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78 reviews for:
The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah
Alan Light
3.55 AVERAGE
78 reviews for:
The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, and the Unlikely Ascent of Hallelujah
Alan Light
3.55 AVERAGE
This book feels like something I would have written in college. My professors would tell me it was all very interesting but ask me for a thesis. Also, as I kind of expected, it's too long for its subject (a single song, which, though beautiful and powerful, runs only 6 or 7 minutes in even its longest versions). Clearly began as a great article the author thought could be unpacked into a book.
Very enjoyable book, especially if you are a Cohen or Buckley fan. It reads like a long magazine article. The first half where Light dissects the song itself is more engaging than the second half which more or less lists major recordings of "Hallelujah."
Eventually this book devolves into a list of all the times Hallelujah has been sung on American Idol, but up until that point it's oddly compelling. The author manages to avoid any cynicism throughout, even while describing how the song has become a lazy emotional shorthand for TV shows, a crutch for young musicians trying to boost their careers, and a golden goose of a sort for an aging and financially-strapped Cohen. A healthy dose of cynicism might have helped this book in the last few chapters, but overall it's entertaining and well-researched.
It's hard for me to tease out my feelings for the book, when the book is an exercise in conjuring the song. Like nearly everyone else, I adore the song. I have a favorite version, maybe three. I've sat in concert halls and listened to Cohen sing it, tears running down my face, exactly twice. So far.
Well written, well-researched, this book is fascinating to read if you are at all interested in the long strange trip this song has taken, and what many of the singers think about it. It's a special song, and it's fun to hear what so many singers have to say about it. Recommended.
Well written, well-researched, this book is fascinating to read if you are at all interested in the long strange trip this song has taken, and what many of the singers think about it. It's a special song, and it's fun to hear what so many singers have to say about it. Recommended.
Let's just get this out of the way right now. The only two acceptable covers of this song are by kd lang and Rufus Wainwright (although it's really a cover of the Cale version), John Cale if you must.
The book was OK. Much of the time it feels too much like a litany of people who have covered the song, although I suppose it is unavoidable for this sort of discussion. It felt really padded-out, the way one uses excessive quotations to up the length of a thing that doesn't have enough substance (not that I would know anything about that). I would have liked to have seen more in-depth discussion about the way the song has gotten away from its origins and has become different things to different people.
Unless you literally know nothing about Leonard Cohen (in which case I would point you to the Simmons biography anyways), save your time and read the conference paper Michael Barthel did in 2007 about the ubiquity to the point of inappropriateness of the song.
The book was OK. Much of the time it feels too much like a litany of people who have covered the song, although I suppose it is unavoidable for this sort of discussion. It felt really padded-out, the way one uses excessive quotations to up the length of a thing that doesn't have enough substance (not that I would know anything about that). I would have liked to have seen more in-depth discussion about the way the song has gotten away from its origins and has become different things to different people.
Unless you literally know nothing about Leonard Cohen (in which case I would point you to the Simmons biography anyways), save your time and read the conference paper Michael Barthel did in 2007 about the ubiquity to the point of inappropriateness of the song.
I love this song as much as anyone, but this book would have been much better off as an essay. It just dragged on and on. I was also ticked off at the emphasis on Buckley, two whole chapters devoted to licking his boots and praising his so-called talent, when his version of Hallelujah is the absolute worst I've ever heard.
"Hallelujah" is one of my all-time favorite songs. It's haunting melody and poetic verses are some of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard. To think that the song may have never been heard!
Alan Light does a great job tracing the history of the song from being on an unreleased album to becoming a major hit for singer who passed before the song's potential was realized.
My only disappointment was that Leonard Cohen had declined to be interviewed for the book. While he encouraged Mr. Light to tell the story of the song that wasn't ever meant to be, Mr. Cohen's own personal insight is missed and I feel like that part of the story would have been great to read as well. But Mr. Light does a great job with that he has to work with.
You don't have to be a music fan to enjoy this book (Though it would probably add more enjoyment to it).
Alan Light does a great job tracing the history of the song from being on an unreleased album to becoming a major hit for singer who passed before the song's potential was realized.
My only disappointment was that Leonard Cohen had declined to be interviewed for the book. While he encouraged Mr. Light to tell the story of the song that wasn't ever meant to be, Mr. Cohen's own personal insight is missed and I feel like that part of the story would have been great to read as well. But Mr. Light does a great job with that he has to work with.
You don't have to be a music fan to enjoy this book (Though it would probably add more enjoyment to it).