Various Positions: A Life Of Leonard Cohen (1998) - Plot & Excerpts
This book is a bit of a wasted opportunity. While not an official biography, Nadel had access to tons of people close to Cohen, and the book was “benignly tolerated” by Cohen himself. But the author apparently chose to ignore Cohen’s advice not to let “the facts get in the way of the truth.” Nadel, a professor of English at the University of British Columbia, is clearly a fan, but he seems reluctant to own the material or to impose any kind of overarching interpretation on Cohen’s life and work. Despite Nadel's academic bona fides, the book doesn't rise to the level of a critical biography. There's inadequate effort devoted to contextualizing Cohen, and there are only feeble attempts to pass critical judgment on his work and career. Slogging through Various Positions’ lackluster prose, you wish either for a book by a fan who loves the music and isn't afraid to make an impassioned and unapologetic argument as to why, or by someone with little emotional connection to Cohen who can contextualize and dissect and get some real critical distance on the guy and his work. That said, the book does dutifully trudge through all facets of his career (up to his comeback in the early nineties), so you learn a lot of details about the songs and the life, but Nadel never succeeds in capturing the essence of the man. Any attempt to impose a single meaning on any individual life is inevitably a distortion, but a good biographer should at least take a stab at it. Instead, Nadel has given us the life of Leonard Cohen as one damn thing after another.
L. Cohen - An Academic AnalysisFrom the first time I heard Cohen sing Suzanne my junior year of high school I knew that I had discovered a singer/songwriter who would captivate me for years to come. And so it was. I have been an ardent follower of his music & literature for well over 40 years. He is without a doubt one of my all time favorite musical artists. And so, it is sort of odd that it has taken me over seven years to finally tackle this slim, academically focused biography. This book was left to me by my best friend who passed away from lung cancer over seven years ago. Dennis, a poet as well, loved Cohen as I did. When I read Den's poetry I can hear Cohen's voice between his lines. Interestingly, I never asked Den what he thought of this book. I think he may have responded similarly to how I am reacting - love the info, but where's the soul. This book reads very much like a research paper - filled with detailed analysis of his works, but totally devoid of any feeling. It's not like Nadel ignores the emotional angst of his work; after all that is what Cohen is all about. However, her treatment of his work is clinical, detached, almost aloof in discussing the psychic pain that imbues so much of his output.Here's what I would say: If you want to find out who Leonard Cohen is & what's he's about listen to his music or read his poetry. You'll get a much better sense of the man.
What do You think about Various Positions: A Life Of Leonard Cohen (1998)?
I am a stark raving Leonard Cohen fan. He has been the sound track to my life (particularly the difficult parts) since I heard his first album in a Georgetown college dorm room. I always thought his voice was perfectly suited to deliver his dark, funny, always surprising lyrics. Anyway, this book was satisfying in the sense of putting together the chronology of his life and learning about his influences and discovering some things I'd never heard before. It was upsetting in the sense that unmasking any hero can be. I guess he'd be the first to acknowledge his feet of clay. Still love his music, but I no longer wish to sleep with him.
—Judy Frabotta
I am such a big fan of Leonard Cohen that I'm afraid I could never honestly or objectively review his bio. What I feared would happen (and didn't) was that the book would be full of references to what inspired this song or that poem and it would spoil his work for me from then on. Leonard Cohen's work is so sublime that no such thing could interfere with my enjoyment of it. That said, someday a great biography may be written on this great artist, but this wasn't it. Not a bad try, and I enjoyed it enough.
—Dorothy
Ira B. Nadel on käynyt kiitettävällä tarmolla käsiksi Leonard Cohenin elämään. Hän siteeraa antaumuksella Cohenin runoja, kirjoja ja lauluntekstejä ja sitoo niitä niiden kirjoittamisaikaan ja Leonardin sen hetkiseen elämään. Ja analysoi niitä myös. Valitettavasti hän ei osaa antaa tarinan "hengittää" lainkaan. Koko kirja on tappavan tylsästi kirjoitettu. Nadel on verraton tutkija ja perehtynyt aiheeseensa viimeisen päälle hyvin, mutta kirja tuntuu enemmän tutkielmalta kuin elämäkerralta. Kirja on julkaistu alunperin vuonna 1997 ja hän on päivittänyt uuden painoksen vuoteen 2006 asti. Tämä lisäluku kruunaa kirjan latteuden olemalla täysin päälleliimattu ja tuo kymmenen vuoden ajanjakso on ikäänkuin sylkäisty yhtenä klönttinä paperille. Yksi huonoimmista lukemistani elämäkerroista.
—Janne Paananen
