Leonard Cohen: Poetry and Music for the Soul

Esther Schneider: I really enjoyed this book ... I have always been a fan of Mr. Cohen ... and this book was definitely not a disappointment.

Canada on Feb 23, 2024

Timefly: I have been a fan of Leonard Cohen for 50+ years and have all his CDs as well as books about him. The beauty of this collection is its small size. It is incredibly handy! It fits comfortably in a pocket of my cargo pants. I love it!

United States on Apr 13, 2022

Pilar Vázquez: Me gustan mucho los poemas de Cohen. Este libro hace una buena selección de ellos.

Spain on Aug 17, 2021

M Seibel: The poems are deep and largely dark. But they are beautifully written and cause one to think. They also tell a moment in time into the mind of an extremely impactful writer and songwriter. I'm glad Lenard Cohen wrote music for some of his poems. It brought them to life for so many more people. In this book the poem Hallelujah is my favorite. But I discovered many more I never knew existed.

United States on May 04, 2021

Renee: What a wonderful book!. Even the paper it is printed on is high-quality, feels so silky. Leonard Cohen’s poems are somewhat obtuse for me, but the listing of all the lyrics for his. songs is marvelous, including an index by first lines. And as a sweet extra touch it comes with a an attached black ribbon book mark reminiscent of the ones that used to come in the old Catholic missals. Truly a superb edition..

United States on Dec 14, 2020

A DeA De: The book has all my favorites plus many more. Quality of paper, hardcover binding is very good. Also, it ia lightweight. It is a very good book to gift.

India on Nov 22, 2018

Lily: Questo libretto, che penso parecchio noto in America del Nord, in Inghilterra e in altri paesi scandinavi, mi è piaciuto molto. Ho incontrato i primi dischi di canzoni di L. Cohen quando, giovane studentessa, ero negli Stati Uniti. Li ho persi quando ho saputo che l’autore si era ritirato in un monastero buddista zen. Purtroppo ho ritrovato solo ora Cohen e i suoi dischi più recenti.
Il piccolo libro è una raccolta scelta di sue poesie e sue canzoni (non tutte, ovviamente) fino ad alcuni brani di “Old Ideas”: belle entrambe. Sta in tasca, ha pagine sottili, è facile rintracciare un brano o dall’indice iniziale o dal primo verso.
Un amico mi ha chiesto cosa contraddistingue le liriche o le canzoni di L. Cohen da altre, così da diventare un oggetto “cult”: forse la semplicità unita alla concisione; l’affrontare temi del singolo individuo, ma generali; certamente l’aura poetica della sua musica e delle sue parole; l’ironia non è mai assente.
Spero che possa essere completato con gli ultimi brani: certamente in questo caso lo ricomprerò.

Italy on Jan 16, 2017

Chakili: 1° English is not my first language, and it was a real good thing for me to read some poems/words of songs of L. Cohen. Listening to songs and sometimes getting emotional with the music, the rhymes, the atmosphere often rends it difficult to appreciate all the poetry and sense. This book gave me a wonderful occasion to go deeper in Cohen's work. And is it worth of it !
2° this book gave me the chance to discover "Everyman's Library Pocket Poets", that is a very good selection : it's not texts assembled by chance : it follows a directing line of the poet's word. Very intelligent and pedagogic way to present texts like small nice round pebbles to follow.
3° I think that younger people could benefit of this kind of book, of this kind of song, of the thoughts of this poet. I have too often a hard time with today's repetition of idiotic words accompanied by deafening noise (that cannot really be called music ... Sorry kids, you miss something !

United States on Jan 11, 2017

"Belgo Geordie": One of the losses in 2016 was the death of Leonard Cohen, although he did reach a good age and was productive to the end with the release of "You want it darker". A set of songs that face death with courage, wit and great insight. In the same year Robert Zimmerman was made a noble prize laureate it is a an opportunity to reconsider was Mr Cohen firstly a poet and secondly a musician. The Everyman's pocket library holds the answer. Yes, his music was good but it is his words which carry his wry spirit. Those of us who first heard Mr Cohen in the early seventies would dissolve into an angst flavoured puddle of misery by droning Suzanne would take you down to the river and feed you oranges and billy tea. And I must confess, I lost interest in him after the magnificent "Songs of Love and Hate". Which was my loss as he went on to craft so many other great pieces of wordsmith-most of which are held within these 243 pages. I look forward to the twenty volume of the collected works of Mr Leonard Cohen, the letters, etc published by Faber. No, he seemed to have been a fan of the wastebasket for creations not good enough to his critical eye. Here in the Everyman you will find the words to...

United Kingdom on Dec 18, 2016

E.Z. Green: If you're a Leonard Cohen fan then this book is a very comprehensive collection of his song lyrics and poetry. It's great because it fits in a carry-on or coat pocket to enjoy most anywhere. Leonard Cohen's poetry and lyrics are, for the uninitiated, very realistic and 'mature' compared to youthful crooning love songs or poems that cause one to dream in doodle bubble hearts. Leonard Cohen's poems make you feel that you've been punched in the solar plexus and can't catch your breath, yet, if you are not a love-struck child and you have loved and lost, or longed for someone you can't reach or have been down on your luck, you will know exactly what he's talking about! He wrote the lyrics to 'Hallelujah', which has been extensively covered, however, I do recommend you look it up and listen to Mr. Cohen sing it if you haven't before. The collection itself is very complete for a small book and feels very readable, with a build-in bookmark and classy color theme so you look the part as you read. You can almost hear his impossibly deep, slow voice as you read this collection. I don't know if his work is for everyone, but like most aesthetics, he has a 'certain something' that will draw...

United States on Nov 10, 2015