 And she'll know the path I carved through the pain... (from early version of "The Book of Longing") Reviews & Articles 29) Lucid Forge Magazine, Issue #32, July 2006 |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen Written by Sheelah Yvette Rodriguez Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen has the quality of poetry scratched on coffee shop napkins; it’s raw, spontaneous, and inspired. It’s a remarkable piece of work not originally meant for public view. However, the poems communicate with its unintended audience in a vibrant fashion only Cohen could achieve. The poems were written and collected over a period of twenty years from Cohen’s travels between Montreal, Los Angeles, Mumbai and Mt. Baldy. They reflect on finding peace amid the realization of growing older and trying to find the source of contentment. Cohen plays with rhyming schemes, prose and arrangement and even inserts wingding font in one of his poems; making poems playful in spite of their dense content. His tone moves between a celebratory, comedic look on life to a depressed and nostalgic want for days passed, some poems also reflect his studies of the Buddhist philosophy, Zen. The book is a collection of Cohen’s very personal thoughts and feelings of wishing for a lost love, discovering the pains of old age and the struggles of practicing Buddhism. The poems document twenty years of life experience, demonstrating its significance in Leonard Cohen’s life and expressing the intimacy of personal development. Cohen has practiced Buddhist meditation for over thirty years and continually reconnects with his spiritual self. Some of the poems like “The Lovesick Monk” were written in Mt. Baldy during his studies. Other poems concentrate on the search for emotional tranquility after suffering a broken heart. “Love Itself” is one poem that transforms the feeling of loss into magnificent words of longing; “Love went on and on / Until it reached an open door - / The love itself was gone.” These words have impressionable qualities of empathy; inviting readers to experience love and aging as Cohen has. Having Cohen write about his innermost thoughts make Book of Longing a private and difficult text to relate because the poetry is self-reflexive. The days or events referred to in his poems are locked in Cohen’s memory, which may make it inaccessible to some readers. The lack of specifics in Cohen’s writing maintains a secrecy that can be frustrating. “Butter Dish” reads, “Darling, I now have a butter dish / that is shaped like a cow” its curtness is endearing, but there’s no hint about who “Darling” is. Similarly, “Her Friend” uses pronouns, but not names “she doesn’t know / her friend has come” it reads. Using pronouns suggest a relationship between the poems speaker and the pronoun itself and if that voice is meant to be Cohen’s, then audiences may feel excluded. However, it’s the same concealment that directs focus to thematic device, making premise more important than discovering Cohen’s personal affairs. His poems’ mystery does not limit their capacity to convey frustration, desire, aging and contentment. These themes shine through Cohen’s privacy and connect with his audience. Dispersed throughout Book of Longing is a collection of Cohen’s personal drawings. Many of which are stamped with a symbol of two joining hearts surrounded by the text “Order of the Unified heart” and just beneath is a square with a Chinese inscription. The prints closely resemble wax seals, but are reminiscent of traditional Chinese woodblock prints. It’s an art form first used by Buddhists to reprint religious or saintly images and it’s a technique Cohen has combined with modern images. The solitary bird on the front cover is closer to traditional Chinese subjects, but his images range to include scenery, branches and birds to more unlikely subjects such as a metal cup, a tissue box, and a radio. The overarching theme of self-discovery is illustrated by the many self-portraits included in the text. His exploration of aging becomes recorded with each portrait. At times his face is drawn upright, glaring straight ahead and looking confident; a portrait of action and steadiness. Other times his face is disfigured like a Salvador Dali clock making him look defeated and lonely. Cohen seems to be discovering himself through an artistic medium. Alongside a self-portrait of a stern and bald Cohen are the words, “These portraits are far behind my actual development [...] I appear to be deeply concerned [...] this is merely an old habit of the face” which suggests Cohen’s spiritual journey has led him to inner peace, but not before life’s complications imprinted apprehension upon his face. Leonard Cohen has compiled an array of drawings and poems that reveal a very personal search for serenity, and regardless of his publishing intentions, Book of Longing is delightfully sentimental in its search for personal happiness. Published By: McCelland & Stewart - Published: April 2006 Format: Hardcover - Price: CAN $32.99 Pages: 229 - ISBN: 0-7710-2234-4 Retrieved from www.lucidforge.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Reviews & Articles. 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