I'll wear a mask for you...

[lordbyron]

Hi, everyone. I'm brand new to this site. I am really grateful to be a part of this. I've never joined an online chat group or forum or blog or anything before, but Leonard serves as an exception to a lot of habits. I have been obsessed with Leonard for awhile now, but I suspect many on this site are more knowledgeable than me, which is great because I'd like to ask some questions. I just got back from living at a monastery. I didn't make it five years, only six months, but I'd be lying if I said LC's own pilgrimmage didn't on some level influence the drive for mine. And on the darker side of obsession, I smoke Marlboro Lights because I read an interview where Leonard was smoking them. Oh well. Maybe there's a special spot for me in 'the land of plenty' if my health is destroyed. Anyway, I'd like to throw out a few questions. I mean no offense in these at all; I hold Leonard very close to the core of my heart. I am also obsessed, though, and the obsessive mind gets curious. Many blessings to you all....

1. Do you think Leonard Cohen has really had an extremely 'large' amount of lovers? Or do you think he just draws his poetic inspiration from women, writes often about the beauty of the feminine and love, so that it appears he is constantly having affairs? And then he doges, negates, or denies, the reputation as a ladies' man, while simultaneously saying things that make the legend grow, creating a mystique that is largely fictititious? And in actuality, he's taken it easy and not been that promiscuous?

well, that was a mouthful. I hope it made sense. I guess I'll just ask that one question for now....

again, I'm pleased to be a part of this,
all the best,
Lord Byron

[osmachar]

I think you don't have to have experienced everything in your real life in order to write about it. You can draw from other people's experience, your imagination or whatever.

[Manna]

I disagree. I think you need life experience to be able to write honestly. I think Leonard does everything he can to write honestly. I get the feeling that, for him, taking 42 years to write a poem is because he needs to go through that process to get the thing as genuine as he can get it. Some of the trouble may be that he is allowed to change his mind and to see multiple sides.

There's also fiction, and the imagination is a critical component of any literary writing. But what you imagine may lack authenticity if you've lived a limited life.

[osmachar]

Of course you need life experience. But you can also draw from other people's experiences, from your observations, from your imagination - all that comes with life experience too.

If a writer writes about war for example he/she doesn't have to have experienced one him-/herself. Or if you write about death you don't have to die first

You can do your research by talking to other people and by using your own imagination to take a story/poem further and make it your own and this is still honest writing.

[Manna]

Ah, I see what you mean now.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Lord Byron ~

Welcome to the Forum .

I've always felt it is important, too, to remember that Leonard's relationships have been long-term and, though he has seen and experienced other women, he has remained friends with nearly every single one of his former paramours... an unlikely feat, if the prevailing nature of those relationships was promiscuous or ladies-man'ish. That kind of lover tends to get discarded or fall by the wayside.

I also wonder aloud here how would his experiences compare, if other men had written of their own experiences during periods of their being uncommitted. I don't think the comparison would be so remarkably different. It hasn't seemed to me that Leonard could fairly be considered promiscuous or as constantly having affairs.

It also seems to me that the depth of Leonard's appreciation of the female form, psyche, and presence is pronounced, and that his visual and visceral memory of women is powerful, lasting, and deep.


~ Lizzy

[osmachar]

Also, what does it matter how many girlfriends/boyfriends someone has had?

[lizzytysh]

Hi Osmachar ~

You're right... and at least they didn't shut down and stop trying... .


~ Lizzy

[lordbyron]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Of course, it's neither negative nor positive necessarily how many lovers anyone has had. I've always relished Leonard's appreciation, both psychological and physical, of women. I had always assumed he maintained deeply emotionally intimate connections with anyone in his life. But really, I don't know much about his personal life and was wondering out of some giddy, adolescent curiosity, what his history of lovers has actually been like in real life. Maybe it's a silly, meaningless thing to wonder about, but I'm silly and meaningless sometimes.

As far as writing from imagination or experience, it helps me when I can ground my writing in actual events, actual conversations, actual processes I myself went through. Perhaps the masters can make experiences seem genuine with imagination and indirect interaction, but I am no master...

[margaret]

I would suggest you try to get a copy of the Biography by Ira Nadel, titled Various Positions. It was published about 1996 but was recently updated, and may or may not be available depending on where you live. A library may have a copy or else try searching on http://www.abebooks.com for a secondhand copy.

[Byron]

The second part of my signature may help you with your question. To write truthfully, requires tremendous effort. We all wear public masks. We all conform to social norms, in one way or another. We all behave within acceptable social boundaries. To totally rid oneself of what is expected and just be self 'ish' takes unusual talent. One has to know oneself before one can begin to even understand others properly. I believe that Leonard has this talent. He knows his strengths, weaknesses, gifts, drawbacks, and acknowledges them with a truthful acceptance of what sort of person he is. One cannot hope to understand the workings of others' minds unless one knows oneself. Being oneself is a rarity in today's world. Because Leonard is 'aware' of himself, he finds the exploration of those people around him to be more rewarding and fruitful than many can hope to manage. I believe this is why he finds the way into hearts with apparent ease, but actually it is damned hard work and he's been working damned hard for years.

[Laura]

I picture my world these days as an endless number of tall grey walls and coloured masks; and I bump into them, sometimes I talk with them and many times I see them laughing; but I can't understand why they move or why they laugh. I don't know what mask I am supposed to wear.
Byron, I really liked what you said about everyone wearing public masks. Still, we all offer to the others something of ourselves to the others, more or less (depending of the size of our mask!), and then wait anxiously to see if the offer will be accepted. I have the feeling Leonard offers a lot, but without the waiting, the pressure of having to accept the offer or not. I mean the way he is now. But then of course I may just be imagining things, I didn't meet him, as most of you lucky people seem to have done!
Laura

[Manna]

I wrote a response, but I found I wanted to put my mask back on rather than post it.
I'll just say this: I'd like to meet Leonard someday too, and I hope, if it ever happens, that I'm memorable.

[lizzytysh]

Hi Manna ~

If you're 100th as poignantly honest as you are in your writing, you will be nothing less than forever memorable.


~ Lizzy

[Red Poppy]

Osmachar writes:
"If a writer writes about war for example he/she doesn't have to have experienced one him-/herself. Or if you write about death you don't have to die first
You can do your research by talking to other people and by using your own imagination to take a story/poem further and make it your own and this is still honest writing."

My question - if I'm writing about death can you direct me to someone I can talk to who has experience of it?