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Oct 03, 2018 karen rated it it was amazing

fulfilling book riot's 2018 read harder challenge task #1: A book published posthumously

I PRAY FOR COURAGE

I pray for courage
Now I'm old
To greet the sickness
And the cold

I pray for courage
In the night
To bear the burden
Make it light

I pray for courage
In the time
When suffering comes and
Starts to climb

I pray for courage
At the end
To see death coming
As a friend

i mean, it's leonard cohen, and it's the last leonard cohen book we're ever going to get, so even though i didn't breathlessly love every single

fulfilling book riot's 2018 read harder challenge task #1: A book published posthumously

I PRAY FOR COURAGE

I pray for courage
Now I'm old
To greet the sickness
And the cold

I pray for courage
In the night
To bear the burden
Make it light

I pray for courage
In the time
When suffering comes and
Starts to climb

I pray for courage
At the end
To see death coming
As a friend

i mean, it's leonard cohen, and it's the last leonard cohen book we're ever going to get, so even though i didn't breathlessly love every single poem, lyric, scrawled note-to-self he may have been planning to polish at a later date, it gets five stars for legacy.

this book covers a great chunk of time, and some of the early writing here does in fact become something else later in his career; there's even evidence of that occurring within this collection - echoes, phrases repurposed, the underghosts of familiar songs peeking out elsewhere.

if there had to be a farewell at all, this is a fitting one - the whole range of his writing is on display; all of his wit and erotic spirituality, his self-deprecation and his gratitude, his respect and his delight in the fluidity of language.

the book is almost like being at a memorial ceremony - there are humorous moments to stave off getting too gloomy or somber:

I sincerely hope
you have not
come to believe,
that simply because
you ran off & got
married behind
my back, you
are somehow
entitled to keep

my tape measure

***

GRATEFUL

The huge mauve jacaranda tree
down the street on South Tremaine
in full bloom
two stories high
It made me so happy
And then
the first cherries of the season
at the Palisades Farmers Market
Sunday morning
"What a blessing!"
I exclaimed to Anjani
And then the samples on waxed paper
of the banana cream cake
and the coconut cream cake
I am not a lover of pastry
but I recognized the genius of the baker
and touched my hat to her
A slight chill in the air
seemed to polish the sunlight
and confer the status of beauty
to every object I beheld
Faces bosoms fruits pickles green eggs
newborn babies
in clever expensive harnesses
I am so grateful
to my new anti-depressant

***
and also the gentle regret and wistfulness of remembrances:

We will be forgiven
the crummy things
we did to one another
because we
didn't enjoy them

We'll be leaving now
we'll be leaving
for a good long time
and we want to say goodnight
we want to say goodnight
we want to say farewell

We had a little love
we had it for a while
It wasn't quite enough
but thank you anyhow

Thank you for your kindness
in the field
and thank you for your kindness
in the room

The horses ran away
but we were not to blame
and when they
turned so beautiful
in their silver flight
it wasn't our idea
at least it wasn't mine

I want to be with other people
now I'm growing old
I want to be another drunk
who's given up the bottle
I want to watch the lonely men
who still go out with women
I want to see the bridal gown
cover up the sequins
This is my very night of nights
the past was a rehearsal

***

You must have heard it in my voice
the sound that I no longer love you
I would never disguise that sound
I would never do that to you
O shining one
you have moved beyond my love
you have turned your face to others
I was not strong enough for this test
I turned away
I wear an iron collar
and I give my chain to anyone
but I never pretend that they are you
O shining one
who held my spirit like a match
in your cupped hands
while I thought I was warming you
O shining one
who teaches with her absence

***

it's a beautiful collection, and so much better than the janked-up scansion and garbage word-salad passing itself off as poetry these days. oops, who said that?

also, i am choosing to believe, since there is precedence, that leonard cohen wrote this one about me. i refuse to be dissuaded from this belief, so don't send me any documentation about some "other" karen with whom leonard cohen had a more deep and abiding relationship than the one we had, or even that there is another karen in the world out there, if there is. i'm not hearing it LALALALALAAAAAAAA:

Karen's beauty is very great
it lies on her heart like a paperweight
She haunts the edges of her beauty
like a ghost on sentry duty
If beauty is the motherland
she lives on the furthest strand
Her back toward the capitol
that the pilgrims call so beautiful
She hears them make a joyous sound
but she cannot turn around
The lover's song and the victim's rack
they soar and creak behind her back
Through her beauty many pass
like penitents on broken glass
But once inside there is no cure
for hearts so wounded at the door

Trying to find a place to kneel
between the poets of pain
Trying to find a world to feel
that feels like the world again
My darling says her love is real
then why does she complain

***
there's not much more to say - if you like leonard cohen, you will like this book. if you don't like leonard cohen, i'm sorry you are such a broken person.

************************************

oooh, goodreads choice awards semifinalist for best poetry 2018! what will happen?

if lang leav wins over leonard cohen, i will burn down the world.

***********************************

a story that is one-half true

me when i did not win the goodreads giveaway for this book:

me when connor surprised me by having it shipped to my house the very same day:

one million ♥s

come to my blog!

...more

A true talent never dies.
Farewell 'My Secret Life', 'The Partisan', 'Nevermind'...

Christmas has come early this year for me. A postmortem edition of one of the most revered contemporary magicians of the word!

Choosing between reading and not reading this one is no choice at all! A must read and a must reread god knows how many times.

Q:
On rare occasions
The power was given me
To send waves of emotion
through the world. (c)
Q:
Let's say that on that lucky night
I found my house in order
and I could slip

A true talent never dies.
Farewell 'My Secret Life', 'The Partisan', 'Nevermind'...

Christmas has come early this year for me. A postmortem edition of one of the most revered contemporary magicians of the word!

Choosing between reading and not reading this one is no choice at all! A must read and a must reread god knows how many times.

Q:
On rare occasions
The power was given me
To send waves of emotion
through the world. (c)
Q:
Let's say that on that lucky night
I found my house in order
and I could slip away unseen
tho' burning with desire

Escaping down a secret stair
I cross into the forest
the night is dark but I am safe -
my house at last in order

But luck or not, I do it right
and no one sees me leaving
hidden, blind and secret night -
my heart the only beacon

But O the beacon lights my way
more surely than the sun,
And She is waiting for me here -
of all and all the only One ... (c)

Q:
And now that I kneel
At the edge of my years
Let me fall through the mirror of love

And the things that I know
Let them drift like the snow
Let me dwell in the light that's above

In the radiant light
Where there's day and there's night
And truth is the widest embrace

That includes what is lost
Includes what is found
What you write and what you erase... (c)

Q:
I was always working steady
But I never called it art
I was funding my depression
Meeting Jesus reading Marx ...

It was nothing, it was business
But it left an ugly mark
So I've come here to revisit
What happens to the heart (c)

Q:
My guitar stood up today
and leaped into my arms to play
a Spanish tune for dancers proud
to stamp their feet and cry aloud
against the fate that bends us down
beneath the thorny bloody crown
of sickness, age, and paranoid
delusions I, for one, cannot avoid (c)

...more

I don't want to greet
the morning light
with a night like this
in my heart soul
Have mercy on those shadows
that fall in love with shadows

The Observer wasn't kidding when it called Leonard Cohen 'the last word in love and despair'. This final collection from Cohen has an introduction written by his son Adam, who mentions that "In the last months of his life, despite severe physical limitations, Leonard Cohen made selections for what would be his final volume of poems."

There are three sections: The f

I don't want to greet
the morning light
with a night like this
in my heart soul
Have mercy on those shadows
that fall in love with shadows

There are three sections: The first has 63 poems, ranging from the sublime to the 'meh' to the so-odd-it-has-to-be-genius; the second features the poems that became lyrics from his remarkable last four albums; and the third is an eclectic selection of writings and doodlings from Cohen's notebooks.

In short, a great overview of his oeuvre, despite some odd repetitions. The least interesting section, for me, were the album poems, as any fan is quite familiar with the songs themselves. The strongest section is definitely the notebook entries, as it presents Cohen in a raw and unedited light that is tender and revealing.

...more

Feb 27, 2019 Dave Schaafsma rated it really liked it

". . . evidence of a burning soul. . ." Adam Cohen, about The Flame, the last writings of his father, Leonard Cohen

I have had Leonard Cohen's last (? Maybe they will dig up more?) collection of poetry/lyrics/notebook thoughts by my bedside for many weeks now. It's a beautiful book produced by Farrar, Strauss and Giroux, including sketches Cohen made of himself and many women he has known. Most of the poems are about love, written late, evidence of a great life (and love life) ended without regre

". . . evidence of a burning soul. . ." Adam Cohen, about The Flame, the last writings of his father, Leonard Cohen

The best Goodreads review is of course by Karen; check it out.

Of course, at the end, these pieces are not his very best writing, but if you love Cohen, you want to know his last will and testament, and I have enjoyed it. And included are the lyrics from his last albums, too. Though interiority has always been central for Cohen, he's mostly talking to himself in this book, with an awareness that we are reading over his shoulder, or after he is gone. Occasionally I pick up the book and read a poem or two. As with Dylan, he's less good on the page without his music. But his themes of love and death, sex and laughter and despair, they're all here, and I am glad I have it. I'll keep it close to me, to keep reading as I listen and learn.

There's some humor:

I sincerely hope
you have not
come to believe,
that simply because
you ran off & got
married behind
my back, you
are somehow
entitled to keep

my tape measure

And some insight:

And now that I kneel
At the edge of my years
Let me fall through the mirror of love

And the things that I know
Let them drift like the snow
Let me dwell in the light that's above

In the radiant light
Where there's day and there's night
And truth is the widest embrace

That includes what is lost
Includes what is found
What you write and what you erase.

Here's a complete one:

Antique Song

Too old, too old to play the part,
Too old, God only knows!
I'll keep the little silver heart,
The red and folded rose.
And in the arms of someone strong
You'll have what we had none.
I'll finish up my winter song
For you. It's almost done.
But oh! the kisses that we kissed,
That swept me to the shore
Of seas where hardly I exist,
Except to kiss you more.
I have the little silver heart,
The red and folded rose.
The one you gave me at the start.
The other at the close.
He waited for you all night long.
Go run to him, go run.
I'll finish up my winter song,
For you. It's almost done.

A couple of his lovelier songs, though you would do well to listen to several of them:

Bird on a Wire:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K8fT7...

Joan of Arc:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPf5K...

...more

Jan 01, 2019 Julie rated it it was amazing

You came to me
You wear your widow clothes
I ask who are you mourning for
you say, The man you were before
The man you were before
I loved you
I remember him

Didn't he live
on an island in
the Mediterranean sea
with a mandate from God
to enter the dark

~~~~~
"... we're busted in the blinding lights of Closing Time."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0lV...

~~~~~
"... we're busted in the blinding lights of Closing Time."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-0lV...

...more

Oct 24, 2018 Alex O'Brien rated it really liked it

As a big Leonard Cohen fan, I loved this collection of poems, lyrics, notes, and drawings. When you love an artist and their work this much, it can be hard to be objective-you end up treasuring every little glimpse into the author's life and work, especially after they have passed.

The Flame is a generous collection filled with many poems, the lyrics to his last four albums, and extensive notes from his journals including many revealing passages from throughout his long career. His poem about Kanye West, 'Kanye West is Not Picasso,' was very entertaining. Like one writer at Slate.com, I think the poem is a tribute, not a diss; it is Leonard having fun with the nature of egos in rap and poetry, both his own and Kanye's.

It was wonderful to hear Leonard's voice again, and a pleasure to revisit the lyrics to his later period masterpieces: 'Old Ideas,' 'Popular Problems,' and 'You Want it Darker.' This book was a lot of fun.

...more

Feb 13, 2020 Janet rated it it was amazing

The memorable last collection of poetry from Leonard Cohen, who began life as a poet and continued to his last breath. The book is divided into enigmatic sections only he would understand: 'Poems' including subsections titled 'Old Ideas', 'Popular Problems', 'You Want it Darker'--the names of his final three albums-- and 'Leonard and Peter,' a poet's exchange of a verse argument in texts; 'Lyrics' and 'Selections from the Notebooks'... which are also poems. Dozens of self-portraits and drawings The memorable last collection of poetry from Leonard Cohen, who began life as a poet and continued to his last breath. The book is divided into enigmatic sections only he would understand: 'Poems' including subsections titled 'Old Ideas', 'Popular Problems', 'You Want it Darker'--the names of his final three albums-- and 'Leonard and Peter,' a poet's exchange of a verse argument in texts; 'Lyrics' and 'Selections from the Notebooks'... which are also poems. Dozens of self-portraits and drawings of women accompany it all.

In the forward to this big, varied collection, his son Adam said that the writing of these poems and the collecting of the book occupied the last years of Cohen's life. In the end, "Writing was his reason for being," As for the title, he said. "There are many themes and words that repeat throughout my father's work: frozen, broken, naked, fire and flame."

Of course, flame. Flame is desire, the spirit within the matter, that's what Cohen is all about--the human moment, inspiration, yearning, also the flame that goes out...

I fell in love with L.Cohen listening to his first album, that dark poetry, and on the album cover a woman in chains in the flames, reaching heavenwards... that fire, burning within it, reaching up to God, a woman of course--Cohen is nothing if not one of the great romantics... the anima in the flames. That intensity and beauty, fire, darkness and light, man's brokenness and desire, the presence of God which he spelled G-d in the sanctity of the name, his gratitude for the love of women, the Sisters of Mercy, admittedly often undeserved. The sense of being undeserving of the richness of the world. His bitterness and darkness is here too, as it's a portrait of a man racked and torn between the two poles of being--love's rapture and loss, a world both beautiful and fiendish, both of which are God. It's all here. All of it.

The poems are not uniformly fine, and none, I think, is great all the way through like the verse of Sexton or Plath or Eliot, but there are stanzas and lines that grip you that hard, as hard as any L. Cohen song. What a treasurehouse! The poems tend to short, rhythmic lines and often with echoes of rhyme., of love and despair, honest, self-aware, loss and departures, the brutal sweetness of existence. Here's just a small example, from the middle of a long poem called Never Mind:

"...The High Indifference
Some call Fate
But we had Names
More intimate

Names so deep
and Names so true
They're blood to me
They're dust to you

There is no need
That this survive
There's truth that lives
There's truth that dies.

Never mind
Never mind
I live the life
I left behind..."

I hear his voice in every poem, often there's the rhythmic echo of "Take this Waltz' 'this waltz, this waltz, this waltz, this waltz...' it's stuck in my head. "Thanks for the Dance"--one of Cohen's wonderful late songs--could well be another title for the book--rueful, grateful, an edge of loss...

At the end, the editors have appended Cohen's speech when he received the Prince of Asturias prize from Spain, where he talks about Lorca having been his muse:

"As I grew older, I understood that instructions came with this voice... the instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat [wow!] that awaits us all, it must be done with in the strict confines of beauty and dignity."

What a fabulous gift (Valentine's?) for the romantic and the lover of the music of L.Cohen--Venn diagrams which intersect almost perfectly.

...more

Oct 12, 2018 Barbara H marked it as to-read

A few days ago, I heard an interview on NPR with Adam Cohen, Leonard Cohen's son. It was a tender, loving picture of his father, filled with admiration. Although I am not usually attracted to poetry, Cohen's music and poetry have always held an appeal for me. I look forward to reading this book. A few days ago, I heard an interview on NPR with Adam Cohen, Leonard Cohen's son. It was a tender, loving picture of his father, filled with admiration. Although I am not usually attracted to poetry, Cohen's music and poetry have always held an appeal for me. I look forward to reading this book. ...more

Aug 23, 2018 Nancy rated it really liked it

In the last days of his life, Leonard Cohen prepared his last book, gathering drawings, unpublished material, and the lyrics from his last albums. He was a man who knew he was in his last days and an artist who needed to send out one last envoy to the world. That book has been published as The Flame.

The image on the cover is the burning bush, a green tree surrounded by fire and yet is not burned by the flames. Cohen's "flame burned bright within him to the very end," said Robert Kory, manager an

The image on the cover is the burning bush, a green tree surrounded by fire and yet is not burned by the flames. Cohen's "flame burned bright within him to the very end," said Robert Kory, manager and trustee of the Cohen estate, "this book, finished only days before his death, reveals the intensity of his inner fire to all."

One of the first record albums I bought as an early teen was The Songs of Leonard Cohen. I later bought the songbook. I grew up listening to those songs, singing those songs, strumming chords on my guitar. When an ARC of Cohen's final book The Flame arrived I downloaded the digital album and revisited those songs while opening the book to read.

As I worked my way through the book I researched Cohen's life and work online. I discovered the poets who he admired and influenced him, including Frederico Garcia Lorca; Cohen even named his daughter Lorca.

The drawings are primarily self-portraits, his face deeply creased and intense, and of women, spiritual imagery, and a few still lifes. Facsimiles of his manuscripts are also included.

The selections are confessional, addressing his personal struggles with depression, relationships, and spiritual meaning. Rhythm is more important than rhyme. The imagery is very personal, arcane, but also with references to Biblical stories and Jewish history.

The message I gather is this: When love fails to save us and faith fails to bring grace, and the world has become merciless, music and poetry become acts of resistance rebellion. The creative urge engenders the flame that can not be quenched or dimmed by the world.

I received an ARC from the publisher through a Goodreads giveaway.

...more

Sep 13, 2018 Kasa Cotugno rated it it was amazing

This book of poems and sketches was the last thing Leonard Cohen was working on prior to his death in 2016. His prolific output continued throughout his life, and he was forever sketching and jotting ideas down. It is really uncertain whether or not he had a book in mind -- some of the poems are dated much earlier, but they carry his trademark rhythms and I enjoyed envisioning him reading them with his world weary but warm and distinctive style. Several even made me laugh out loud (particularly This book of poems and sketches was the last thing Leonard Cohen was working on prior to his death in 2016. His prolific output continued throughout his life, and he was forever sketching and jotting ideas down. It is really uncertain whether or not he had a book in mind -- some of the poems are dated much earlier, but they carry his trademark rhythms and I enjoyed envisioning him reading them with his world weary but warm and distinctive style. Several even made me laugh out loud (particularly when he takes a swipe at the vainglorious Kanye West), but several others brought tears ("I loved your face, I loved your hair/Your T-shirts and your eveningwear." "Now the angel's got a fiddle And the devil's got a harp. Every soul is like a minnow. Every mind is like a shark." and my favorite of all: SICILY CAFE, written in 2007, in which he encompasses his themes of regret and the elusiveness of memory.) Most of the sketches are of his most dependable model, himself. I met a woman once who had written a biography of him and had been granted access over a period of years. She said he continued creating even while they were just chatting, and that he loved to cook for people. Loved food, its preparation, presentation, and sharing. Several poems address this topic. Thanks to his sons who compiled these materials and allowed us to enjoy his company once again. ...more

Oct 04, 2018 Kent Winward rated it it was amazing

Poems, lyrics, emails, drawings, and notebook entries from the incomparable Leonard Cohen. I read the book and was hit by the joint feeling of meeting with an old friend and a strong sense of loss -- or maybe it felt more like this:

I caught the darkness, it was drinking from your cup
I caught the darkness, drinking from your cup
I said is this contagious?
You said just drink it up.

I caught the darkness
Drinking from your cup
I said: Is this contagious?
You said: Just drink it up

In June 2016, a new poem by Leonard Cohen was quietly published in The New Yorker. In fact, the poem was almost buried - I'd read the article and had the copy for about a month, I only found it because I was flipping through old(ish) magazines out of boredom. It was a gem, and a small joy to discover. It was titled Steer Your Way and it's reprinted here.

"Steer your way through the ruins of the Altar and the Mall
steer your way through the fables of Creation and the Fall
steer your way past t

"Steer your way through the ruins of the Altar and the Mall
steer your way through the fables of Creation and the Fall
steer your way past the Palaces that rise above the rot...

Here Cohen juxtaposes the sacred and the commercial, the eternal and the temporal. He chooses to capitalize both the words "Altar" and "Mall" suggesting that the narrator (probably sarcastically) considers them on the same level, each worthy of the same reverence. All of course, is not well by the time we reach the third verse - We pull back and see the palaces of the rich that "rise above the rot" the slums, the ghettos. Something has went terribly wrong in our consumerist society, causing most everything to rot, to decay. The coup de grâce comes later in the poem, when he references what was one of the most popular civil war songs among the Union soldiers, John Brown's body, which, in itself, references Christ

"As He died to make men holy, let us die to make men free."

It's a beautiful and powerful line, but Cohen replaces the value of making men free with the value of making things cheap,

As he died to make men holy, let us die to make things cheap"

essentially perverting and updating the line for our modern consumerist society while rendering "our" death essentially useless; The idealized sacrifice of today is not for mankind, but for production. Not exactly as lofty or noble as setting men free.

Though this collection contains the lyrics from Cohen's last three records, the vast majority of material here has never appeared in print (or on tape) before. The author is able to reach (contented) heights and (miserable) lows. He oscillates between between warmth and anger, between total devotion to God (rendered here, as in his other books, as "G-d") and frustration that God has abandoned him in his time of need

"...And we who cried for mercy
from the bottom of the pit
was our prayer so damn unworthy
that the Son rejected it?"

It's a reoccurring motif in these poems and it's a struggle many people who are intensely devoted to a faith are forced to confront in the wake of tragedies, be they personal or global. It isn't easy.

Cohen's wry humor is on his display in many pieces, my favorite among them being "KANYE WEST IS NOT PICASSO" the whole poem is a great parody of egomania, and as the English say, it takes the piss out of Kanye and to a certain extent, Cohen himself. Still, if I had to pick a favorite line from this one it would have to be

" I Am the Kanye West Kanye West thinks he is."

True.

Even when he confronts his impending death, he usually does it with a grim smile, as in the poem "I Think I'll Blame"

"I think I'll blame
my death on you
but I don't know you
well enough
if I did
we'd be married now."

We occasionally see him in moments of desperation, where he addresses his mortality with the seriousness you'd expect from a dying man. He also ruminates on pining for women from the past, or candidly talks about medication, infected teeth, or his legacy Consider "If I Took A Pill"

If I took a pill
I'd feel so much better
I'd write you a poem
that sounds like a letter
...
I'm trying to finish
my shabby career
with a little truth
in the now and here."

The section last section, "Selections from the notebooks" comprises the bulk of the book. I initially feared the worst about this section - That it would be raided bits from his journals he never intended anyone to read, or perhaps some fragments of poem that were ultimately left unfinished. Thankfully, that's not what this is. Nevertheless, it's not surprising that these poems aren't as polished as the ones that came in the pages before them, nor are they titled. Despite the obvious flaws, there are a great many gems here. One of the most powerful pieces, certainly in this section and perhaps in the entire book, reads, in part:

"I was second to none
but I was never best
I was old and broke
so I could not rest
You can call it luck
be it good or bad
but you don't give up
when your heart is dead."

Or consider this, from perhaps the rawest poem he ever wrote:

...And what did you do
with my god
and my church
and my car
and my dick
was I supposed
to like
living on my fucking knees?"

From context, we can see that he's addressing his ex-wife. Regardless, goddamn.
There are many more poems, poems about aging, love, falling out of love, the author's children, Dylan stealing his girl back in the sixties, farmers markets, making and writing music, dying, worship, blasphemy, hate, warmth, sin, "G-d," depression, medication - What makes this collection a five star book in my opinion is that Cohen is able to take all these seemingly incongruous feelings and themes and weave them into relatable, beautiful and accessible poems that make logical and emotional sense. It's a task he often attempted to tackle throughout his career, but it's here in his final work that he succeeds the most at it, making it a perfect capstone for his career, a logical end, a book to which the others had been building.

You owe it to yourself to read this one, you won't regret it.

...more

The Flame is an appropriate title for this book because it describes Leonard's passion for writing and art. There are lyrics to some of his songs that I enjoy. There is a song entitled "Half The Perfect World". It is a beautiful love song that I've enjoyed for years, but I never paid attention to the words until I read them in this book. I also love the song entitled "Nightingale". This is a kind of song that makes me appreciate the physical beauty of nature. I also enjoy looking at his self por The Flame is an appropriate title for this book because it describes Leonard's passion for writing and art. There are lyrics to some of his songs that I enjoy. There is a song entitled "Half The Perfect World". It is a beautiful love song that I've enjoyed for years, but I never paid attention to the words until I read them in this book. I also love the song entitled "Nightingale". This is a kind of song that makes me appreciate the physical beauty of nature. I also enjoy looking at his self portraits in this book. I did not know that Leonard also wrote poetry. I love his poem entitled "I Pray For Courage" because it reminds me to approach death without fear and with dignity and grace. I also love the poem "Flying Over Iceland". I love to visit Iceland to eat lobster and look at beautiful people like Leonard did. I also enjoy the poem entitled "Winter on Mount Baldy". I learned this mountain is very close to where my family lives in San Gabriel in California. I have never seen snow where my family lives, and I would like to see it. The poetry of Leonard Cohen is both visual and heartfelt. I love his poems and everything about this book. ...more

Mar 04, 2020 Ellie rated it really liked it

If you're a Leonard Cohen fan (is there anyone here who isn't?), then this is an essential read. Of course, if you are, I'm sure you already have or on your way to so doing.

This is a collection of poems, lyrics and notebooks. It is illustrated with little pen and ink drawing Cohen did, mostly of himself, that are moving in their own way.

The lyrics are unfinished and so not complete in the way his published work is but there are all his themes present: love, self-loathing, hope, faith, his Jewis

If you're a Leonard Cohen fan (is there anyone here who isn't?), then this is an essential read. Of course, if you are, I'm sure you already have or on your way to so doing.

This is a collection of poems, lyrics and notebooks. It is illustrated with little pen and ink drawing Cohen did, mostly of himself, that are moving in their own way.

The lyrics are unfinished and so not complete in the way his published work is but there are all his themes present: love, self-loathing, hope, faith, his Jewish faith as well as his Buddhist background. There are many lyrics touching on despair and darkness as well.

For those of us still mourning his death, this book provides comfort and a glimpse into his mind and the beginnings that his great songs came from.

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Dec 01, 2019 J.C. rated it really liked it

I have dipped in and out of two collections of Leonard Cohen's poems and songs over the last year or so, one from his youth and this one from his age. I have really struggled to start reviewing them. I wondered how to treat them separately when I really wanted to think about them together. So the earlier collection, entitled simply "Leonard Cohen" has influenced my comments on this book.
The first section of "The Flame" contains poems previously unpublished, some honed over decades, and Section 2 I have dipped in and out of two collections of Leonard Cohen's poems and songs over the last year or so, one from his youth and this one from his age. I have really struggled to start reviewing them. I wondered how to treat them separately when I really wanted to think about them together. So the earlier collection, entitled simply "Leonard Cohen" has influenced my comments on this book.
The first section of "The Flame" contains poems previously unpublished, some honed over decades, and Section 2 presents lyrics that became songs for Cohen's last four albums. I find myself wanting to write this review backwards, because Section 3, which opens weakly and ends strongly, seems to sum up what I want to say. Random jottings from Cohen's notebooks, some selected by others after his death, and some, as far as I was concerned, not worthy of inclusion, lead to the magnificent final line, where Cohen sees himself as a man "with a mandate from God to enter the dark". The closing piece is Cohen's acceptance address for the Prince of Asturias Award. In the speech he takes us right back to his beginnings as a poet, describing the "voice" of the poet Lorca, who was his greatest influence:
"The instructions were never to lament casually. And if one is to express the great inevitable defeat that awaits us all, it must be done within the strict confines of dignity and beauty."
The paradox of Cohen seems at first to be that he achieves this dignity and this beauty against the bulwark of what I want to call the naked side of his writing, the black humour, the grossness, the lack of compromise and the enormous self-absorption that fuel the passion of his writing. In "The Flame" the cascades of lightning sketches of pen-and-ink self-portraits force us to look at the man behind the writings, and serve to harmonise the gross with the sublime. The drawings are often annotated, as in this example:
"Just because we can't see straight need not stop us from plunging forward".
It is as if the "dignity and beauty" are drawn out of him with a scalpel. Their face is his pain. His face in the drawings has been etched from sacrifice, from raw engagement with the darkest of personal tribulation, with a scoring upon the heart, with the tread into despair. The poems (apparently all the songs began as poems) blast out with the power of his raw honesty and unashamed passion. In the earlier collection particularly, I was taken up into the haunting songs, "Suzanne", "Bird on the Wire", "So Long, Marianne", "Hallelujah", and so on, even without the sensual power of his voice; but I was stunned by the presence, frequency and force of his incisive religious poetry, of which I knew nothing. The best ones are too long to quote here, but try finding "Isaiah", "Prayer for Messiah" or "Hallelujah". Thanks to my GR friend Ian for pointing me to the recording of "Hallelujah" live in London.
"It's a cold and it's a broken Hallelujah . . . .".
Right to the end of "The Flame", this bursting through the limits of a religious construct emerges, even in what looks like momentary scribbling. This was written at Frankfurt Airport in 2002:
"I'd like to pray
five times a day
in fact I do
I'd like to live
as though G-d lived
through me and you
in fact I do".
The 'G-d' is an inheritance from his Jewish faith, where the name of the Deity is avoided. Other than that, there is no reticence in his challenge to The Almighty, as in the incredible "You want it darker":
"Magnified and sanctified
Be Thy Holy Name
Vilified and crucified
In the human frame
A million candles burning
For the love that never came
You want it darker
We kill the flame

If you are the dealer
I'm out of the game
If you are the healer
I'm broken and lame
If thine is the glory
Then mine must be the shame
You want it darker
We kill the flame"
After this sublimity I felt it was a shame that some of the jottings from the notebooks illuminated no more than an old man's fixation on carnality, or on the trailing dust of his personal life. However his lurch into the frailties of age serves to vindicate this work of abrasive self-destruction, poetic genius and searing vision. For me he could be a modern incarnation of a earlier poet and spiritual warrior:
"like David bent down
On his bed of all despair
I come to you now
I call out your name
I ask to be done
With this darkness of love
With this burden of heart
With this shame
That the heart cannot bear."
I'll end with a quotation from a prose description in the earlier collection I mentioned above. The piece is entitled, "What is a saint?". The lines below might almost have referred to himself:
"Far from flying with the angels, he traces with the fidelity of a seismograph needle the state of the solid bloody landscape . . . It is good to have amongst us such men, such balancing monsters of love."
I say "almost" because his agony is personal, not what we might regard as of the saints. His self-absorbed and self-motivated love is dominant. However, when he come to the expression of "agape", the Greek word for the selfless love of others, he takes it to himself, and transforms it into something intensely personal. Perhaps it is in this that we can identify his paradox, and his genius.

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Dec 11, 2018 Ian Carpenter rated it really liked it

Absolutely loved the poems (one third of the book). Didn't care much about the songs and the notebook selections lost me for the most part. But the poems - incredible. Absolutely loved the poems (one third of the book). Didn't care much about the songs and the notebook selections lost me for the most part. But the poems - incredible. ...more

I'm rating this book four stars for the first half of poetry alone. A lot of people close to me are not a fan of Cohen's music and tried to talk me out of reading The Flame altogether. Well, I didn't listen to them. The poem I loved the most was a simple one called Banjo, talking about seeing that musical instrument floating out at sea and having the urge to grab it. Towards the end, I did start to feel a little disconnected from the writing style. The illustrations throughout added a visual tou I'm rating this book four stars for the first half of poetry alone. A lot of people close to me are not a fan of Cohen's music and tried to talk me out of reading The Flame altogether. Well, I didn't listen to them. The poem I loved the most was a simple one called Banjo, talking about seeing that musical instrument floating out at sea and having the urge to grab it. Towards the end, I did start to feel a little disconnected from the writing style. The illustrations throughout added a visual touch to the lyrical and poetic writing! ...more

I am the light of
my generation
and the radio
and the refrigerator

I loved the Prince of Asturias Award speech, the drawings, and some of the narrations (Michael Shannon is phenomenal); but I would be lying if I said this book was an addition of much importance to the published works of Leonard Cohen, as the proportion of genuinely unseen material it contained would hardly amass to 40% of the book.

In the prison of the gifted
I was friendly with the guard
So I never had to witness
What happens to the heart

Apr 17, 2019 Terence rated it it was ok

The Ex introduced me to Leonard Cohen a bit over 20 years ago when she let me read her copy of Beautiful Losers. I enjoyed that novel but wasn't so moved by it that I actively sought out more of his work, either his writings or his songs (though I too liked what snatches I heard of the latter). As happens, though, serendipity puts things in my hands like the current volume, which I discovered on the New shelf at my library.

After reading The Flame, I'm still in the "I like his stuff but not enoug

After reading The Flame, I'm still in the "I like his stuff but not enough to be enthusiastic about it" camp. Little in this posthumous collection of poetry, lyrics and fragments grabbed me and I can't give it more than two stars – it was OK. Probably more for the true Cohen fan than someone like me.

There were some three+ star passages that did speak to me, and it's that material that keeps me interested in reading more Cohen if, like this book, it happens to fall into my lap.

Some examples:

"The Indian Girl"
…she took me in one of her last embraces, because she saw how simple I would be to comfort, and I was so grateful to be numbered among her last generous activities on this earth. And I went back to my wife, my young wife, the one who would never thaw, who would bear me children, who would hate me for one good reason or another all the days of her life….

"You Want to Strike Back and You Can't"
You want to strike back and you can't
And you want to help but you can't…

And you're not leading your life
You're leading someone else's life
Someone you don't know or like
And it's ending soon
And it's too late to begin again
Armed with what you know now…

And you can't explain anymore
And you can't dig in
Because the surface is like steel
And all your fine emotions
Your subtle insights
Your famous understanding
Evaporate into stunning
… irrelevance….

"Doesn't Matter"
it doesn't matter darling,
it really doesn't matter,
and i don't say
it doesn't matter,
in order to hurt you into feeling:
that it DOES MATTER
that it REALLY DOES MATTER
not at all,
not at all….

"The Mist"
As the mist leaves no scar
On the dark green hill
So my body leaves no scar
On you, nor ever will

When wind and hawk encounter
What remains to keep?
So you and I encounter
Then turn then fall to sleep

As many nights endure
Without a moon or star
So will we endure
When one is gone and far

"—"
everything will come back
in the wrong light
completely misunderstood
and I will be seen
as the man
I devoted much of my life
to not being

"—" (reminds me of Carl Sandburg's "The Fog")

out of the night
the trees step forward
a solitary bird
sharpens its song
on the stone-grey dawn

"—"
You must have heard it in my voice
the sound that I no longer love you
I would never disguise that sound
I would never do that to you
O shining one
you have moved beyond my love
you have turned your face to others
I was not strong enough for this test
I turned away
I wear an iron collar
and I give my chain to anyone
but I never pretend that they are you
O shining one
who held my spirit like a match
in you cupped hands
while I thought I was warming you
O shining one
who teaches with her absence

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There's a slight urge to give this a fourth star out of sentimentality, but it's best to refrain. Though there is a fair amount of material from his final decade following 'Book of Longing' (2006), one wonders if his last great poetic works were in fact collected there, and what's left was to serve as the bulk of this final assemblage which seems to reflect the most simplistic decades in his discography (post-The Future, 1992 and pre-Old Ideas, 2012). There is little to engage with on any deep l There's a slight urge to give this a fourth star out of sentimentality, but it's best to refrain. Though there is a fair amount of material from his final decade following 'Book of Longing' (2006), one wonders if his last great poetic works were in fact collected there, and what's left was to serve as the bulk of this final assemblage which seems to reflect the most simplistic decades in his discography (post-The Future, 1992 and pre-Old Ideas, 2012). There is little to engage with on any deep level, much as Ten New Songs and (especially) Dear Heather, both from the era in question, are the most adult-contemporary and flat-out basic "mom-music" albums of his career.

What 'The Flame' does highlight, however, is how strong the songwriting is on Old Ideas - his best album in over 20 years - and how the album that followed, Popular Problems, wasn't only plagued by the gratingly repetitive nature of the backing singers doing a call and response to what feels like every line in every song, nor was it the overall song structure / production in general that made it one of his weakest albums, but it's the lyrics themselves that indeed leave a lot to be desired. There's almost nothing there when you look at the words on paper, shadowed and sandwiched between the incredible words on Old Ideas and the worthy final effort, You Want It Darker, which elevate those albums (especially the former) to where they deserve to be (along side some of his greatest works).

I will never deny the potency of his lyrics - sometimes it's hard to listen to Songs from a Room, and Songs of Love and Hate is devastating in its own right, not to mention so much of what came after - and the themes present throughout his works remained right until the end, but sometimes people just get to growing old and begin looking for simpler pleasures and simpler despairs, and relating those pleasures and despairs in simpler ways that may best be appreciated by those of a similar age, while those of us still very far behind are still searching for that which is most evocative.

The penultimate section, 'Selections from the Notebooks', boasts some great unfinished poems that upon first reading felt more potent than the majority of what Cohen had actually completed and selected for inclusion in this volume. Closing out the book is the incredible tale of what became the foundation of his life's work in song.

It's nice to have a final word, both in book and in song, and it's pleasing to know that he was able to (mostly) complete everything himself before the end. Living in Montreal he's still always within some sort of reach, and there will undoubtedly be many more trips past his old front porch and visits to his grave site.

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via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
"So I've come here to revisit

What happens to the heart"

via my blog: https://bookstalkerblog.wordpress.com/
"So I've come here to revisit

What happens to the heart"

The Flame is Leonard Cohen's final work, a collection of poems, musings from his personal notebook, self-potraits intimately drawn by his own hand and more. It's a walk through Cohen's mind and heart, writing until his final breath, because those who make magic out of their words rely on them to make sense of this human experience. Cohen's revelations were always in his poems, lyrics more than in any private diary. When your heart leans towards poetry, you take every emotion and release it to a rhythm of your own. Cohen doesn't need any flames fanned from lil' old me, he has his following already, and each generation discovers him for themselves.

I wonder what would have become songs, had he been able to stick around with the rest of us a bit longer. Creative minds never cease as they reach the end, always self-aware, wide awake and being awake in this sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful world is bittersweet. I find myself with different emotions with each page, this tickled me, for oh so many reasons.

"If there were no paintings in the world,

Mine would be very important.

Same with my songs.

Since this is not the case, let us make haste to get in line,

Well toward the back."

Oh Leonard, you were never toward the back and your songs are lovely.

For fans and anyone that likes to take the time to ponder life and love. This is what is left of Cohen's remaining days, with his burning need to always scratch the surface of his innermost thoughts and understand the world around him.

Publication Date: Out tomorrow October 2, 2018

Farrar, Straus and Giroux

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After taking my time with The Flame by Leonard Cohen, I am officially finished and inevitably left with a sense of disquiet, of inquietude. I can't even begin to describe how Cohen - as a musician and a writer - moves me. His inimitable voice and his world of suffering and sensuality feel like a temple to me.

The Flame, published in 2018, is the final work from Leonard Cohen. This book features poems, excerpts from his private notebooks, lyrics and hand-drawn self-portraits, presenting itself lik

The Flame, published in 2018, is the final work from Leonard Cohen. This book features poems, excerpts from his private notebooks, lyrics and hand-drawn self-portraits, presenting itself like an entryway to this man's soul. If I could choose just one word to describe this book, it would be loss. Aging, love, darkness, death are crucial themes but loss is the leitmotif, in my opinion. One of the things I have always loved about Cohen is how complex and utterly conflicted he appeared to be. That made him honest and tangible. The Flame clearly portrays that.

There are some memorable lines in this book like one could expect. Cohen was a genius. I highly recommend this book whether you're a fan of the artist or not! Because if you're not familiar with his art, prepare yourself because you are about to collide with his unique sight.

For more reviews, follow me on Instagram: @booksturnyouon

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I wanted to like this more as I am a huge fan of Cohen's music, and seeing him live was one of the musical highlights of my life. But poetry is such a personal thing - even more than literature, where tastes vary significantly - poetry that one person loves is not like by another. This book has a few gems, but overall I could not really get into the poems. They did not move me in the way his music does - although some have the natural rhythm of music. But as I say, poetry is personal and this ma I wanted to like this more as I am a huge fan of Cohen's music, and seeing him live was one of the musical highlights of my life. But poetry is such a personal thing - even more than literature, where tastes vary significantly - poetry that one person loves is not like by another. This book has a few gems, but overall I could not really get into the poems. They did not move me in the way his music does - although some have the natural rhythm of music. But as I say, poetry is personal and this may work for you. ...more

Nov 17, 2018 Una Tiers rated it it was amazing

It was two years before his death that I was introduced to the music of Leonard Cohen at St. James Cathedral in Chicago, IL. Hallelujah reverberated for me. A kind soul taped it on You tube and I tracked the artist. Until I saw this book, I didn't know about his poetry.
It was powerful and I recommend you hear it on audio, there are several readers, guaranteed to please. It was two years before his death that I was introduced to the music of Leonard Cohen at St. James Cathedral in Chicago, IL. Hallelujah reverberated for me. A kind soul taped it on You tube and I tracked the artist. Until I saw this book, I didn't know about his poetry.
It was powerful and I recommend you hear it on audio, there are several readers, guaranteed to please. ...more

Aug 24, 2018 John rated it liked it

First I want to thank Goodreads and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for the opportunity to read a galley version of the book. As such this review is based on the galley and may change once the final book is released.

The book is broken into four sections and so is my review.

The Poems.
I have loved Mr. Cohen's voice for many years and in this his last collection it remains strong. Do not expect any ground breaking discovery, but instead a voice that is strong and confident. 4.5

The Lyrics.
Included in the b

The book is broken into four sections and so is my review.

The Lyrics.
Included in the book are the lyrics from his last three albums. Yes I love his music and the lyrics are integral to them. That being said I expect liner notes in the albums packaging not in a book of poetry. 2

The Notebooks,
I found this section both exhilarating and frustrating. Many of the poems are just a few lines showing the potential of what could be. They give an insight into how Mr. Cohen works. Others seem to ramble as they are just a first draft. This leads to another problem with the section. Most of the selections are untitled and in the Galley they are separated by asterisks. This by itself is not problematic until you get to the end of the page. Because they are not used consistently it becomes problematic when reading to understand when one poem ends and the other begins. Another piece that is used sporadically is that a few of the poems are shown with a copy of the original notebook pages. Personally I find this a wonderful concept because not only do you get the words but you can see how Mr. Cohen actually works in his notebooks. I wish this was done more frequently in the book. 3

Drawings.
The drawings are interspersed throughout the book and instead of becoming a focal point they are more of a distraction. I am hoping this is because it is a galley proof I have and not the final book. All of the images are greyscale and low resolution. The paper used in the galley is a lower quality, great for paperback reading, not so much for graphics. The result is that most images are muddy and the text with them hard to read.

Overall I loved the book. In many ways it is a fitting swan song for a poet I have loved for many years. As with any collection it has its highs and lows. I hope in the final editing it becomes a stronger collection. Personally I can't wait for it to come out and will update my review accordingly.

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Aug 30, 2018 Eli rated it really liked it

(I received this book for free through this site's giveaway program)

Very briefly, here are some pros and cons with this book.

Pros:
-Leonard Cohen! If you like him at all, you might as well pick this up. I dunno how much insight it gives into his life or anything like that - there are far more "poems" than "notebooks" - but, y'know, Leonard Cohen.

-As a writer myself, it's very helpful to see another writer's process laid out in print. This is a tremendous rarity, especially for someone as skilled

(I received this book for free through this site's giveaway program)

Very briefly, here are some pros and cons with this book.

-As a writer myself, it's very helpful to see another writer's process laid out in print. This is a tremendous rarity, especially for someone as skilled as Cohen. It takes a little while to suss out exactly what you're seeing sometimes, but, once you do, it's pretty cool.

Cons:
-After a while, you kinda get tired of iambic meter. I mean, again, Cohen is a damned good writer, but still - duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH duh DUH........

-My biggest complaint about the book is that it doesn't do much to contextualize or frame his writings. They're pretty much presented in the raw. Just speaking personally, I would've liked even just a little bit of background biographical information ("When Cohen wrote these poems, he was...") or some thematic groupings or really having any coherent pattern to what I was reading. That, to me, is a responsibility of anybody who's going to publish something like this book, and I think that the editors abdicated that responsibility.

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Still and all, though, I found this to be a valuable and fun read, and I'd recommend it to any of Cohen's fans.

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Leonard Norman Cohen was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. Cohen published his first book of poetry in Montreal in 1956 and his first novel in 1963.

Cohen's earliest songs (many of which appeared on the 1968 album Songs of Leonard Cohen) were rooted in European folk music melodies and instrumentation, sung in a high baritone. The 1970s were a musically restless period in which his influences broadened to encompass pop, cabaret, and world music. Since the 1980s he has typically sung in lower registers (bass baritone, sometimes bass), with accompaniment from electronic synthesizers and female backing singers.

His work often explores the themes of religion, isolation, sexuality, and complex interpersonal relationships.

Cohen's songs and poetry have influenced many other singer-songwriters, and more than a thousand renditions of his work have been recorded. He has been inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame and the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame and is also a Companion of the Order of Canada, the nation's highest civilian honour. Cohen was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 10, 2008 for his status among the "highest and most influential echelon of songwriters".

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