I’m currently half way through Christopher Hitchens’ memoir: Hitch 22. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to Harry’s Place readers on the basis that there is an obvious shared subject matter between the book and this website. Examples?
1. In a passage in an early chapter about left wing political struggles of the 1970s Hitchens suddenly shifts vantage point and delivers the following bitter observation: “Today I want to puke when I hear the word “radical” applied so slothfully and stupidly to Islamist murderers; the most plainly reactionary people in the world.” Who doesn’t still inwardly cheer when they see that sort of thing written down in black and white?
2. Next, here’s a quote from Terry Eagleton about Hitchens that appears at the head of Chapter six: “Perhaps I should add that when Cristopher Hitchens was still a humble Chris, he and I were comrades in the same far-left political outfit. But he has gone on to higher things, discovering in the process of political maturity as a naturalized citizen of Babylon, whereas I have remained stuck in the same old political groove, a case of arrested development if ever there was one.” The writers’ acid response directly underneath? – Terry Eagleton, trying to be funny while describing himself accurately. Ha ha. Too true.
3. Certain people who habituate the HP comments box might recognise themselves if they forked out the price of the book too. Guess who this is: “A tall and rangy and bushy and charismatic Jewish Communist who could draw all eyes and who had already had a theatrical piece performed at the Oxford Playhouse”
If no-one guesses (which I doubt) I’ll let you know when I come back from the beach.
