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alanffm's review against another edition
5.0
Second read through: Possibly Cohen's most conservative (which is to say not very) book of poetry. I found the last batch of poems to be particularly harsh. The volume portrays a cynical speaker's voice that will only worsen in later volumes.
Original Review:
Cohen's second book of poetry is exciting and exceptionally Jewish. His flirtation with images of light and darkness first takes form in these early poems, which I believe, are the beginning of a more articulate form of the Cohen poetic mark; the holy and the broken, love and hate and many other extreme contrasts associated with his music and poetry find a slightly clearer voice here than in Let Us Compare Mythologies.
It's hard to avoid Cohen's many allusions to the body and its destruction. Reading The Spice-Box of Earth as anything but a response to the Holocaust seems misguided. If such a reading is required, then the many mutilated bodies and Jewish references found throughout can be made sense of.
Original Review:
Cohen's second book of poetry is exciting and exceptionally Jewish. His flirtation with images of light and darkness first takes form in these early poems, which I believe, are the beginning of a more articulate form of the Cohen poetic mark; the holy and the broken, love and hate and many other extreme contrasts associated with his music and poetry find a slightly clearer voice here than in Let Us Compare Mythologies.
It's hard to avoid Cohen's many allusions to the body and its destruction. Reading The Spice-Box of Earth as anything but a response to the Holocaust seems misguided. If such a reading is required, then the many mutilated bodies and Jewish references found throughout can be made sense of.
madealine's review against another edition
Shelved as "Books I've read to impress men (A Tragedy)" Favorites include: Travel and Song.
sisteray's review against another edition
4.0
The poems that worked best for me tended to be the simplest. I love his work when he is really frank, with a wry wit. He creates delightful twists and reveals. And his lust poems are all rather charming.
Then scattered between them are poems that seem so internalized that I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. Some of it felt like cockney rhyming slang in the sense that there are logical steps to get to the conclusion. But if you aren’t privy to the process you end up with an answer with no context to the original subject.
So, not infrequently, I would find myself wading into a garble of beautiful words about spires and reference to Solomon or Abelard. I just half assume that it’s some oblique reference to sex. It’s hard not to think that some of these poems were inside jokes to himself.
Still, I quite liked it, and was always engaged.
Then scattered between them are poems that seem so internalized that I honestly had no idea what he was talking about. Some of it felt like cockney rhyming slang in the sense that there are logical steps to get to the conclusion. But if you aren’t privy to the process you end up with an answer with no context to the original subject.
So, not infrequently, I would find myself wading into a garble of beautiful words about spires and reference to Solomon or Abelard. I just half assume that it’s some oblique reference to sex. It’s hard not to think that some of these poems were inside jokes to himself.
Still, I quite liked it, and was always engaged.
mbahnaf's review against another edition
4.0
Leonard Cohen's second collection of poems, The Spice Box of Earth was published in 1961, when Cohen was 27 years old. One of his earlier works, the collection contains 59 poems and a photograph of Cohen taken by Sophie Baker.
darthban's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
jenok's review against another edition
2.0
There are some beautiful poems in this volume. An example:
Gift
You tell me that silence
is nearer to peace than poems
but if for my gift
I brought you silence
(for I know silence)
you would say
This is not silence
this is another poem
and you would hand it back to me
I also really like 'Beneath my Hands', which I first heard a few months ago when my partner was reading me poetry to distract me from a nasty dental infection. There are several other stand out pieces. The overall tone, tho, is a little terse and unemotional. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't particularly move me, which is why I'm rating 2 stars in spite of some really nice poems.
Gift
You tell me that silence
is nearer to peace than poems
but if for my gift
I brought you silence
(for I know silence)
you would say
This is not silence
this is another poem
and you would hand it back to me
I also really like 'Beneath my Hands', which I first heard a few months ago when my partner was reading me poetry to distract me from a nasty dental infection. There are several other stand out pieces. The overall tone, tho, is a little terse and unemotional. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it doesn't particularly move me, which is why I'm rating 2 stars in spite of some really nice poems.
tanyapoet's review against another edition
3.0
Appreciated the lyricism but don't feel that this collection aged well.
kingjason's review against another edition
3.0
This book is from early on in Leonard Cohen's poetry. You can see signs of himself in the writing, most of it is quite standard, a bit of rhyme here and there, lots of descriptive stuff but no real life to it. A huge amount of the book features poems about his religion and with me not understanding that religion I couldn't really get what was being said. There is also no stand out poem, whilst reading his work nothing much jumped out at me.
At the end of the book he has included some lines from his Grandfather's journals and there you can find some brilliance. Some are obviously his experiences of the holocaust and it was an experience reading them, so much emotion packed into a few lines. A sample of his Grandfather's writing;
Erase from my flesh the marks of my own whip. Heal
the razor slashes on my arms and throat. Remove the metal
clamps from my fingers. Repair the bones I have crushed in
the door.
Do not let me lie down with spiders. Do not let me
encourage insects against my eyes. Do not let me make my
living nest with worms or apply to my stomach the comb of
iron or bind my genitals with cord.
At the end of the book he has included some lines from his Grandfather's journals and there you can find some brilliance. Some are obviously his experiences of the holocaust and it was an experience reading them, so much emotion packed into a few lines. A sample of his Grandfather's writing;
Erase from my flesh the marks of my own whip. Heal
the razor slashes on my arms and throat. Remove the metal
clamps from my fingers. Repair the bones I have crushed in
the door.
Do not let me lie down with spiders. Do not let me
encourage insects against my eyes. Do not let me make my
living nest with worms or apply to my stomach the comb of
iron or bind my genitals with cord.
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