A rework of Psalms….     ***

Sadly, I had not heard of Leonard Cohen until True Detective 2 used his song “Nevermind” as its theme song.  The song intrigued me enough that I bought the album “Popular Problems”.  After reading about Cohen I knew I had to buy some of his writings.

The Book of Mercy is billed as a modernization of Psalms. Cohen’s talent as a poet/writer is evident as he laments about life and its troubles. Written in a prose style, his poetic talent shines through.

While reading each selection, I was constantly reminded of the actual Psalms. This made me think of these as more of a reworking than as new reflections. The tone is somber and while there are 50 selections, they seemed to have one note. I am a wretch but God loves me anyway.

This was a hard book to review as Cohen is an amazing writer but this particular book did not demonstrate his talent very well.

This one, reluctantly, gets only three stars.