To me, Leonard Cohen has always been the singing and song-writing old guy, but when I found out he has written also a few novels in the 1960's, I knew I had to become acquainted with his books too, when being a big fan of his music. Before reading "Beautiful Losers" I had read through a few poetry books of his and was extremely fascinated of the heavy sensual style, word play and interpersonal themes. I was quite certain his novels couldn't be any worse, so I decided to give it a studious try.Ever since the first pages, the book lured me into the depths of stream of consciousness, relationships, human sexuality ...view middle of the document...
It seems like there's no way out of the sadness and pain, but only the madness of losing remains in the end.The book is devoted exclusively to four characters. Three of them - the narrator, his Aboriginal wife Edith and his lifebelong "friend" - struggle in a love triangle. The fourth character worth mentioning is the mentor "F"."Good" and "best" would do nicely for Beautiful Losers, but there are many more adjectives to describe this masterpiece: disturbing, vulgar, sickening, rhapsodic and maliciously witty, for instance. This novel is like no other. The stream of consciousness, the theme, the characters, the word play, the use of language, the atmosphere, everything is totally brilliant, despite (or perhaps because of) the pointlessness and plotlessness, which didn't bother me at all. While the crude sexuality and erotic acts walk together hand in hand with charming romance, it creates a vivid vision and makes everyone able to identify themselves with the characters. This strange kind of literature, a poetic prose story spiced up with lust, suffering and wisdom, really appeals to my strange taste. It's a book you may read in a day or in a year - it doesn't matter.There's no doubt that Beautiful Losers is a real must read. I loved this unforgettable book from the bottom of my heart and will absolutely read it again.Sources:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leonard_Cohen
