The Flame: Leonard Cohen

I have followed the work of Leonard Cohen since I was 15 that's amost 50 years now and have taken great pleasure from it over and over during that time. I have no words of my own that would be able to in any way adequately express the joy and the sadness that his words and music have seen me through those decades and I shall be ever grateful to him for touching my heart and even my soul. I shall miss him even though he will still be within me, "month by month, day by day, thought by thought" til my own demise.

As an admirer of Leonard Cohen's songs but not a diehard fan, I enjoyed a large part of this book. The first 90 or so pages contain poems written towards the end of Cohen's life. I was struck first of all by rather conventional verses talking of 'heart' and 'soul', but then I grew aware of a great variety of themes and accomplished styles, rhymed, unrhymed, lyrical, prose-like. He can address beloved women, American politics or a fellow singer like the Spanish flamenco artist Enrique Morente. The following 70 pages of the later song lyrics show Cohen to be a talented and erudite songwriter. A religious yearning runs through this section, e.g. 'Born in Chains'. However. the editors have also included 100 pages selected from his notebooks, including also a lot of facsimile handwriting. I found this section mostly consisted of rough work and often fragmentary. For the general reader (rather than scholars), most should have been omitted.

I have been accquainted with Leonard Cohen since I was 12. I was introduced to him as a musician 40 years ago but have read his novels, short stories and poems during this period. When I heard that the man with the Golden Voice had passed, I got artwork on my arm to always remember him by. As this is his final book I ordered both the kindle version as well as the original hard cover. The book contains poems, lyrics, a selection of his notebooks as well as the speech given at the asturias awards. It is a book that all LC fans should have to hand to remember the musings of an artist.

This was the first time I have bought an e-book. I chose this option as I wanted the Audible book - A choice I am glad I made. It wasn't easy to get it into mp3 but I finally managed so could listen on my mp3 player.I have been a fan for many years and to hear his poetry being read was enjoyable.I got the e-book onto my iPad and can read there too

The book looks very good, it was a gift for someone who requested it

Love this book in every way , such speedy service .

What can I say - it's Leonard. Beautifully written poems as always.

leonard cohen, a lifetime in words, song, notes and drawing. a joy. beyond excellence.