Overview

Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy is a modern classic, appreciated by a wide readership, used in liturgy, and translated into more than a dozen languages. It is Leonard Cohen's modern psalter, in which he exposes his dialogue with the divine and the deepest struggles of his soul in its attempts to find peace, side by side with his erotic yearning and his concern for the world at large. Its intricate poetic language combines imagery from the wealth of the Jewish tradition in which the poet was raised, as well as his practice of Zen Buddhist meditation and his absorption in Christian imagery and in old and modern poetry. This book offers a detailed interpretation of Cohen's prose-poems, identifying the sources utilized by him in creating his unique take on the Psalms for our day and age. It is a book that will allow all readers to gain deeper understanding of Cohen's ideas and language in ways that will enrich their own spiritual lives.

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Reviews

""Doron Cohen has written an insightful and inspiring work about one of Leonard Cohen's most important poem collections. Kudos to D. Cohen for his excellent scholarship and moving interpretation of Book of Mercy--an important contribution to all those interested and impassioned by Leonard Cohen's work!"" --Marcia Pally, Adjunct Faculty, New York University ""Reading Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy with Doron Cohen's commentary in hand is more than illuminating. It is like entering into an enduring conversation with a poet and a scholar, both of whom gradually become trusted interlocutors and even friends of a sort."" --Stephen Dowden, Professor of Literature, Brandeis University ""Doron Cohen offers us a detailed commentary on Leonard Cohen's collection of psalm-like prose poems, Book of Mercy, informed by his work translating the book into Modern Hebrew, and by a lifetime of listening, reading, and discussing Cohen's songs and writings. These annotations, above all, reveal the depth of the collection's allusive texture--to Jewish sources, especially, but to a wide range of others, and to Cohen's own life and work. It's a remarkable guide."" --Louis Schwartz, Professor of English, University of Richmond ""Doron Cohen has written an insightful and inspiring work about one of Leonard Cohen's most important poem collections. Kudos to D. Cohen for his excellent scholarship and moving interpretation of Book of Mercy--an important contribution to all those interested and impassioned by Leonard Cohen's work!"" --Marcia Pally, Adjunct Faculty, New York University ""Reading Leonard Cohen's Book of Mercy with Doron Cohen's commentary in hand is more than illuminating. It is like entering into an enduring conversation with a poet and a scholar, both of whom gradually become trusted interlocutors and even friends of a sort."" --Stephen Dowden, Professor of Literature, Brandeis University ""Doron Cohen offers us a detailed commentary on Leonard Cohen's collection of psalm-like prose poems, Book of Mercy, informed by his work translating the book into Modern Hebrew, and by a lifetime of listening, reading, and discussing Cohen's songs and writings. These annotations, above all, reveal the depth of the collection's allusive texture--to Jewish sources, especially, but to a wide range of others, and to Cohen's own life and work. It's a remarkable guide."" --Louis Schwartz, Professor of English, University of Richmond

Author Information

Doron B. Cohen is a lecturer at the Graduate School of Theology of Doshisha University, Kyoto. He is the author of The Japanese Translations of the Hebrew Bible: History, Inventory and Analysis (2013).

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