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Bir Leonard Cohen Kitabı
Leonard cohen'in verdiği en önemli röportajlardan oluşan 'bir leonard cohen kitabı' geoturka ile türkçede! 'Kafayı sıyıran ve hayata dönen, saf delilikle tanışmış herkes, sarhoşluğu, halusinasyonu, gezegenlerin ve kürelerin müziğini, sonsuz güç, hayat ve tanrı fikrini bilir; bunlar da kafanızı uçurmaya yeter de artar.'Şarkıcı, şair, romancı, münzevi, hepsi... Leonard Cohen'den bahsediyoruz. 'Yeniden dünyaya gelseydiniz ne olmayı isterdiniz?' sorusuna 'Leonard Cohen hariç her şey' cevabını verebilen, 'Şarkılarımın her biri için gereken bedeli ödedim' diyen Cohen'den.Leonard Cohen kendisinden bahsederken bile nesnelliği elden bırakmıyor ve ortaya aforizmalarla dolu muhteşem bir kitap çıkıyor.Bayanlar, baylar, karşınızda Leonard Cohen!
448 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2014
118 people are currently reading
612 people want to read
About the author
Jeff Burger
7 books10 followersJeff Burger has covered popular music for American and international magazines and newspapers for four decades and was one of the first journalists to talk with Bruce Springsteen for a national publication. He has also published interviews with such musicians as Tom Waits, Billy Joel, the Righteous Brothers, and the members of Steely Dan, as well as with public figures like Suze Orman, James Carville, Sir Richard Branson, F. Lee Bailey, Sydney Pollack, and Cliff Robertson. He has contributed to more than 75 periodicals and books, including the Los Angeles Times, Reader's Digest, Family Circle, Barron's, Creem, All Music Guide and GQ. A former consulting editor at Time Inc., he has been editor of several major consumer and trade magazines. He lives in Ridgewood, New Jersey.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 47 reviews
December 4, 2018
https://msarki.tumblr.com/post/180788...
...It’s not that a man chooses the gods that he worships—it’s the gods who choose him.
...Professionalism is the enemy of creativity and invention.
...The thing that people are interested in doing now is blowing their heads off and that’s why the writing of schizophrenics like myself will be important.
...Yeah, performing. I mean you can really be humiliated. There are other rewards and prizes that go with it—you can come out with a sense of glory, girls might fall in love with you, they might be paying you very well. All the possibilities of corruption and material gain and self-congratulation are present—but also at the same time there is this continual threat and presence of your own disgrace.
...I mean to say there’s no program that I’ve embraced. I think I have had some programs in the past that I’ve grasped at. I get two or three of ’em a day, but I just think that trying to get through is my program.
...a kind of extremely sensitive reactor..
...I think that what we call the spirit or spirituality is the most intense form of the practical.
…(a) writer is more confused, more bewildered, than other people who aren’t writers. One of the absolute qualifications for a writer is not knowing his arse from his elbow.
...take these images from that experience and graft them on this world where huge women smile down from these billboards and everybody knows that the thing is rotten.
...certain native American tribes refused to accept the mirror. The reason was, they said, that your face is for others to look at.
...The voices in my head, they don’t care what I do, they just want to argue the matter through and through.
...Love is the foundation of democracy, but it’s very important for people to have a certain kind of education. Which we’re not getting. Democracy affirms the equality of phenomena. It affirms the equality of the white and the black, and the poor and the rich. It’s filled with affirmations, with validations for the fragment of society, but unless the fragments of society can experience themselves as a something other than the fragments, then democracy will fail.
...I suppose they are spontaneous and visceral if you are a spontaneous and visceral kind of chap. I’m not. I’m very formal, uptight, and agonized most of the time.
...But this kind of exclusivity! A confident people is not exclusive. A great religion affirms other religions. A great culture affirms other cultures. A great nation affirms other nations. A great individual affirms other individuals, validates the being-ness of others and the vitality...
..So lest anybody think that the making of anything is some kind of glamorous activity involved with bricks that are already baked it’s not at all that way. You’re dealing with the mud and the water. Those are the ingredients of anything that is beautiful— chaos and desolation...
...Nobody can follow you where you’ve got to go to do good work...Nobody can follow you there and nobody wants to come and friends drop away and people turn aside and you can’t expect anybody to go the distance with you [pause] except for maybe one person in your life. Maybe one person can do it. One intimate soul…
...the greatest help you can get from anything is to find out that it doesn’t work. Because nothing works. Nothing in this human realm is meant to work.
...It is offered at all times, at all moments, and we create a fictional barrier, we succumb to a fictional disease, and we buy into a fictional separation from the thing we want the most, which is a sense of ourselves and a sense of being at home with ourselves.
...we don’t need a big house because I know now that riches and big houses and all those things mean nothing. I know that the only thing that counts is to express love and respect and to bend your knee before the object of your love so that she can bend her knee to you. I know that now. I didn’t know then.
...good work is produced in spite of suffering and as a response, as a victory over suffering.
...Lighten up—that’s what enlightenment means: that you’ve lightened up.
...I’ve been lucky. Kids come to me and ask me for advice. Usually I say I’ve got good advice but it’s one word: duck!
...I think the woman chooses. It’s been told to me that the woman chooses, and she decides within seconds of meeting the man whether or not she’s going to give herself to him. In any case, I think in most cases the woman is running the show in these matters, and I’m happy to let them have it.
...It’s not that a man chooses the gods that he worships—it’s the gods who choose him.
...Professionalism is the enemy of creativity and invention.
...The thing that people are interested in doing now is blowing their heads off and that’s why the writing of schizophrenics like myself will be important.
...Yeah, performing. I mean you can really be humiliated. There are other rewards and prizes that go with it—you can come out with a sense of glory, girls might fall in love with you, they might be paying you very well. All the possibilities of corruption and material gain and self-congratulation are present—but also at the same time there is this continual threat and presence of your own disgrace.
...I mean to say there’s no program that I’ve embraced. I think I have had some programs in the past that I’ve grasped at. I get two or three of ’em a day, but I just think that trying to get through is my program.
...a kind of extremely sensitive reactor..
...I think that what we call the spirit or spirituality is the most intense form of the practical.
…(a) writer is more confused, more bewildered, than other people who aren’t writers. One of the absolute qualifications for a writer is not knowing his arse from his elbow.
...take these images from that experience and graft them on this world where huge women smile down from these billboards and everybody knows that the thing is rotten.
...certain native American tribes refused to accept the mirror. The reason was, they said, that your face is for others to look at.
...The voices in my head, they don’t care what I do, they just want to argue the matter through and through.
...Love is the foundation of democracy, but it’s very important for people to have a certain kind of education. Which we’re not getting. Democracy affirms the equality of phenomena. It affirms the equality of the white and the black, and the poor and the rich. It’s filled with affirmations, with validations for the fragment of society, but unless the fragments of society can experience themselves as a something other than the fragments, then democracy will fail.
...I suppose they are spontaneous and visceral if you are a spontaneous and visceral kind of chap. I’m not. I’m very formal, uptight, and agonized most of the time.
...But this kind of exclusivity! A confident people is not exclusive. A great religion affirms other religions. A great culture affirms other cultures. A great nation affirms other nations. A great individual affirms other individuals, validates the being-ness of others and the vitality...
..So lest anybody think that the making of anything is some kind of glamorous activity involved with bricks that are already baked it’s not at all that way. You’re dealing with the mud and the water. Those are the ingredients of anything that is beautiful— chaos and desolation...
...Nobody can follow you where you’ve got to go to do good work...Nobody can follow you there and nobody wants to come and friends drop away and people turn aside and you can’t expect anybody to go the distance with you [pause] except for maybe one person in your life. Maybe one person can do it. One intimate soul…
...the greatest help you can get from anything is to find out that it doesn’t work. Because nothing works. Nothing in this human realm is meant to work.
...It is offered at all times, at all moments, and we create a fictional barrier, we succumb to a fictional disease, and we buy into a fictional separation from the thing we want the most, which is a sense of ourselves and a sense of being at home with ourselves.
...we don’t need a big house because I know now that riches and big houses and all those things mean nothing. I know that the only thing that counts is to express love and respect and to bend your knee before the object of your love so that she can bend her knee to you. I know that now. I didn’t know then.
...good work is produced in spite of suffering and as a response, as a victory over suffering.
...Lighten up—that’s what enlightenment means: that you’ve lightened up.
...I’ve been lucky. Kids come to me and ask me for advice. Usually I say I’ve got good advice but it’s one word: duck!
...I think the woman chooses. It’s been told to me that the woman chooses, and she decides within seconds of meeting the man whether or not she’s going to give herself to him. In any case, I think in most cases the woman is running the show in these matters, and I’m happy to let them have it.
October 11, 2014
If you like Leonard Cohen as much as I do, you'll love this book. Interviews from 1966 to 2012. Cohen has a stock persona that he skips out for interviewers so there's some repetition here, but at least he's been consistent through the years. I really enjoyed learning more about him and particularly the interview where he discusses his relationships to both Judaism and Buddhism. He's so much his own person. I think I love him not only for his wonderful songs and poetry, but for his sometimes startling individuality and his total lack of arrogance.
December 12, 2020
These sort of collections often include repetitions, as we hear from the same person.
But Cohen, like his poems, remains melancholic over the years, shows signs that he is constantly fighting an inner battle to sort his way out in this tiring world just like everyone else.
Through his interviews, Cohen will thus, touch your perfect soul with his mind.
But Cohen, like his poems, remains melancholic over the years, shows signs that he is constantly fighting an inner battle to sort his way out in this tiring world just like everyone else.
Through his interviews, Cohen will thus, touch your perfect soul with his mind.
December 3, 2016
Ok. I have always had a soft spot for Leonard Cohen, so I enjoyed this book very much. My parents, and grandparents have always loved the guy, so I have listened to many of his albums. I agree, his voice is SO LOW, but I am in love with his lyrics.
Why did I rate this only 4 stars?
Well you see, Leonard Cohen is not really my favorite singer, but my favorite song-writer. So, for his songs, I would rate it 2-3 stars, and his poems, I would rate them 5 stars. If this makes any sense.
Why did I rate this only 4 stars?
Well you see, Leonard Cohen is not really my favorite singer, but my favorite song-writer. So, for his songs, I would rate it 2-3 stars, and his poems, I would rate them 5 stars. If this makes any sense.
March 11, 2017
I read this one after reading a book about Leonard Cohen and a poetry book by Leonard, "Book of Longing". Maybe reading this one was a bridge too far. There's quite a lot of repetition amongst the interviews as you'd expect when a bunch of them come at the same time as a record was released. Eventually halfway through it, I zoned out and gave up on it. Lesson is, don't read this as part of a Lenny binge.
August 6, 2017
This is a great thick book about (600 pages!) targeted at serious fans of Leonard Cohen. Burger has compiled over fifty interviews and articles written about Cohen over the years, some never before seen in print. Burger has been meticulous in choosing the interviews he has presented, ensuring that each brings out something a little different or something additional from what has been written about this poet, novelist, songwriter and singer. Each interview begins with a preface written by Burger which often includes comments by the interviewers themselves. Each of them are singularly impressed by Cohen’s gentlemanly manner, his old fashioned politeness and his seriousness. Each found him to be thoroughly engaged in the process of the interview, friendly but formal and comfortable in his manner, thoughtful about his responses and for the most part willing to talk about almost everything. His candor becomes even more obvious as time goes on and in his later years he shares more willingly his ongoing battle with clinical depression, his inability to give in return what his lovers willing gave to him, his need for solitude and his retreat into five years of isolation in a Buddhist monastery. This retreat was not a search for a new religion, but was more a venture into a relationship with Roshi, a Buddhist monk he has known for many years. It was also necessitated by a need to get a handle on his heavy drinking, drugs and smoking and his life-long bogeyman--depression. As he says, I have a religion, I am Jewish and my own religion has always served me well. These periods of isolation at various stretches in his career as well as a longer five year period later in life, gave him what he wanted and needed. He appreciated the fact that there was no dogma and no prayerful worship, just a commitment to living in a community and the willingness to take up the regimen that would support that life. There were times in his life when he needed that structure and solitude.
The anthology covers the years beginning in the sixties and continues to 2012. It also has a revealing forward written by singer Suzanne Vega and some rarely seen photographs.
There is necessarily some repetition, but it is easy to pick up recurring themes in Cohen’s conversations including his sense the world is gradually falling apart, the difficulty he has experienced navigating male/female relationships, the emotional and spiritual strength of women and the painful and long drawn out process of writing his songs.
It is interesting to see how this Canadian icon has evolved over the years as he tells his story in his own words. He moves from being a rather enigmatic, obtuse character in the early years to one who is more open in his late seventies. He talks openly of his ups and downs including the critical acclaim he received for his novels and poetry which did not provide him with the money he needed to live, his failed relationships, his crazy collaboration with Phil Spector, his inattention to detail that resulted in him losing the publishing rights to several of his songs (including the famous “Suzanne”) and the tag that often accompanied him as an anguished balladeer and “the poet of despair”.
He emphasizes the fact that when he started his work he knew from the beginning that he was in it for the long haul. His recent financial difficulties caused when his long time personal friend and manager siphoned off his savings leaving him only $150,000, sent him back to work and in many ways reenergized his career.
A great gift for admirers of Leonard Cohen’s poetry, novels, song writing and singing. A sort of “close up and personal” approach that allows the reader to appreciate how Cohen has arrived at a measure of calm and gratitude in his later years.
The anthology covers the years beginning in the sixties and continues to 2012. It also has a revealing forward written by singer Suzanne Vega and some rarely seen photographs.
There is necessarily some repetition, but it is easy to pick up recurring themes in Cohen’s conversations including his sense the world is gradually falling apart, the difficulty he has experienced navigating male/female relationships, the emotional and spiritual strength of women and the painful and long drawn out process of writing his songs.
It is interesting to see how this Canadian icon has evolved over the years as he tells his story in his own words. He moves from being a rather enigmatic, obtuse character in the early years to one who is more open in his late seventies. He talks openly of his ups and downs including the critical acclaim he received for his novels and poetry which did not provide him with the money he needed to live, his failed relationships, his crazy collaboration with Phil Spector, his inattention to detail that resulted in him losing the publishing rights to several of his songs (including the famous “Suzanne”) and the tag that often accompanied him as an anguished balladeer and “the poet of despair”.
He emphasizes the fact that when he started his work he knew from the beginning that he was in it for the long haul. His recent financial difficulties caused when his long time personal friend and manager siphoned off his savings leaving him only $150,000, sent him back to work and in many ways reenergized his career.
A great gift for admirers of Leonard Cohen’s poetry, novels, song writing and singing. A sort of “close up and personal” approach that allows the reader to appreciate how Cohen has arrived at a measure of calm and gratitude in his later years.
August 6, 2017
I wish I knew Leonard Cohen.
December 4, 2016
Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen is a collection of his interviews from the days when he was a novelist in Montreal to the days when he got known to the world as the 'Poet and Singer'. Leonard Cohen is a fascinating character, at times a deeply troubling one and that I got to know by listening to his songs, and poems over the years. I have listened to him when I was happy; when I was going through rough patches, when I was undecided in my life, and I never felt disappointed. He always had something to offer to each of my moods and I started reading this book because I was curious to know what Leonard Cohen thought about things and how he grew as a character over the years and now that I'm finished with the book, I must say that this man always had his head sorted, and even in the times of extreme depressions, I could see him talking and explaining things with utmost grace. The book also delves in on Cohen's politics, his relationships with different women, his attempts of escaping at different stages of his life and the struggle to redemption and above all that, how he wrote what he wrote.
July 2, 2017
This is an interesting anthology of interviews that shows how Leonard Cohen evolved through the years. I saw a good man throughout, who seemed happy at the end. One of the most interesting aspects of the book itself is how few interviewers understood him at the beginning. As his fame grew, the interviews completely changed.
July 16, 2016
Interesting read
January 4, 2020
Montreal gormek istedim , cok aykiri bir hayat , kaiyer in zirvesinde Zen tapinaga gidip elini etegini cekmesi cok ilginc,
January 17, 2020
Mamá, cuando grande quiero ser Leonard Cohen.
September 8, 2014
I adored this book. Leonard is so wise, so unassuming and honest to a fault. I wrote down some of the things he said. I admire him so and am so grateful I got to see him in person as well as on his videos. His life has both been hard and blessed. It always brings tears to my eyes to see how revered and honored he is at his concerts. He was so generous with all the many journalists who interviewed him and even if he repeated stories you really got a good picture of his amazing life. I read mostly the last half of the book and loved it so.
September 9, 2018
My love of Leonard Cohen made me enjoy this book more than it deserves. The basic premise of a collection of interviews spanning four decades is fundamentally flawed. The editor repeatedly bewails Cohen's tendency to retell stories to different interviewers. But the man was interviewed hundreds of times a year for forty years, of course he's going to retell stories. The editorial commentary was just sloppy in general.
That said, I finished the book feeling as though I have a deeper understanding of a man I admire, and for that I suppose it was worth the slog.
That said, I finished the book feeling as though I have a deeper understanding of a man I admire, and for that I suppose it was worth the slog.
August 13, 2014
Reading these interviews with Leonard over the years is the closest thing to having your own private conversation with him. If that's something you've always dreamed about then this is the book for you. No subject is off limits, no request for information refused. And he's actually very funny a lot of the time.
November 22, 2014
No, I didn't read all of this. There were a massive amount of interviews. All of the ones I read were interesting in some way. I will say this, Leonard becomes much more humble as he gets older. The young LC was more of a my art this and here is the deeper meaning interviewee when he was younger. Overall, a pretty fascinating guy with no shortage of quality sound bites. Jedi.
January 8, 2017
Loads of insight and interesting stuff here but quite a few stories repeat. I put that to the fact that so many people ask him the same questions year after year. That said you really do get a sense of his growth and evolution. I wish there were a few more recent interviews but maybe a revised and extended edition in a year or so will add them. Well worth reading fan or not.
December 3, 2017
If you really wanted to know who Leonard Cohen was, this is the book. Interviews with various people and Leonard over the years, written by Leonard and edited by Jeff Burger, who never met him. Interesting man, interesting book, fabulous photos. Truly a gentleman who lived his life by his own terms.
December 4, 2017
Some of the ideas in the interviews repeat themselves, yes, but still, it's even more interesting since it gives you another idea of Cohen's mind and what does he say when he's asked the same questions over the years.
After a couple of biographies I've read about the special artist Cohen, this book gave me a chance to see even another angel in a new light. It's a great read, mostly for fans.
After a couple of biographies I've read about the special artist Cohen, this book gave me a chance to see even another angel in a new light. It's a great read, mostly for fans.
August 2, 2014
A must for Cohen fans, but I found the style too choppy to enjoy - a collection of interviews. Interesting to read them in chronological order, I guess, but it didn't hold my interest. Just my preference, I guess.
July 16, 2014
A fun collection of interviews on a great artist. Spans 40+ years, like his career. Nothing terribly insightful, but all in all, a fun chance to see his evolution from different journalists' experiences.
February 11, 2020
A "little" behind the scenes of his albums with interviews mostly for album promotion but that reveal the state of mind of the artist behind his art and his evolution. A must read for die hard fans that are still hungry for the man!...
May 29, 2014
Insightful and interesting. LC is fascinating subject. Some stories get repeated through out the book, at least LC is on message!
November 29, 2016
l love his literatures and hierarchy,it is really great,fantastic,glorious and ecstatic.full of positive factors .peace to LEONARD COHEN.
June 26, 2019
The repetition was both revealing and informative (how to answer interviewers): if in NYC, check out the Leonard Cohen exhibit at The Jewish Museum (runs until Sept 8, 2019).
[NOTES TO MYSELF]
[Nico] "She's incredible. She's a great singer and a great songwriter, completely disregarded from what I can see. I don't think she sells fifty records, but I think she's one of the really original talents in the whole racket." (p. 67)
"But I was really moved when I came to New York by what was going on. There was a sensibility. . . . that I thought I was quite alone in. It wasn't quite Kerouac, it wasn't quite Ginsberg, it was something after that. . . .I felt very much at home." (p. 91)
"One of the things I always liked about . . . .Ginsberg and Kerouac and Corso--was the use of the word "angel." I never knew what they meant, except that it was a designation for a human being and that it affirmed the light in an individual." (p. 165)
"It's very important for an artist to cultivate a very strong ego. Without the strong ego, the artist cannot survive, because the world is always saying to the artist, "Shut up and go home"....Without a really strong ego he really will shut up and go home." (p.322)
[Kerouac] "And he was a certain kind of genius who was able to spin out that way, like some great glistening spider. Everything that he produced had this silver shining quality that was connected, one thing to the other....Well, it wasn't typing with Kerouac, it was really spinning the great tale of America....I think the first time I saw Jack Kerouac was at the [Village] Vanguard. (p. 341)"
"Relationships. . . .are appropriately addressed in one's work. . . .otherwise it's just gossip." (p. 498)
[NOTES TO MYSELF]
[Nico] "She's incredible. She's a great singer and a great songwriter, completely disregarded from what I can see. I don't think she sells fifty records, but I think she's one of the really original talents in the whole racket." (p. 67)
"But I was really moved when I came to New York by what was going on. There was a sensibility. . . . that I thought I was quite alone in. It wasn't quite Kerouac, it wasn't quite Ginsberg, it was something after that. . . .I felt very much at home." (p. 91)
"One of the things I always liked about . . . .Ginsberg and Kerouac and Corso--was the use of the word "angel." I never knew what they meant, except that it was a designation for a human being and that it affirmed the light in an individual." (p. 165)
"It's very important for an artist to cultivate a very strong ego. Without the strong ego, the artist cannot survive, because the world is always saying to the artist, "Shut up and go home"....Without a really strong ego he really will shut up and go home." (p.322)
[Kerouac] "And he was a certain kind of genius who was able to spin out that way, like some great glistening spider. Everything that he produced had this silver shining quality that was connected, one thing to the other....Well, it wasn't typing with Kerouac, it was really spinning the great tale of America....I think the first time I saw Jack Kerouac was at the [Village] Vanguard. (p. 341)"
"Relationships. . . .are appropriately addressed in one's work. . . .otherwise it's just gossip." (p. 498)
May 6, 2024
I'm going to give this 3 1/2 stars. The actual interview material with Leonard Cohen is wonderful, but the editor has taken many pages to describe the interviewers' takes on meeting Cohen, and to talk about themselves. I wish that the space had been used for Cohen's own words, as the title of the book suggests. Still, very worth reading for Cohen's words and thoughts, in between al the dross about the interviewers.
January 5, 2020
If you're a gigantic fanboy/fangirl like I am, this is totally worth it.
Not only Leonard Cohen narrates his life in his own words (and sometimes moods), but the evolution of his art and the conflicting directions he would sometimes take are well-portrayed and clearly explained. The heart of Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen are two pieces; a 40 pages interview with a songwriting magazine that is really a conversation between two craftsmen and a lenghty two-parter he gave to Swedish media while in retreat on Mt. Baldy. In these pieces, Cohen's craftsmanship and passion are most transparent and his psychological evolution better exposed.
Of course, like for any collection of interviews, there are a little too much. Notably one with Jian Gomeshi I hope will be pulled from new editions. But even when the books goes in circles, you can feel Cohen's exhaustion with being asked the same questions over and over and adjust his mood in circumstances. Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen is a labor of love. Well played, Mr. Burger.
Not only Leonard Cohen narrates his life in his own words (and sometimes moods), but the evolution of his art and the conflicting directions he would sometimes take are well-portrayed and clearly explained. The heart of Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen are two pieces; a 40 pages interview with a songwriting magazine that is really a conversation between two craftsmen and a lenghty two-parter he gave to Swedish media while in retreat on Mt. Baldy. In these pieces, Cohen's craftsmanship and passion are most transparent and his psychological evolution better exposed.
Of course, like for any collection of interviews, there are a little too much. Notably one with Jian Gomeshi I hope will be pulled from new editions. But even when the books goes in circles, you can feel Cohen's exhaustion with being asked the same questions over and over and adjust his mood in circumstances. Leonard Cohen on Leonard Cohen is a labor of love. Well played, Mr. Burger.
July 7, 2021
This is a great companion piece to 'I'm Your Man', the most recent biography on Leonard Cohen. I'd recommend reading the biography first, but this book acts as a great adjunct.
While you get a sense of Cohen's life in the biography, it never drills down and looks directly at how Leonard was feeling, what his thoughts were as he moved through his life. Where this compilation of interviews gives you a sense of who Cohen was, and what he was feeling at different times. It contains quotes and thoughts directly from the source.
The only real down-fall here is that Cohen was reluctant to do interviews. Being a bit anti-establishment he wasn't keen on promoting his work, and so the media didn't get to speak with him as much as you'd think. This means that there can be a couple years between interviews.
All in all a great read and must-have for Cohen fans.
While you get a sense of Cohen's life in the biography, it never drills down and looks directly at how Leonard was feeling, what his thoughts were as he moved through his life. Where this compilation of interviews gives you a sense of who Cohen was, and what he was feeling at different times. It contains quotes and thoughts directly from the source.
The only real down-fall here is that Cohen was reluctant to do interviews. Being a bit anti-establishment he wasn't keen on promoting his work, and so the media didn't get to speak with him as much as you'd think. This means that there can be a couple years between interviews.
All in all a great read and must-have for Cohen fans.
May 2, 2019
Discovered Cohen way too late. I had to check this book out. It's a compilation of many of his interviews throughout his career up to about 2012. Pretty current actually. But given the nature of this work there's plenty of repetition, but a few nuggets to be had as well. Thus 3 stars.
I did enjoy reading some of Cohen's responses to his time at Mt. Baldy, and a conversation with another interviewer about their spiritual journeys. Kindred spirits connecting for a short while.
Overall, they're media interviews most of which revolved around a promotion tour, limited time and scope.
I did enjoy reading some of Cohen's responses to his time at Mt. Baldy, and a conversation with another interviewer about their spiritual journeys. Kindred spirits connecting for a short while.
Overall, they're media interviews most of which revolved around a promotion tour, limited time and scope.
July 14, 2020
Da grande fan di Leonard Cohen questo libro per me rappresenta una vera e propria Bibbia, una raccolta di interviste da leggere ogni sera, come una preghiera, prima di andare a dormire. Un viaggio attraverso il mezzo secolo di vita artistica del poeta e cantautore, un libro in cui la ridondanza non rappresenta un difetto, ma va ad esaltare la sacralità e profondità del personaggio e dei suoi pensieri, sottolineandole al contempo la sua incredibile umanità e fragilità.
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