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Book of Mercy
Popular since its original publication more than 25 years ago, Leonard Cohen's classic book of contemporary psalms is now beautifully repackaged.
Internationally celebrated for his writing and his music, Leonard Cohen is revered as one of the great writers, performers, and most consistently daring artists of our time. Now beautifully repackaged, the poems in Book of Mercy ...more
Internationally celebrated for his writing and his music, Leonard Cohen is revered as one of the great writers, performers, and most consistently daring artists of our time. Now beautifully repackaged, the poems in Book of Mercy ...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
March 15th 1986
by McClelland & Stewart
(first published April 14th 1984)
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Cohen sings from the gap. He knows exactly what his pain is all about, but that doesn't stop him from feeling it. He prays to a masculine God, which does not resonate so much for me, personally, but he is a Jewish man who believes in the Judeo-Christian divinity, and he sure isn't alone in that so I can't really fault him. My favorite verse from the collection is #27 which starts, "Israel, and you who call yourself Israel, the Church that calls itself Israel, and the revolt that calls itsel...more
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The psalm is sung to that Other we will never know. The knowledge of its imparting is sorrow and joy. It tells us only of what we cannot say, what will be revealed only when there is little left of us to know. The burning bush gave something that was not a psalm because Moses carried the tablets down and the people learned the meaning of fear. The other side of that same currency is where the psalm tunes its harp. These are ancient currencies, beyond the clock’s tock, the heart’s closing ...more
This is a book of psalms, although it wasn't what I expected. I read it all of the way through and started to read it again. The writing is very rich with layers of meaning, like poetry. Some of it is a bit obscure for me, but overall I like it.
he has some hurt hidden away somewhere inside
Contemporary psalms by Leonard Cohen.
Some of Leonard's prose is great (of course), but I really dislike his approach to his own spirituality in this book. It seems a bit weak.
I'm surprised by this, because compared to what he wrote before, I thought he would've known better. Maybe it was a mid-life crisis. I think that melancholy and religion don't mix well... it turns into something too emo.
I rate this two stars because I like the hearts on the book cover.
I'm surprised by this, because compared to what he wrote before, I thought he would've known better. Maybe it was a mid-life crisis. I think that melancholy and religion don't mix well... it turns into something too emo.
I rate this two stars because I like the hearts on the book cover.
Leonard Cohen is spiritually sadomasochist.
this book recently saved me from......well lets just same that his reworking of psalms speaks directly to the hungers and grace that finds my soul. Even if you are not a fan musically (I'm not much of one) you can gain from it.
I used to leave this book in my car so when I was stuck I could pull it out and read something. Just pick a page. Then the laundry detergent decided to swallow it with sticky goo and I had to bury it properly.
Absolutely beautiful prose poetry about the difficulties of faith. If you like his music, and you can tolerate a plethora of Biblical references, you'll enjoy this book quite a bit. He got me through college.
absolutely beautiful. Its been a long time since i read it but it was fantastic. A really quick read and good to pick up and start from anywhere in the book.
Poetry/short essays about Cohen's search for higher power. Kinda boring. Book of Longing is 1000 times better, as is his songwriting.
New Psalms written with bitterness, solitude, and reverance. An attempt at a Unified Heart.
I sometimes read pieces from "Book of Mercy" as the morning prayer.
My love 4
Beautiful
Merve
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Leonard Norman Cohen is 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 h...more
More about Leonard Cohen...
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 h...more
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“Though I love your company, your instructions are wasted her. I will always choose the woman who caries me off, I will always sit with the family of loneliness.”
—
1 person liked it
“When I have not rage or sorrow, and you depart from me, then I am most afraid. When the belly is full, and the mind has its sayings, then I fear for my soul; I rush to you as a child at night breaks into its parents' room. Do not forget me in my satisfaction. When the heart grins at itself, the world is destroyed. And I am found alone with the husks and the shells. Then the dangerous moment comes: I am too great to ask for help. I have other hopes. I legislate from the fortress of my disappointments, with a set jaw. Overthrow this even terror with a sweet remembrance: when I was with you, when my soul delighted you, when I was what you wanted. My heart sings of your longing for me, and my thoughts climb down to marvel at your mercy. I do not fear as you gather up my days. Your name is the sweetness of time, and you carry me close into the night, speaking consolations, drawing down lights from the sky, saying, See how the night has no terror for one who remembers the Name.”
—
1 person liked it
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