Christopher Hitchens, 13 April 1949 – 15 December 2011

Not all my views have been vindicated, even to me. I see that I write that “I personally want to ‘do’ death in the active and not the passive, and to be there to look it in the eye and be doing something when it comes for me.” I cannot quite sustain this jauntiness in the light of what I now know. Should the best efforts of my physician friends be unavailing, I possess a fairly clear idea of how Stage Four esophageal cancer harvests its victims. The terminal process doesn’t allow much in the way of “activity,” or even of composed farewells, let alone Stoic or Socratic departures. This is why I am so grateful to have had, already, a lucid interval of some length, and to have filled it with the same elements, of friendship and love, and literature and the dialectic, with which I hope some of this book is also animated. I wasn’t born to do any of the things I set down here, but I was born to die and this coda must be my attempt to assimilate the narrative to its conclusion. (Christopher Hitchens, 20 January 2011)[1]

The above passage is the final paragraph of the preface to the paperback re-edition of Christopher Hitchens’ Hitch-22: A Memoir. The book was written while the author was probably already ill, though he did not know it at the time, and the preface was written after he was diagnosed with cancer. The narrative of his life, unfortunately, concluded on 15 December 2011.[2]

He leaves behind countless reams of writing and hours of speaking. In addition to his family and friends who grieve him, many others who have never met him are thinking of him upon learning of his death. He wrote on a wide variety of topics — everything from how to make tea[3] to the importance of the King James Bible to our language and culture,[4] from book reviews (such as his review of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy)[5] to a confirmation that waterboarding is torture (after having undergone the procedure himself),[6] from the untruth and undesirability of religion[7] to defenses of war (especially the war in Iraq).[8] He wrote with great eloquence, drawing on history and literature, and managed to both inspire and infuriate readers.

After his diagnosis,[9] he wrote various essays about his experience with cancer: Tropic of
Cancer,[10] Unanswerable Prayers,[11] Tumortown,[12] Miss Manners and the Big C,[13] Unspoken Truths,[14] and his latest, Trial of the Will.[15] He addressed the subject of his illness (and impending death) with his usual wit. Although Hitchens acknowledged that his illness might not allow him to “do death in the active and not the passive,” these essays displayed bravery and thoughtfulness in the face of death.

I never met the man, though like many, I enjoy his writing and speaking immensely. The first of his works I read was God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything as part of an effort to read more about religion and atheism. At the time, I was already questioning the existence of God and beginning to consider myself an atheist, but his book (among others) inspired me to think more about the questionable morality of religion and especially about the questionable desirability of the afterlife, even Heaven. His now famous comparison of Heaven to a celestial dictatorship, though it may seem harsh to some, as well as his recent essays about cancer have helped me in the ongoing process of dealing with my fear of death.

I’ve read only a small fraction of his lengthy bibliography, though I plan to read more in the future. There are times when I cheer on the inside while reading what he wrote and hearing what he said, other times when I cringe inwardly, and still other times when I become absolutely infuriated. He could be moral and upstanding one moment and absolutely loathsome the next, inspiring both gratitude and anger. His death does not change this about his writing. (The admonishment to speak no ill of the dead is overrated and would be ironic if applied in this case anyway.) No matter whether I agree with him or not on the topic being discussed in a particular piece, his writing challenges me to read more about the topics he’s written on — to learn more and figure out if I think he’s right or not, because one should always seek to keep learning and make up one’s own mind. Disagreeing and debating with him is a challenge, as acknowledged by The Onion’s obituary,[16] but one should want an opponent like him to truly test one’s own views.

Yesterday morning, I had a momentary thought of toasting his memory with a drink (preferably Johnnie Walker Black), despite the fact that I don’t drink alcohol, but I won’t go through with it. Remember always to keep reading, keep thinking, and keep fighting on.

There is probably not God and probably no afterlife, but on the off chance that these do exist, may Hitchens speak on the side of the prosecution against the Almighty.

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References

[1] Hitchens, Christopher. Preface. Hitch-22: A Memoir. New York: Twelve, Hachette Book Group, 2011. (Book originally published in 2010)

[2] Weiner, Juli. In Memoriam: Christopher Hitchens, 1949 – 2011. Posted on 15 December 2011 at Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 16 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2011/12/In-Memoriam-Christopher-Hitchens-19492011.

[3] Hitchens, Christopher. How To Make a Decent Cup of Tea. Posted on 3 January 2011 at Slate. Retrieved on 16 December 2011 from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/01/how_to_make_a_decent_cup_of_tea.html.

[4] Hitchens, Christopher. When the King Saved God. Posted in the May 2011 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 16 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/05/hitchens-201105.

[5] Hitchens, Christopher. Oxford’s Rebel Angel. Posted in the October 2002 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2002/10/hitchens200210.

[6] Hitchens, Christopher. Believe Me, It’s Torture. Posted in the August 2008 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2008/08/hitchens200808.

[7] Hitchens, Christopher. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything. New York: Twelve, Hachette Book Group, 2007.

[8] Hitchens, Christopher. In Defense of Endless War. Posted on 19 September 2011 in Slate. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2011/09/in_defense_of_endless_war.html.

[9] Hitchens, Christopher. An Update from Christopher Hitchens. Posted 30 June 2010 at Vanity Fair. Retrieved 16 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/online/daily/2010/06/an-update-from-christopher-hitchens.

[10] Hitchens, Christopher. Tropic of Cancer. Posted in the September 2010 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/09/hitchens-201009.

[11] Hitchens, Christopher. Unanswerable Prayers. Posted in the October 2010 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/10/hitchens-201010.

[12] Hitchens, Christopher. Tumortown. Posted in the November 2010 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/11/hitchens-201011.

[13] Hitchens, Christopher. Miss Manners and the Big C. Posted in the December 2010 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2010/12/hitchens-201012.

[14] Hitchens, Christopher. Unspoken Truths. Posted in the June 2011 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/features/2011/06/christopher-hitchens-unspoken-truths-201106.

[15] Hitchens, Christopher. Trial of the Will. Posted in the January 2012 issue of Vanity Fair. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.vanityfair.com/culture/2012/01/hitchens-201201.

[16] Fumbling, Inarticulate Obituary Writer Somehow Losing Debate To Christopher Hitchens. Posted on 16 December 2011 at The Onion. Retrieved on 17 December 2011 from http://www.theonion.com/articles/fumbling-inarticulate-obituary-writer-somehow-losi,26890/.