 I can't make the hills the system is shot... (from "The Book of Longing") Reviews & Articles 31) The Record, August 26, 2006 |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Leonard's little book of longing Robert Reid Leonard Cohen has always been comfortable in his own skin. (Aug 26, 2006) BOOK OF LONGING, by Leonard Cohen (McClelland and Stewart, 231 pages, $32.99). As a poet, novelist and singer/songwriter, Leonard Cohen has resembled the tides flowing in and out of celebrity since his first poetry collection, Let Us Compare Mythologies, was published half a century ago. After spending five years in a Buddhist monastery on Mt. Baldy, in California, he entered the limelight last summer when he went public with the discovery that his manager, an ex-lover, had bilked him out of millions of dollars he had set aside for his retirement. Despite his financial woes, all the publicity hasn't been bad for the celebrated 71-year-old artist. A documentary tribute, Leonard Cohen: I'm Your Man, is making the rounds of selected movie theatres across Canada. It airs on CBC on Aug. 31. Featuring such artists as U2, Nick Cave, Beth Orton, Kate and Anna McGarrigle and Kate's offspring, Martha and Rufus Wainwright, the accompanying CD is garnering critical praise. Then there's the publication of the Book of Longing, his first book since Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs, in 1993. Cohen has made no bones about recouping his financial losses through the publication of the new book. He admits as much in I Wrote for Love: I wrote for love. Then I wrote for money. With someone like me it's the same thing. Upon reading the Book of Longing, a reader might well wonder if such a book would have been published were it not for the fact that the writer is a cultural icon. This doesn't mean the collection of poems, prose and drawings is without charm or value, since it does shed light on a celebrity artist as he approaches the dying of the light. A few of the lyric pieces read like poems; others read like songs. But these are undermined by many diaristic snippets, random musings and doggerel of no consequence beyond the identity of the writer. Cohen has always had a distinct voice that gave expression to his vision. And his personality comes through strong and clear here. The pieces are by turns conversational, playful, mundane, whimsical, erotic, poignant, aphoristic, argumentative, humorous, wistful, tender, provocative, self-deprecating and unpretentious. They reflect a man and an artist comfortable in his own skin who enjoys challenging how others view him. Much of the work is recent, covering his time on Mt. Baldy, but there are earlier pieces dating back to 1970. They reflect his wanderings -- including Montreal and Los Angeles, in addition to New York, Paris, Hydra and Bombay. The recent pieces explore themes that have preoccupied Cohen throughout his artistic career -- the sacred and the profane, spiritual yearning and longing for the pleasures of the flesh including, love, sex, cigarettes and expensive wine and spirits. The most touching pieces deal with the trials and frustrations of growing old, or recall his deceased mother or honour his celebrated mentor, the late Irving Layton. In Layton's Question he says: Always after I tell him what I intend to do next, Layton solemnly inquires: Leonard, are you sure you're doing the wrong thing? The Book of Longing is enhanced by Cohen's sketches, doodles and emblematic diagrams, the majority of which are unflattering self-portraits. Despite the slightness of The Book of Longing, few readers will agree with Cohen's assessment of his art as expressed in Thousands: Out of the thousands who are known, or who want to be known as poets, maybe one or two are genuine and the rest are fakes, hanging around the sacred precincts trying to look like the real thing. Needless to say I am one of the fakes, and this is my story Whatever Leonard Cohen is, a fake he is not. Robert Reid is a Record arts reporter. rreid@therecord.com Retrieved from www.therecord.com / Contributed by Anne ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Back to Reviews & Articles. Welcome | Index | Works by Leonard Cohen | Reviews & Articles | Index of Titles / drawings, first lines & online poems | e-card | Credits & Thanks |
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