 You can't say it right when you touch yourself But truth's not advice It is total health... (from early version of "The Book of Longing") Reviews & Articles 13) The Windsor Star, April 29, 2006 |
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---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- One more thin gypsy thief Leonard Cohen's new book of poetry is a wide-ranging celebration of love and loss Marty Gervais, Windsor Star Published: Saturday, April 29, 2006 BOOK OF LONGING By Leonard Cohen (McClelland & Stewart) 232 pages, $32.99 Is it pure irony on the part of Leonard Cohen to dedicate this book to his mentor and friend Irving Layton? I wondered about that. You see, the irascible and outspoken Layton from Montreal infused confidence into the younger poet who grew up under his shadow and soon made the young Leonard realize the world needs its poets. Leonard, however, took the next step, and eclipsed his teacher. He shrouded himself in mystique. He made the world come knocking on his doorstep. In the 1960s, Cohen would retreat to Hydra and keep to his silence and keep his fans wondering when his next book would come out. And right after Beautiful Losers hit the stands in the late 1960s, Cohen turned to music, writing songs and then going on tour. To tell you the truth, it disappointed many early fans. Cohen had realized he wanted to be the troubadour. He wanted to reach further with his message. And he did. His songs soon touched us in the same way the earlier verses of Let Us Compare Mythologies and Spice Box for Earth did. Which brings me to this - the long-awaited new book of poetry from Cohen. It's taken two decades. A book with playful and provocative drawings with the darkly humorous verses. And what do we find in this collection? Poems of love and loss and solitude and laments about the passage of time, old age and what might've been. Cohen hasn't abandoned his favourite words: perfect, naked, lonesome, longing, beautiful, pain, holy, wounded. You'll find these in just about everything he's written - his novels, poems and songs. There is also the same self-deprecating humour, something I like: still looking at the girls but there are no girls there is only (this'll kill ya) inner peace & harmony On occasion, you'll also find Cohen providing an indictment of our modern attitudes. In one poem, his words are aimed at the religious fundamentalism of the Middle East, or perhaps the poets who glorify war: It's better to get carried away by your culture the brave children in front of the tanks the holy soil speaking your language Shame on you, Great Poets! I love the past as well as you but I've got to do something to change your stupid bloodthirsty music which no one but God really likes Many of the poems in this collection are songs, and as such don't jump off the page in the way Cohen's earlier work did. However, occasionally, they do, and when that happens, you know he's captured something about our modern time and place. Take, for example, a wry, little poem called "The Remote." I often think about you when I'm lying alone in my room with my mouth open and the remote lost somewhere in the bed (c) The Windsor Star 2006 Retrieved from www.canada.com/windsorstar ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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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