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72nd out of 725 books
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456 voters
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Stranger Music: Selected Poems and Songs
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 Stranger Music presents a magnificent cross-section of Cohen's work--including 11 previously unpublished poems--and demonstrates definitively that Cohen is a writer of dazzling intelligence and a force that transcends genres.
Paperback, 432 pages
Published
May 25th 2011
by Vintage
(first published 1993)
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The selected works of Leonard Cohen. As usual with collections like this there are a few exclusions that I'd quibble with--several of my favorite poems from "Flowers For Hitler" are not here, for instance, but aside from things like that this collection is a fine book and is the only form in which the poems from his early books can be found as they are now long out of print. As such this provides a fascinating glimpse into hard-to-find Cohen books like "Death of a Lady's Man"...more
Oh, Leonard Cohen, why do you rock my world so much? This book is STUNNING. (I love that it includes song lyrics mixed in with the poetry; based on "Sisters of Mercy" and "Hallelujah" alone, Leonard Cohen is my favorite poet of the 20th century.) I use his religious poetry in a class I teach at my Catholic church; it reads very much like a modern version of Augustine's "Confessions" or the Book of Job . . . painfully visceral and gut-wrenchingly human. If you co...more
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Leonard Cohen's words not only speaks to me, they are what I would say if I were a mad poetic genius.
Over the years, I have spent many hours in both new and used book stores, partly as a book lover and reader, but also with the specific intent of collecting all the works of my favorite writers. It took a long time, but I do now have the majority of his works (all the major stuff) and I still cherish Stranger Music. It is an interesting look into the way that Mr Cohen views his ow...more
Over the years, I have spent many hours in both new and used book stores, partly as a book lover and reader, but also with the specific intent of collecting all the works of my favorite writers. It took a long time, but I do now have the majority of his works (all the major stuff) and I still cherish Stranger Music. It is an interesting look into the way that Mr Cohen views his ow...more
Yumiko Hansen
added it
Here is my favourite...
-- As a falling leaf may rest
A moment in the air
So your head upon my breast
So my hand upon your hair
And many night endure
Without a moon, without a star
So we will endure
When one is gone and far
True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It's lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun
-- As a falling leaf may rest
A moment in the air
So your head upon my breast
So my hand upon your hair
And many night endure
Without a moon, without a star
So we will endure
When one is gone and far
True love leaves no traces
If you and I are one
It's lost in our embraces
Like stars against the sun
Many of these poems are wonderful. Cohen writes on themes of love, sex, loss and depression. His poetry expresses his Judaism and Zen Buddhism, combining an earthiness with a deep spirituality. There is a Zen aesthetic that comes through many of these poems. Like Japanese haiku, Cohen's writing captures moment, feeling, and image in a few simple words (albeit in a different poetic structure). Some of Cohen's lines are like koan, the seemingly non-sensical questions posed by Zen roshis in order t...more
I am a HUGE fan of Leonard Cohen, so thoroughly enjoyed reading his work in such a comprehensive collection. It was luxurious to read his lyrics as poetry aside from his music and also to read selections of his prose. Was sad when I came to the end of this one.
I gave my copy of this away to a loved one, give it back! No...kidding. It was appropriately gifted to a marvellous boy who I hope thinks better of me for parting with this treasure. Love the title for this collection.
I generally prefer other artists' recordings of Cohen's actual music (as I do Bob Dylan's), but his lyrics are unmatched, and this collection is always within reach of my writing desk. Each phrase feels crafted to perfection, rich with metaphor and iconic imagery — a true inspiration.
This book is what it says on the cover, it is a collection of poems, songs and writings from the published works of Leonard Cohen from the 1950s to the 1990s and contains some of this best known works including Hallelujah, Bird on a Wire, Suzanne and So Long, Marianne, as well as extracts from his novels and more recent songs. As a compendium of Cohen’s work this book is an interesting collection, showcasing Cohen’s talent with words and imagery and make interesting reading. A must have for seri...more
There are probably better collections, but this has a permanent place at my bedside and is frequently dipped into in moments of distress.
As insular and at times exclusive as (most of) the rest of Cohen's work. Still, there are a few in here than linger in my brain.
I am constantly reading this. I joke that it is my bible. Every time I pull it out, I internalize something different from it.
Number one book!!!!!
If you love poetry, you'll love Leonard.
Amazing!!! That's all I can say, amazing.
If you love poetry, you'll love Leonard.
Amazing!!! That's all I can say, amazing.
Erik Graff
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Cohen fans
Recommended to Erik by:
Stockton Birthisel
Shelves:
poetry
This arrived in the mail as an unexpected gift from Stockton, a fellow I met at Volume II Cafe over Hegel. He was studying philosophy at DePaul, while I was doing similarly at Loyola. The friendship was immediate.
Years later, Stockton moved to Britain, but still came to stay at my place--at first annually, then tapering off so that it's been several years since last we saw him. It was towards the beginning of this period, while he was still visiting regularly, that Stockton, knowi...more
Years later, Stockton moved to Britain, but still came to stay at my place--at first annually, then tapering off so that it's been several years since last we saw him. It was towards the beginning of this period, while he was still visiting regularly, that Stockton, knowi...more
Amber
is currently reading it
One of my favorites that I recently picked back up this week....
the best poet, songwriter, and soul of our time...
Beautiful poetry given to me by a beautiful friend.
Exquisite. Probably the most beautiful book of all times.
Cool collection of L. Cohen's lyrics & poetry.
i liked it.
I had a musician boyfriend (well, I have one still, but he's a different one, and plays music for fun rather than for a "career") when I was in my late teens, and on our first Christmas together he gave me this book. I read the other verses to "Hallelujah" and set it aside.
Two weeks or two months or two years later, I picked the book back up and read it again, and found myself entranced by Cohen's poetry. An excellent collection, worth reading and keeping.
Two weeks or two months or two years later, I picked the book back up and read it again, and found myself entranced by Cohen's poetry. An excellent collection, worth reading and keeping.
Here's the way it works. If you're male, and if you appreciate art, poetry, music, and a lifetime of serious, powerful work...well, you want to be Leonard Cohen. You can't be--- and he does it better than you'll ever do it anyway: the tailored suits, the beautiful actresses and models who've thrown themselves at him, the shatteringly brilliant poetry and music, the years as a Zen roshi. Accept that. And then read these poems and just be...enthralled.
unfortunately now he makes bad music and never tours
i havent heard any of his new writing. just new audio recordings of him reading his old stuff
this man has lived and its evident in this book
wheres my woman on a greek island i fell for?
in this book
wait thats not me
can it be?
i havent heard any of his new writing. just new audio recordings of him reading his old stuff
this man has lived and its evident in this book
wheres my woman on a greek island i fell for?
in this book
wait thats not me
can it be?
I have read and reread this book, and each time I come back to it the poems seem ever more fresh. Shedding light through windows of emotion, Leonard Cohen's writing illustrates a unique understanding of what it means to be human. His verse and prose offer simple beauty and haunting stories.
Oh, Leonard Cohen, I love you. My tattered and darkly underscored 'Stranger Music' is still swollen with the sweat of teen angst, foldy-down corners and pressed wildflowers.
"Dance me to your beauty/ with a burning violin/ Dance me through the panic/ till I'm gathered safely in..."
"Dance me to your beauty/ with a burning violin/ Dance me through the panic/ till I'm gathered safely in..."
I gave up reading poetry books in the last several years because I needed to try having a different kind of affair. Poetry was becoming personal in a way that I didn't know where it ended and where my life began. Despite myself, this one made it through the fire.
I've been a fan of Cohen for a long time. I first became familiar with him through his music. I knew he wrote poetry as well, listen to his songs and it's obvious, but I didn't know he was a poet first.
Still going through it, I'll give a proper review later.
Still going through it, I'll give a proper review later.
AVL Library
This book of poems and essays changed the way I look at the world. I was instantly mesmerized at the raw, desperate and tender way Cohen looks at love, devotion and loneliness. I never get tired of turning these pages.
It saved my life during a religious crisis in my teen years. It has boosted my morale during my student years. It helps me enlighten my students, who acquire new angles of contemplating the sublime and the grotesque alike.
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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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“And I'll dance with you in Vienna,
I'll be wearing a river's disguise.
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
my mouth on the dew of your thighs.
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
with the photographs there and the moss.
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty,
my cheap violin and my cross.”
—
132 people liked it
I'll be wearing a river's disguise.
The hyacinth wild on my shoulder
my mouth on the dew of your thighs.
And I'll bury my soul in a scrapbook,
with the photographs there and the moss.
And I'll yield to the flood of your beauty,
my cheap violin and my cross.”
“A heavy burden lifted from my soul,
I heard that love was out of my control.”
—
39 people liked it
More quotes…
I heard that love was out of my control.”
