Leonard Cohen's Book Of Longing -- Reviewed By a Teen For teens

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Book of Longing by Leonard Cohen - a book review by Alix

September 30, 2011

Cohen, Leonard. Book of Longing. New York: Harper Collins, 2006. Print.

Book of Longing is a collection of poems by Canadian poet, novelist, and singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen.There are a total of 167 poems that had never been seen before, most of them being written during his time as a monk on Mount Baldy or from his stay in India. Some of the poems that are in the book have been turned into lyrics for the albums Ten New Songs (2001) and Dear Heather (2004). Even though Cohen does not follow a certain form and his style varies quite often, his poems were all very similar in small ways. He doesn’t stay strictly with short poems (some being only two lines) and has long ones as well (some being two pages). The topics that his poems deal with are slightly controversial, some dealing with sex and drugs, but there are some which are amusing (Butter Dish).

I would give Book of Longing a rating of five stars out of five. It is an excellent collection of poetry; it’s very well written and contains humor as well as more serious matter. It won’t be hard to pick at least one poem out of the 167 that is interesting in one way or another.
The mp3 of the full interview, from a teen's perspective is quite charming. 
Host: How did you encounter Leonard Cohen?  
Alix: I was really little, my mom actually listened to a lot of his songs which are amazing and I just stuck with him

3 comments:

  1. Very sweet and honest young voice.
    Thanks, Arlene.

    ~ Lizzy

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  2. I agree, Lizzy. I really enjoyed this teen's personal perspective. It was very refreshing.

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  3. This is a lovely find and proof (as if we needed it) of the power of LC's poetry and songs, regardless of age of the listener.

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