Sorry I have been gone for so long. Although things may have kept me from posting, nothing has kept me from reading and listening to Leonard. I am about to start Book of Mercy, but before I do, I had a few more thoughts on DOALM. First off, I have to say, what a wealth of thoughts and feelings there is to explore in this little book!
Monica and Lilith- I had to do a little research on the meaning of these two names after seeing them appear multiple times--- sometimes alone, sometimes together. They seemed a bit ying/yang or dark/light. The name Monica was already of personal interest to me. One of my siblings was named Monica, but she died before I was born. My sister named my niece in her memory, but she too passed before her time. I am not sure why I had not looked up the origin of the name until now. Regardless, I found out that St. Monica is the patron saint of married women, who, according to the Google gods, is honored for her Christian virtues. She was remembered in particular for the suffering she endured, caused by her husband's adultery. Lilith on the other hand is a bit of a demon, and according to Jewish tradition was Adam's first wife and the embodiment of the temptations that a man is subject to before- and after- he meets the love of his life. I found this last info on the abarim-piblications.com website in their 'Biblical Name Vault' which was very interesting. Anyway, judging by some of Leonard's favorite subjects to write about, I can see why both of these women would interest him. By the way, the entry in Death of a Lady's Man that at last caused me to look them up is titled 'Traditional Training and Service'.
There was an entry in this book that made me think of another discussion in our forum (Along the Way... Discovering Leonard's Music) where we were talking about the song The Window. We were supposing different meanings of the rose as a symbol in Leonard's lyrics. Here in DOALM, he gives us the answer, or at least one of the answers, when he tells us that the rose symbolizes surrender. However, I have just looked through my copy to find the poem, and now I cannot find it! This cracks me up because I must have at least 30 sticky notes and torn scraps of paper tucked into this interesting book and not one was on the entr I am looking for. Anyway, I bring it up to point out that what B4 quoted earlier here from an interview of Leonard's seems to be true.
Lastly, regarding the songs and seeds of songs in DOALM, I was happy to see the lines of one my favorites from Recent Songs appear as the last stanza in Everything That Is Unengaged:B4real post wrote:....“there are the answers to all your questions in this book” and “all the answers are here; it’s all in here.”...
and look, dear heart, how the virgin
she takes him into her gown,
and see how the stranger's armour
dissolves like a star falling down
I remember when we were discussing the album, I said that I liked Humbled in Love, but I was told that Leonard never played it live and had said it was an 'embarrasement' to him. I thought then that I could not imagine him being embarrassed since as we all know, he was very picky about what he thought was worthy of recording. The fact that these lines also appear in print in Death of a Lady's Man makes me wonder even more why he said was embarrassed by it.
I know I keep saying I love each of his books, but you will have to take my word for it when I say it yet again... I truly do love this interesting little book.
Now, as for the next one, Book of Mercy. I can't help but feel that it will be a marked change in style and substance, but maybe I am completely wrong. I will find out.
I admit that I am looking forward to 2019 with open arms and I wish anyone who happens to read this a very Happy New Year!
Vickie