed would understand how I treasured it and haven't seen it for near a year, even after hints. So Leonard Cohen's book is NOT leaving my house! Show Less
LibraryThing member ElizabethPisani
Whimsical, sometimes depressing, always delightful
LibraryThing member untraveller
3 stars for the artwork....not the poetry. I am a big fan of his music, but the books of poetry, not so much. There are just a handful of poems I could appreciate....Guess I'm just not mystical enough.
LibraryThing member wagner.sarah35
To be fair, I'm not the biggest fan of poetry and included in this book is a note from the poet himself that it's not intended to be read cover to cover (but really, how else do you read a book?). There were poems I loved, ones I found eerie, and a few where I think the poet's humor missed its
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mark. And likely, someone who really loves poetry would get a lot more out of this volume and could tell me out my interpretations are wrong. Overall, this wasn't a bad book, but I think it might be more enjoyable to the reader who likes to skip around in a text. Show Less
LibraryThing member Sheila1957
Poems where the author looks back on his past and his current life and is not happy where he is. Some poems rhyme. Some are verse.
I found most of these poems and drawings depressing. I did like Alexandra Leaving and Boogie Street.
I found most of these poems and drawings depressing. I did like Alexandra Leaving and Boogie Street.
LibraryThing member bragan
A collection of poems, including many written during Cohen's time in a Zen monastery. Anyone familiar with any of his other work will probably find the themes and contents here unsurprising: sex, love, loneliness, and desire, the sacred and the earthy and the places where the two meet, anger and
Some of these poems instantly made sense to me and evoked thoughts and feelings I could relate to. Others were obscure enough that I suspect only the poet himself really knew who and what they were about. Most fell somewhere in between, which seems like a pretty good place for poetry to fall. Although, I must say, I'm usually not a very good reader of poetry (or poetry isn't a particularly good medium for me as a reader), as I often react poorly when I don't feel like I "get" a poem. It makes me feel uncultured and dumb, I suppose, which makes me feel resentful. But Leonard Cohen, as I realized the last time I read one of his poetry collections, circumvents that problem for me entirely, because I take his poems in exactly the spirit I take his song lyrics -- indeed, not a few of these have also appeared as songs on his albums -- and I've never felt dumb not understanding a song lyric, only interested in what I could make out of it for myself. And, as with his music, there is a lot to be made out of these poems.
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sadness and wistfulness and acceptance, the darkness and the light in the world, all intermixed with little personal moments and glimmerings of self-aware, self-deprecating humor. Some of these poems instantly made sense to me and evoked thoughts and feelings I could relate to. Others were obscure enough that I suspect only the poet himself really knew who and what they were about. Most fell somewhere in between, which seems like a pretty good place for poetry to fall. Although, I must say, I'm usually not a very good reader of poetry (or poetry isn't a particularly good medium for me as a reader), as I often react poorly when I don't feel like I "get" a poem. It makes me feel uncultured and dumb, I suppose, which makes me feel resentful. But Leonard Cohen, as I realized the last time I read one of his poetry collections, circumvents that problem for me entirely, because I take his poems in exactly the spirit I take his song lyrics -- indeed, not a few of these have also appeared as songs on his albums -- and I've never felt dumb not understanding a song lyric, only interested in what I could make out of it for myself. And, as with his music, there is a lot to be made out of these poems.
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Pages
256
ISBN
006112561X / 9780061125614