Godless in Tumourville: Christopher Hitchens interview

March 25, 2011

By Mick Brown, 25 Mar 2011

"Writing in his memoirs, Hitch-22, of the numerous perils that he has faced as a reporter around the globe in places as various as Afghanistan, Northern Ireland and Beirut, Christopher Hitchens reflects that a little danger or discomfort can be a salutary thing: 'I still make sure to go, at least once every year, to a country where things cannot be taken for granted, and where there is either too much law and order or too little.’

 Read More (The Telegraph)

6 comments:

Slappy said...

Yes, I was worried when I read the slate comment about radiation as well. In the c-span Q&A program, CH said that his condition was not amendable to surgery or radiation, and that it had to be chemo. Now that he is getting radiation, the conclusion I seem to come to is that chemo and Collins' experimental treatments weren't working. I hope it is not as dire as that. Maybe he just had to cancel upcoming engagements because of the mouth ulcer condition.

Masha Mafter said...

"'You get letters from people you can hardly remember meeting: “I shall never forget the kindness…” Unbelievably trivial stuff, but they’ve made it into a thing in their minds.’"

Now I do feel rather silly. But, how can kindness be trivial? How can a person know if he changed someone's life for the better?

Joseph Brodsky said, "We have to love everyone and understand everyone. Because we are all in a monstrous position. And we know exactly how this is going to end."

John_gerard1 said...

I’m quite sure that this current event for Mr. H is not what will “do him in”.

But,…should I outlive him, till my last day on earth, I will, as someone similarly did for Edgar Allan Poe on his grave for nearly 3/4 a century, …I will leave every anniversary of C. Hitchens’ birthday, a half empty bottle of Johnny Walker Black. I will be easily recognizable to the Paparazzi and the like….Being from Texas, I’ll be sporting a nice cowboy hat.

You forever changed my life for the better and how my wife and I will raise my young daughter.

Rest Easy,

John G. from Texas.

Ben said...

At the risk of looking too hard for a positive side to this: Slate says CH is having radiation treatment. A few months ago talking to Tony Jones ( see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0dldtkxzVU , about two mins in) CH said that the chemotherapy had come to an end and he 'may be a candidate' for something stronger, stressing though that this was tough to go through. So I think it's good that he is getting the treatment,and only natural that he is feeling worse than when on the chemo.

brite said...

Has anyone established when this interview took place? Was it last week?

Redarkady said...

A great interview. But sad to see a mention of him ‘never missing a deadline’ in a week where that has happened for the first time.
Arky

 
 
 

Christopher reads from Hitch-22: A Memoir