Christopher Hitchens Mortality Review: An Atheist Prepares for Death

[rug]

William Garcia
4 hours ago

This book is new territory for me in two ways. When I read Mortality, the last and unfortunately unfinished book by the late, great Christopher Hitchens, not only am I reading words written on a deathbed, but I — a book reviewer — am pretty ashamed to say that it’s also the first and, so far, only book of his that I’ve ever read. I believe in honesty, and that it would be important to admit that for the sake of context.

- snip -

Mortality, a collection of musings which touch upon a variety of subjects (though mostly those one would reasonably expect a dying, suffering realist to dwell on), captures all of the same grace, unapologetic intellectualism, and inspiration — and then some. Throughout his book, your sense of him and all that makes him great is heightened precisely because it’s in writing; he bared his soul in his written words.

You get a sense for how important writing is to him in one of his more painful passages. “I often grandly say,” Hitchens writes, “that writing is not just my living and my livelihood but my very life, and it’s true.” The pain is in the context: he had been injected with something to alleviate the pain in his extremities, the chief byproduct of which was a numbness that instilled within him a fear of losing the ability to write. He remarks, “Without that ability, I feel sure in advance, my ‘will to live’ would be hugely attenuated.”

“I feel my personality and identity dissolving as I contemplate dead hands and the loss of the transmission belts that connect me to writing and thinking.”

http://www.policymic.com/articles/15153/christopher-hitchens-mortality-review-an-atheist-prepares-for-death

[longship]

1. Thanks, rug.

I am a big Hitch fan. Great to read this review.

[rug]

2. That's a chilling quote of his.

[longship]

5. Indeed...

Hitchens' last months were astounding. He continued to speak and debate as long as he was able. I think he was highly motivated to do so for reasons we cannot really understand. It would have been one of a personal nature, I suspect.

However, I suspect that he was trying to make a point with his overtly expressed atheism. There is a history of believers attributing death bed confessions of piety to non-believers. Darwin comes to mind here. Dawkins has expressed concern about this. I suspect Hitch had this in mind as his illness took its course. IMHO, his last months were exemplary.

I wish I had more money for more books.

[man4allcats]

3. I haven't read Hitchens yet though, as an atheist, I know I should.

I nevertheless empathize with his comment on the pain of dying. “Without that ability, I feel sure in advance, my ‘will to live’ would be hugely attenuated.” It is not death that is the problem. Death is nothing or literally nothingness, but the suffering is in the dying - the loss of all things and abilities familiar. Compared to that, death is a release and a blessing when it comes. So long, my friend, whom I have not yet come to know.

[longship]

6. "God is not Great" is a great polemic.

And iconic Hitchens. He also wrote a biography of Thomas Paine, and another book on Jefferson. The guy was a prolific writer.

Another is his pamphlet, "The Missionary Position," about Mother Theresa. It is not one in support. Rather Hitch skewers her. Nobody ever accused Hitchens of cowering in the face of controversy.

[man4allcats]

4. This thread deserves more than 4 recs from this ostensibly liberal site.

Get off your asses and add a rec!

[cbayer]

8. He may be a good spokesperson for some members in terms of religion, but his political

positions were often in stark contrast to what this site is about.

He certainly is no liberal/progressive hero.

[cpwm17]

13. Being an atheist didn't make him a liberal

This is a liberal site.

To any liberal, believing in peace should be far more important than whether you believe in any god or not. Hitchens heavily promoted aggressive war and he even promoted genocide against Muslims.

His life ain't shit compared to all of those people he helped murder in his goddamn war.

[roguevalley]

7. a lot of people hated his politics. I still do. That is why he is received lukewarmly here a lot of

the times. He kissed bush's ass. that makes him nothing to me. to each his own.

[Jim__]

9. I'm surprised that Garcia had never heard of Hitchens.

I'm sure he'd be surprised at some of the people I've never heard of. It's a great big world.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

10. Never heard of? or never read?

[Jim__]

11. According to the article, never heard of 'til the day he died.

I’m even more ashamed to say that the first time I had ever heard of the guy was…yes, the day he died, and it was only because it was all over CNN. ...

[Hassin Bin Sober]

12. You are correct.

[Odin2005]

14. I already miss Hitch.

He could be a neocon dick at times, but when he was right he hit it out of the park. He was one of the great essayists of our time.

[rug]

15. I agree completely with your last sentence.

But "neocon dick" is mild.