THE FLAME - Reviews

Everything about Leonard Cohen's new book
User avatar
HugoD
Posts: 500
Joined: Tue Dec 22, 2009 12:33 am
Location: Haarlemmermeer /Netherlands

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by HugoD »

I somehow keep wondering what has happened to this man that he,s gotten so frustrated and cynical. He clearly hasn’t got over it and I almost feel sorry for him. Best advice indeed is to ignore him :D
Lille 2010, Dublin 2012, Mannheim 2013, Rotterdam 2013, Montréal 2017
Happiness is just the side effect of a meaningful life.
User avatar
jarkko
Site Admin
Posts: 7302
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2002 1:01 am
Location: Espoo, Finland
Contact:

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by jarkko »

https://www.duna.cl/cultura/musica/2019 ... ard-cohen/

Duna, Chile, January 7, 2019
La Llama: el libro póstumo de Leonard Cohen
El libro, que Cohen preparaba antes de morir, tiene más de 350 páginas e incluye 63 poemas inéditos y transcripciones de varias de sus canciones.
Por: Radio Duna
7 enero, 2019

Antes que músico, el canadiense Leonard Cohen, siempre fue un escritor. Era una compulsión que tenía. Desde sus inicios como estudiante universitario, dirigiendo el club de debate y publicando sus primeros poemas a mediados de los 50, Cohen demostraba su talento por la escritura, especialmente la prosa. No por nada en 2011 recibió el Premio Príncipe de Asturias de Letras.
Antes de su fallecimiento en noviembre de 2016, Cohen trabajaba en dos proyectos. Uno alcanzó a ver la luz. Su disco You Want It Darker, el décimo cuarto de su carrera y la antesala musical de una partida que tendría lugar justo un mes después. El otro, un libro de poesía, dibujos, autorretratos, notas periodísticas y letras de canciones.
“La Llama”, editado por Salamandra, es el nombre del libro póstumo del canadiense que acaba de ser editado y donde convergen varios trabajos inéditos del artista. La versión en español ha sido traducida por Alberto Manzano, amigo, traductor y biógrafo de largo recorrido y cuenta con un prólogo escrito por su hijo Adam, donde confiesa que la escritura era lo que mantenía vivo a Cohen.
Desde referencias en clave comedia sobre Kanye West, hasta homenajes a Enrique Morente, el libro se pasea por muchos de los rincones de la mente de Cohen, transformándolo en una pieza de revisión de décadas de trabajo dedicado a la creación en variadas disciplinas, todo con el sello que solo él le imprimía a sus obras.
Also links to 50 LC songs on Spotify
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
User avatar
Geoffrey
Posts: 3775
Joined: Tue Jan 10, 2006 12:11 am

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by Geoffrey »

jarkko wrote: Fri Jan 04, 2019 11:44 am He doesn't hate just Leonard Cohen but us, Leonard's fans, too, just read the last paragraph of his "review".
quite so, jarkko, but it is important for both a writer and reviewer - should they yearn for attention - not to continually be received either with applause or indifference, for then they have failed.

in the nineteenth century, thomas jefferson hogg's critical biography of shelley was so opposite to that of other biographers that it stands out even today, 160 years later. shelley's reputation suffered not one iota, and hogg's attempt to reach recognition by swimming upstream was successful.

leonard would have known this, and i believe would have been greatly amused by the new york times' article. one need agree with nothing in mr logan's review, but should nevertheless give him credit for entertaining his readers with such eloquent desperation. the gentleman had obviously studied 'the flame' from cover to cover, meticulously analysed every page. what greater triumph could leonard have wished for?

in 'death to this book', (death of a lady's man) leonard asks himself the question: "does he [leonard] really wish to negate his life and his work?" - later calling it "a worthless piece of junk". his constant self-deprecation implies that his spirit was not happy with perpetual adulation, and that he was only too aware that ego was the enemy of his creativity.

as an example of humility overpowering genius, let us finish with leonard's apologetic conclusion to 'a note to the chinese reader' (book of longing): "beautiful losers was written outside, on a table set among the rocks, weeds and daisies, behind my house on hydra, an island in the aegean sea. i lived there many years ago. it was a blazing hot summer. i never covered my head. what you have in your hands is more of a sunstroke than a book. dear reader, please forgive me if i have wasted your time."

if leonard was nothing else, he was an excellent role model :-)
dalsh327
Posts: 31
Joined: Sun Sep 16, 2007 11:22 am

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by dalsh327 »

RE: NY Times review

"His publishers often hurry into print whatever scraps lie stuffed in his desk drawers or overflow his wastebasket."

Um, yeah, Adam had nothing better to do than go through his father's papers and had the difficult task of putting this together, but curious if he and Lorca read the review. Bad news travels fast.

Letter sent to NY Times regarding review:

"As a subscriber and someone whose life has been touched by Cohen, I was appalled by your decision to let a hack critic like Logan piss all over not only Leonard's grave but, I'm sure, a good segment of your readers whose lives have been graced by Leonard's work over the years. Is the Times so desperate for clickbait to allow the TMZ-ation of this section?

Why not interview Logan for By the Book and ask him what books are by his toilet in case he runs out of toilet tissue?"
Larry "Ratso" Sloman
User avatar
tinderella
Posts: 1515
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 11:48 pm
Location: Dublin Ireland

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by tinderella »

User avatar
jarkko
Site Admin
Posts: 7302
Joined: Thu Jun 27, 2002 1:01 am
Location: Espoo, Finland
Contact:

Re: THE FLAME - Reviews

Post by jarkko »

https://www.cbc.ca/radio/thenextchapter ... -1.4999184

CBC Radio
Randy Boyagoda reviews Leonard Cohen's final poetry collection, The Flame
February 4
1988, 1993: Helsinki||2008: Manchester|Oslo|London O2|Berlin|Helsinki|London RAH|| 2009: New York Beacon|Berlin|Venice|Barcelona|Las Vegas|San José||2010: Salzburg|Helsinki|Gent|Bratislava|Las Vegas|| 2012: Gent|Helsinki|Verona|| 2013: New York|Pula|Oslo|||
Post Reply

Return to “THE FLAME - news and information”