My most recent foray into the printed medium was an obscure book that was given to me for my birthday. It is titled “The Song of Leonard Cohen" and was written by Harry Rasky.
Lord Jim and the topic of this story aside, it has a lot of reasons to deliver a thumb’s down.
For one, someone with no real sense of pride decided to add to the book’s front cover the words, “as seen on TV”.
For another, the book holds more information about the author than the titled subject. I greatly prefer biographies where the writer seems to disappear and gives us a sense that we were there. There is one portion in this book, where the author tangents off into some personal fantasy without letting us know of his planned excursion except that it evolves into clear paranoia. What ever his reason to put those thoughts into print and in this book, is lost on me.
In addition, most of his written interactions with Leonard Cohen are word for word transcriptions from conversations, which makes it necessary for the reader to try and imagine they are in the room hearing someone in conversational English but lacking the body language that a more formal treatment would have compensated for.
There are other reasons to dislike this book, but they all reflect back on the author.
I suppose I’m a bit predisposed to wanting to know more about Mr. Cohen, and since he has been something of a recluse most of his life, this book did help to fulfill that desire.
And so I would recommend this book to anyone looking for some insight into Leonard Cohen, but I would not encourage anyone not already predisposed to the subject.
What are you reading?
Re: What are you reading?
A sufficiently copious dose of bombast drenched in verbose writing is lethal to the truth.
Re: What are you reading?
For television?Gob wrote:"Overly dramatic", would be my thoughts.
... "
yrs,
rubato
Re: What are you reading?
Just finished Last Call: The Rise And Fall of Prohibition. Ye gods, it was a two-decade-plus goat grab.
Treat Gaza like Carthage.
Re: What are you reading?
Bought this yesterday, half way through it, not sure if I will finish it.
Dreadfully written, gushing biography.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What are you reading?
Very useful in helping me adjust to the new reality of my life.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: What are you reading?
This is now awaiting me at the library.Gob wrote:Synopsis
A reinvestigation of "The Hound of the Baskervilles" poses an alternative solution to the case that is based on hidden clues within the story's text, in a fan's recreation that illuminates unusual interstices between Doyle's fiction and the real world.
On a related note, I've got The Return of Sherlock Holmes read by Derek Jacobi on the go in the car at the moment. The man's voice is absolutely perfect for Doyle!
Why is it that when Miley Cyrus gets naked and licks a hammer it's 'art' and 'edgy' but when I do it I'm 'drunk' and 'banned from the hardware store'?
Re: What are you reading?
The Spy by Clive Cussler, his third Issac Bell book, set in 1908.
Treat Gaza like Carthage.
Re: What are you reading?
Gave up on it, wanky gushing hyperbole, should get an award for the most tiresome overuse of the word "genius".Gob wrote:
Bought this yesterday, half way through it, not sure if I will finish it.
Dreadfully written, gushing biography.
The author admits never having met Hicks, and boy does it show.
Just started
After a few pages you KNOW this is the genuine article, and will become a fave.
Frank by Frank, what more could you ask for?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What are you reading?
Heat: An Amateur's Adventures as Kitchen Slave, Line Cook, Pasta-Maker, and Apprentice to a Dante-Quoting Butcher in Tuscany.
Written by Bill Buford.
I can't seem to figure out how to display the photo (even after looking at how everyone else did it.....I am so clueless!)
Anyhoo, my sister gave me this book four years ago for Christmas, and I finished it before New Year's Eve! I picked it up again over the weekend, and am enjoying it as much the second time around.
Written by Bill Buford.
I can't seem to figure out how to display the photo (even after looking at how everyone else did it.....I am so clueless!)
Anyhoo, my sister gave me this book four years ago for Christmas, and I finished it before New Year's Eve! I picked it up again over the weekend, and am enjoying it as much the second time around.
Re: What are you reading?
Yes, well that's as it may be, but you're
missing the most important point....
THE GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!
missing the most important point....
THE GIANTS WON THE WORLD SERIES!!!!!!
Re: What are you reading?
A stack of journal articles and patents on siloxane chemistry incorporating boron, phosphorous, and titanium (sometimes all at once but mostly not) ... sigh ... I get most bored either when it looks like a dead end or a few weeks after a big breakthrough.
When I get a little free time I read a chapter out of a John Keegan history of war writing or a few pages from a biography of JS Mill. His relationship with his wife has always been one of my most important models for a happy married life. (The other one was Will and Ariel Durant.) I also read sometimes re-read a few pages at a time from "Freedom and Organization" by Bertrand Russell. I think this, or a part of it, was originally published as "Legitimacy vs Industrialism". In any case it focuses on the most crucial century for understanding the transition of society to the modern era; ca 1800 to 1918 (with a great deal of overlap he goes back further to talk about Malthus among others).
yrs,
rubato
When I get a little free time I read a chapter out of a John Keegan history of war writing or a few pages from a biography of JS Mill. His relationship with his wife has always been one of my most important models for a happy married life. (The other one was Will and Ariel Durant.) I also read sometimes re-read a few pages at a time from "Freedom and Organization" by Bertrand Russell. I think this, or a part of it, was originally published as "Legitimacy vs Industrialism". In any case it focuses on the most crucial century for understanding the transition of society to the modern era; ca 1800 to 1918 (with a great deal of overlap he goes back further to talk about Malthus among others).
yrs,
rubato
Re: What are you reading?
Just finishing "The Murder Room" by P D James.
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What are you reading?
Still working on Washington, but just picked up the latest for my book group: The Peabody Sisters
From the Publisher's Weekly review: Marshall's outstanding debut is a triple biography making clear that Margaret Fuller wasn't the only woman of substance in Transcendentalist circles in 19th-century Massachusetts. The Peabody sisters were bright, gifted, independent and influential; they knew a host of notables, from Abigail Adams to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Oldest sister Elizabeth, who according to Marshall helped start the Transcendentalist movement, ran a school with Bronson Alcott, who named his third daughter in her honor. Mary made a name for herself first as a teacher and writer, and as the wife of educational reformer Horace Mann, who founded Antioch College. Youngest sister Sophia was an artist whose work included illustrations for her husband, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Only Elizabeth, by all accounts the most intellectual of the sisters, never married, though she was in love with both Hawthorne and Mann before either man fell for her sisters—the bonds among the three survived, but they were, in Marshall's words, "prone to covert rivalries and shifting alliances." Marshall has distilled 20 years of research into a book that brings the sisters to life, along with their extended family and friends, and the time in which they matured: a time, Marshall notes, that allowed women to be on a more equal footing than they would enjoy later in the century. The only problem is that her book ends far too soon, covering barely the first half of the sisters' lives, the half the author finds more creative and illuminating.
From the Publisher's Weekly review: Marshall's outstanding debut is a triple biography making clear that Margaret Fuller wasn't the only woman of substance in Transcendentalist circles in 19th-century Massachusetts. The Peabody sisters were bright, gifted, independent and influential; they knew a host of notables, from Abigail Adams to Ralph Waldo Emerson. Oldest sister Elizabeth, who according to Marshall helped start the Transcendentalist movement, ran a school with Bronson Alcott, who named his third daughter in her honor. Mary made a name for herself first as a teacher and writer, and as the wife of educational reformer Horace Mann, who founded Antioch College. Youngest sister Sophia was an artist whose work included illustrations for her husband, Nathaniel Hawthorne. Only Elizabeth, by all accounts the most intellectual of the sisters, never married, though she was in love with both Hawthorne and Mann before either man fell for her sisters—the bonds among the three survived, but they were, in Marshall's words, "prone to covert rivalries and shifting alliances." Marshall has distilled 20 years of research into a book that brings the sisters to life, along with their extended family and friends, and the time in which they matured: a time, Marshall notes, that allowed women to be on a more equal footing than they would enjoy later in the century. The only problem is that her book ends far too soon, covering barely the first half of the sisters' lives, the half the author finds more creative and illuminating.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: What are you reading?
Just started Roadside Crosses by Jeff Deaver. Per usual for Deaver...creepy.
Treat Gaza like Carthage.
Re: What are you reading?
“If you trust in yourself, and believe in your dreams, and follow your star. . . you'll still get beaten by people who spent their time working hard and learning things and weren't so lazy.”
Re: What are you reading?
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: What are you reading?
I can't believe this thread has been dormant for a year!
I've had a busy reading year --- 75 books logged so far. Some stinkers and some disappointments, but also some wonderful reads.
My two most recent favorites:
and
Why didn't the images come through??
I've had a busy reading year --- 75 books logged so far. Some stinkers and some disappointments, but also some wonderful reads.
My two most recent favorites:
and
Why didn't the images come through??
Last edited by Guinevere on Sun Nov 20, 2011 7:44 pm, edited 1 time in total.
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké
Re: What are you reading?
Re-reading this thread reminds me how much happier I was in May 2010 than I'd become by May 2011.
Thank goodness I'm on the mend!
Gob, which TV Rebus was good and which shite? I'm wondering, because I've watched one series and planned not to bother with the other - but I'm curious if I watched the good one (in your opinion).
I've not been reading much for pleasure lately - too much time online & watching videos. Presently in a mad dash to finish home improvement projects so I can spend the long winter reading & writing.
Thank goodness I'm on the mend!
Gob, which TV Rebus was good and which shite? I'm wondering, because I've watched one series and planned not to bother with the other - but I'm curious if I watched the good one (in your opinion).
I've not been reading much for pleasure lately - too much time online & watching videos. Presently in a mad dash to finish home improvement projects so I can spend the long winter reading & writing.
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: What are you reading?
Guin, have you got an extra unintentional space inside the coding?
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring.
~ Carl Sagan
~ Carl Sagan
Re: What are you reading?
A hard return, actually. Merci!bigskygal wrote:Guin, have you got an extra unintentional space inside the coding?
“I ask no favor for my sex. All I ask of our brethren is that they take their feet off our necks.” ~ Ruth Bader Ginsburg, paraphrasing Sarah Moore Grimké