Leonard Cohen by Christophe Lebold

Author:Christophe Lebold
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: ECW Press
Published: 2024-09-05T00:00:00+00:00

a clinical depression that [was] the background of [my] entire life, a background of anguish and anxiety, a sense that nothing goes well, that pleasure is unavailable and all your strategies collapse.22

With his sixth decade just around the corner, Leonard started to accept that it was not just the human condition he was struggling with but an issue of mental health. Advised by friends, he saw doctors and had his first try at antidepressant medication. He knew, however, that no amount of Wellbutrin, Zoloft, Paxil, or Prozac, all of which he would try during the coming decade, would spare him a new confrontation with the avalanche inside and the black angel who lived in it.23 He also knew from Jacob’s story that when struggling with angels, your aim is not to win, but to be wounded and blessed in the morning. The problem was that every new encounter with the black angel seemed to strengthen the creature, while Leonard felt seriously weakened by years of struggle.

It was also getting increasingly clearer that the love Leonard really needed could not be given by twenty-year-old girlfriends, especially those you don’t make promises to. Hence a deeper relationship, with Dominique Issermann, an artist and professional woman in her early thirties who fascinated Leonard. Hence also an increasing tendency to turn to another source of love. And somehow the poet knew that his next book — the one he was beginning to write — would include an avalanche and a love so vast it dissolves all your sins and fears.

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