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 | | Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs by Leonard Cohen ISBN-10: 9780679755418 ISBN-10: 0-679-75541-1 ISBN-13: 9780679755418 ISBN-13: 978-0-679-75541-8 Paperback 1994-11-01 Vintage Find Lowest Price |
Editorials | ||
Product Description For the first time in paperback--the selected work of the legendary singer, poet, and performer. Stranger Music presents a magnificent cross-section of Cohen's work--including 11 previously unpublished poems--and demonstrates definitively that Cohen is a writer of dazzling intelligence and a force that transcends genres. | ||
Reviews | ||
A very special collection expressing Leonard Cohen's unique voice. I have found another special book, whose title comes from "Anthem" by Leonard Cohen: That's How the Light Gets In: Memoir of a Psychiatrist by Susan Rako, M.D. Fans of Cohen will recognize "There is a crack, a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in." Rako, a near-contemporary of Leonard Cohen, has given us a remarkably candid and fascinating memoir -- notably well-written and a great read. The writing just flows. | ||
Excellent Songwriter, Not So Great A Poet Anyone who knows anything about Leonard Cohen, knows that he started out as a popular Canadian poet before he became a world-famous singer/songwriter. Once he began his career as a songwriter, this genre became his main focus,and he largely abandoned his poetry. Judging by this book of poems and song lyrics, he made a wise choice. Many of his songs are now considered masterpieces of the singer/songwriter genre, among them, "Suzanne," The Chelsea Hotel," and "I'm Your Man." His poetry, on the other hand, is not so highly esteemed. Although his poetry is undoubtedly better than most songwriters' poetry, it still doesn't hold up very well. This book's mix of Cohen's poems and song lyrics might serve fans of his albums well if they're looking for an entry into the world of poetry, but I don't believe the book adequately shows off Cohen's talents. His greatest successes were not in his poetry or prose but in his songs, and to get the greatest sense of his skills as a writer, I would recommend listening to a compilation of his songs. A good place to start is probably "The Best of Leonard Cohen" or "The Essential Leonard Cohen." | ||
Vintage Cohen More than once I've read poetry by favorite musicians and though, "Oh. Without music, this isn't very good." But Cohen was a writer first--the strength of his songs has always been the lyrics. This book is a collection of both poetry and lyrics (and a little poetic prose). It's vintage Cohen--dark and passionate and violent and melodramatic. It's about torrid love affairs and failed marriages and betrayal and war. If you like Cohen's lyrics, you'll like these poems, though you won't find any departures here. | ||
Happy Birthday to Me.... I had been introduced to Leonard Cohen in the late '80's through a high school boyfriend, and my roommate in college used to read his poetry when we had gatherings - when she read "Suzanne" aloud I realized for the first time how beautiful the lyrics were and, despite loving Cohen's music, I wanted to see more of his lyrics stripped bare so I could enjoy them on their own. I was in Austin on my birthday in th early 90's and was window-shopping the Tower Records on Guadelupe. Lo and behold, "Stanger Music" was on display. I remember it being expensive ( I was in college, $20.00 was a lot of money!) but heck, it was my birthday so I splurged. It's still one of my favorite gifts to myself and my all-time favorite book of poetry. Cohen's writing reveals a lot of tenderness and soul while being very masculine. He writes about mundane things and makes them beautiful with his words, he observes everything with appreciation and is able to fully immerse himself in a moment - probably a quality honed during his monastic years. His poetry is very honest and unashamed, there is no fear of vulnerability. Some of it is deeply romantic and some is just downright sexy (but always tastefully so.) "My Room" is the most provocative two lines of poetry I've ever read. Truly amazing stuff, highly recommended. | ||
Fantastic Collection & Perfect 1st Cohen Book to Buy - One of my top gift items: Turn people on to this book. It is a terrific, full anthology that includes much out-of-print material. The poetry is stylistically wide in scope (from how-did-he-do that perfect to sparse, intense, free-verse); it has unique, emotionally-driven language choices, rhythm and content. Its tenor is lugubrious, and its subject matter tends toward sex and religion. This, as opposed to his individual books of poetry: The individual books are typically short and some are wonderful -- each is very different, thus liked by different tastes. If you don't own any Cohen books, buy this first -- it's got great poems (plus clips of prose, as from "Beautiful Losers"). The chapters are laid out by book and album title (lyrics are here, too); therefore, if/when you want another book after, you will know which one. One thing I don't like about it is the change in poem titles from their originals. This books ends when Cohen is in his 50's, at least in the previously unpublished poems at the end -- so, before the monastery part of his life, though religion is well part of him (he is Orthodox Jewish and views his Buddhism as compatible with his Judaism). I'm not much a fan of his post-monastery work, and if I have one regret it's that I discovered Leonard Cohen within the past ten years, and never got to see him live. Know, too, that Cohen was a published poet--well-known in Canada--before he recorded music. He began to play guitar while reading poetry -- it went over well! | ||