I mean, this is a Leonard Cohan fan dream book! Such a great insight into this musician, I devoured it. Thank you to Netgalley and Publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this!

A fascinating informative look at what influenced and inspired Leonard Cohen his music writing spirituality.The author gives us a look at the real Leonard Cohen.As a fan of his I enjoyed learning more about what truly influenced him.#netgalley #bloomsbury

Leonard Cohen, The Mystical Roots of Genius by Harry Freedman is a biographical narrative, looking at the spiritual life of this man through his songs.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Bloomsbury Publishing and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis :
Leonard Cohen was born in Montreal Quebec in 1934 and died in 2016.

Leonard Cohen's grandfather was a Rabbi, so he grew up in a fairly religious Jewish family, and he studied the bible at his grandfather's side.  He eventually condemned the community by saying that they were too "mechanized" and lacked spirituality.  Leonard's father, Nathan, died when he was only nine years old.  His mother, Masha, suffered from depression, as he himself did.  His nanny was an Irish catholic, who took Leonard to church with her,  so he became as well-versed in Christianity as he was in Judaism.  In 1990 he moved into a Zen monastery, and apparently became a Buddhist monk.

This book explores the spirituality behind Cohen's works.  It looks into the sources, where his ideas came from and how, for example, he took a story or phrase from the bible, and expanded on it.    As well, it looks into Cohen's private life, his use of LSD and marijuana which he found helped his creative juices flow, gave him courage to go on-stage, and helped with his depression.  It also looks at Cohen's fascination with war and death,  from Hitler to Che Guevera and the Bay of Pigs, to the Kent University killings, to the Yom Kippur war.  He tried to get involved in all the uprisings.

For all the seemingly religious stories behind his music, Cohen was reluctant to describe his work as having a religious or spiritual theme.

As the author stated in his forward, "Few contemporary songwriters have had their work dissected as minutely as Leonard Cohen. His lyrics have been picked apart innumerable times, in books and articles, on film and TV, in pubs, books and on Internet forums.  PhD theses have been submitted exploring his philosophy, his impact on culture, his image as prophet and priest and much more. His work has been analyzed from many different perspectives: psychologically, mystically, philosophically, spiritually, religiously and, not infrequently, incomprehensibly.

The author clearly states that he picked pieces that had a spiritual basis only, and only musical pieces for this book.  He also states that these are his opinions only, and that will be many differing opinions, as Cohen's music is open to interpretation.


My Opinions:   
Well, in one way I was impressed, and in another disappointed.

I learned more about this amazing singer/songwriter, and admire him more than ever.  However, I was disappointed that his songs were "ONLY" looked at from a spiritualist angle, even though that was intended, and apparently I didn't read the blurb well enough.....so this is my own fault.  I also found that although the writing was very good,  I was skimming the book, which usually means that it is dragging, not holding my interest as well as it should.

I did disagree with some of the opinions the author shared, but that is what makes Leonard Cohen one of the best song-writers....everyone has their own take on his words, their own interpretation.    As both a songwriter and a singer, his music crossed barriers.

If you are a true fan, take a chance on this book.   I am probably going to look into a more autobiographical book on his life.

Leonard Cohen that mystic, sublime poet and songwriter. Harry Freedman gives us another of many books on the Master. He goes inside the lyrics and gives us the opportunity to understand the man better.
a nice book to add or gift to the Leonard Cohen fan.

Thanks NetGalley for the ARC

Few contemporary songwriters have had their work dissected as minutely as Leonard Cohen. His lyrics have been picked apart innumerable times, in books and articles, on film and TV, in pubs, books and on Internet forums. PhD theses have been submitted exploring his philosophy, his impact on culture, his image as prophet and priest and much more. His work has been analyzed from many different perspectives: psychologically, mystically, philosophically, spiritually, religiously and, not infrequently, incomprehensibly.

Harry Freedman has tried to do something different in this book. He has not attempted to guess what was going on in Cohen’s head when he wrote a particular song. Cohen was said to be reluctant to encourage that. Nor has Freedman dwelt in any greater depth on what motivated him. Rather he has focused on Cohen’s extensive use of biblical and religious traditions - ideas drawn from the Judaism and Christianity that helped shape his identity and the way he made sense of the world. The author has tried to demonstrate what Cohen’s sources were, what their original context was, what the stories and ideas that lay behind them were and how Cohen harnessed them for his own purposes. The book is as much an exploration of his sources as of his work itself.

𝑴𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒔:

Harry Freedman is a Jewish and Aramaic scholar who has a passion for music and lyrics. He is the author of 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑻𝒂𝒍𝒎𝒖𝒅: 𝑨 𝑩𝒊𝒐𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒉𝒚 and 𝑲𝒂𝒃𝒃𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒉: 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒄𝒚, 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒅𝒂𝒍 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑺𝒐𝒖𝒍. 𝑳𝒆𝒐𝒏𝒂𝒓𝒅 𝑪𝒐𝒉𝒆𝒏: 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑴𝒚𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝑹𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒔 𝒐𝒇 𝑮𝒆𝒏𝒊𝒖𝒔 is a sophisticated work crammed full of allusions to biblical and rabbinic mythology. As a fan of Cohen’s work, I was a little disappointed that Freedman’s book wasn’t more expansive and didn’t touch on some of Cohen’s more earthly inspirations and muses. Love, sex, drugs and war also add to the complexity of Cohen’s oeuvre. I’d recommend this book to scholars focusing on the Biblical aspects of Leonard Cohen’s work who will find it a page turner.

A huge thank you to @NetGalley and @BloomsburyPublishing for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A really enlightening look into the life of Leonard Cohen that takes into consideration his experiences and spirituality. This book really explores what affected him as an artist and he he conveyed those things in his lyricism through a memoir lens. Harry Freedman does an excellent job of exploring Leonard Cohen biographically and as an artist. It's definitely a must read for fans of music and Leonard Cohen!