The Winner Takes It All

Thursday night when Paul told me that Leonard Cohen had died, one thought jumped into my mind: The Nobel Committee for Literature should have given Cohen the prize, since he was more poetic than any musicians alive. I could not believe my eyes on reading the first thing in the morning, Jonathan Wells's article Forget Bob Dylan. Leonard Cohen should have been the first songwriter to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. "Great minds think alike," I texted to Paul immediately.

This year's Nobel Prize for Literature is the most controversial one I can ever remember. It silenced Bob Dylan for more than a month, which fermented a rumor circulated on WeChat. Now I would not be surprised if it might have contributed to the passing of a disappointed Cohen.

If we put Dylan and Cohen together for a comparison of poetic expression, Cohen is definitely the winner judging from his literature education, novel and poetry publishing, and his being a top lyricist and musician since the late 1960's. Perhaps the Committee was looking beyond poetic expression, for something bigger and more enduring, such as influence. In so far as influence is concerned, Dylan does surpass Cohen and most of his fellow musicians worldwide, thus The Winner Takes It All, as ABBA sings.

Cohen himself realized the paradox of life a long time ago in Anthem,

I can't run no more
with that lawless crowd
while the killers in high places
say their prayers out loud.

Courtesy of http://cdn.thegentlemansjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/cohen5-670x359.jpg

Mind and Soul Occupied (Okkupert)

After watching Occupied, a 2015 Norwegian TV series, Paul and I have found our minds occupied ever since. The TV series is based on the original idea developed by Jo Nesbø, and directed by Erik Skjoldbjærg. It is a futurist piece about fictitious Norwegian Prime Minister Jesper Berg's hopeless efforts against the energy crisis to ensure independence and peace for Norway. He is seen gambling on thorium-based nuclear energy at the beginning of the show, but shaking hands reluctantly with the subversive ex-military leader towards the end of season one.

Hans Martin Djupvik, a member of Norwegian special police force and Berg's former bodyguard, is Nesbø's Harry Hole in the series. He is brave, resourceful, but frustrated with his surroundings. His loyalty to his country lands him the label of Russian collaborator, ruining both his own and his wife's promising careers in law enforcement. Meanwhile Wenche Arnesen, the Norwegian Police Security Service chief, has sabotaged every single operation by Djupvik and his team, with her clandestine maneuvering. Even her suicide is played to muddle the political water. Throughout the series, our traditional values have been greatly challenged, such as war vs. peace, patriotism vs. nationalism, loyalty vs. betrayal and resistance vs. terrorism.