A Broken Hallelujah

In the introduction Leibovitz states that this is not a biography. Interesting that Philip Weinstein said the same thing in his book about Jonathan Franzen. The difference being, Weinstein was right in that his was simply a book report on the works of Franzen, while Leibovitz digs deep into the soul of Leonard Cohen.

Using bits and pieces of Cohens life, Leibovitz gives great insight into the words found in Cohens poetry and songs. He shows how this artist developed over the years and what led him to become such an icon. Beginning with the remarkable incident at the Isle of Wright, where Cohen calmed a riotous crowd, chronicling Cohens early struggles, and ending with a discussion of the song, Going Home, Leibovitz gives a remarkable account of Leonard Cohen, the man.

Liel Leibovitz has a vast knowledge of the music industry and he lets it show in this biography. His short dissertation on the Doors was very interesting. WARNING: Doors fans might get a little miffed at some of his comments.

My only issue with the book was that it is too short. There are songs and poems I would have loved to hear Leibovitzs thoughts and insight. Other than that, this is a must read for any Leonard Cohen fan.

This one gets four stars.

I pursued an undergraduate degree in English literature because I loved both the internal conversation I could have with the text as I read, as well as the paper I could write afterward to satisfyingly sculpt a form out of those ideas combined with research into the context of the author. This book is a really really good literary analysis paper scaled up to the entire career of an artist as important as Whitman, Steinbeck, or Angelou. Additionally, the author has a deep understanding of Judaism that informs his exposition and pushes the interest-level for this reader up to five stars.

It’s great to ride along to explore his youth, failures, aging and successes. I am not a lover of poetry, but for his I convert. I think his poetry in music is the highest level achievable for listening and understanding. He thinks and writes in a manner so incredibly touching that one can almost experience what he lived in order to get to those lines. The author does a very good job of comparing and relating the music and lyrics of other performers with Leonard’s. Mr. Cohen’s fresh and unique creations help us be a little more insightful, clever and unusual in our own thinking. Reading about the evolution of some of the lyrics exposes how. I should have taken notes along the way because now I have to read it again to save some of the great lines Mr. Cohen has said and or written. Loved it.

Learned a lot about this man (Leonard Cohen) whom I discovered just recently. Ones I heard his song I wanted to know more about him.This book provides objective info. In fact it helped me realize that in reality he was a really good man. I am sorry I did not know of him when he was alive.
Just love his music.

Leibovitz brings a discerning background in philosophy, poetry and music to his book that unveils Leonard Cohen, a gifted performer and very private man. Those of us who have been drawn to Cohen’s music are indebted to Leibovitz for sharing his understanding of Cohen in terms of the Jewish family culture in which Cohen was raised, the camaraderie of Canadian poets in the 1950s and 1960s, and the highly visible international scene of singer-songwriters, dominated by the Beatles and Dylan. Cohen, too, attracted tens of thousands of listeners, not to a flood of sound, but to his prophetic words, so carefully chosen. Readers understand Cohen’s personal sorrows and professional integrity as a result of Lief Leibovitz’s informative narrative.

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