Review:
The title Hitch-22 might lead potential
readers to suspect this self described memoir is the diary of a mad
man. Having read it I would vote for the exact opposite: this is a
book written by a very rational person describing his full frontal assault on life in order to leave the world better for it. This is a book
written by someone who loves life, with at least some parts written
with the author’s full knowledge of his pending end through
terminal cancer.
For the few weeks I took to read his
book Christopher Hitchens held my hand through the journeys of his
life. Following from his introduction and the realization his life is
coming to its end, Hitchens takes us back to its start through a
collection of stories, each of which seems to center around key
characters in his life. We start with his parents, which he tellingly
refers to as Yvonne and The Commander. We move on through his British
public (i.e., private) school upbringing at boys only institutions
with everything that comes with that and with a whole lot of Pink Floyd
“We Don’t Need No Education” spirit. The well read Hitchens, to
quote a Richard Dawkins phrase, starts to pop up then, and continues through
his escapades at both Cambridge and Oxford. We move on to meet other
literary figures of influence, such as Salman Rushdie and Martin
Amis. We learn of Hitchens’ views regarding the USA and his relocation there, which obviously meant a lot to him. We learn of his stand on
the Jewish question as well as his stand on matters of
totalitarianism, particularly in the context of Iraq. All in all, a
pretty tight package bursting with views and influences but relatively
few accounts of specific events in a man’s life; this is more about
analysis than story telling. As one can expect, language plays a key
role in the story telling, forcing me to refer to the dictionary at
rather alarming rates but also filling me with awe at the mastery and
style on display.
The effects of the different stories
varies. Some are touching, as with the one on how the author’s
appeal for American citizenship was sponsored by a company impressed
with his writings on Mother Teresa (if you have to ask, Hitchens does
not pay the latter compliments). Others are tragic, as with the story
of Hitchens mother’s growing dissatisfaction and ultimate suicide.
Then there is the educational, as with the stories of Hitchens’
struggles, as limited as an individual’s struggles can be, with
dictatorships in Argentina, Portugal and Iraq.
There is, indeed, a lot to learn from
Hitchens. Not just in the clear sense of the word, as in the learning
of facts about the decline of the British Empire or the support given
by NATO to fascist regimes. There is more to Hitch-22 than facts
learning about the history “our side” would like to forget about;
you know, the stuff we tend to not hear of and avoid talking about
because it shows us as rather different to the gallant pure knights
we think we are.
I found most of my learning came from
the description of the evolution of Hitchens’ own opinions. In a
process that mirrors my own in many respects, Hitchens starts from a
Trotskyite and ends up at a position most of us would describe as
right wing through his support for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Hitchens would beg to differ with that right wing label, but that’s
the whole point of his book: there is a lot to learn from his
development and from his thought process.
No, I do not agree with Hitchens on matters such as Iraq. While there may have been valid reasons for
invading the country, those were not the reasons that led the
Coalition forces there, and these wrong reasons have a lot to do with
the way things ended up. I do, however, agree with Hitchens that as
much as most non Americans like to criticize the USA, it is the USA
that is primarily responsible for sorting out many of the world’s
wrongs (say, former Yoguslavia). It may do so too late, it may do so
reluctantly, but alas – it is the only entity that can do
so, and because of that we should give it some credit.
My reviews are meant to be personal,
and this last point on the USA is the link to the personal side of
Hitchens’ touching me with his story. I know I am flattering myself
badly here, but after reading Hitch-22 I think I can confidently
state Hitchens and I hold a lot in common. We may disagree on things,
but we tend to perform analytics in a similar manner; then again,
many other people do so, too. Where the similarities between us are
sharper is in our common background, with both of us being Jewish according
to many people’s reckonings (in Hitchens’ case,
there are additional racial/religious tags that can be pinned on the
person). Through differing circumstances, both of us felt obliged to
face that Jewish question, and both of us arrived to very similar
conclusions: we are both vocal atheists (can anyone be more vocal
than Hitchens there?), we both acknowledge the effect that Jewish
element had on us, and we share common views regarding the State of
Israel.
The similarities continue to the
relocation department, which is where I will tie the USA thread of the discussion. Both Hitchens and I got to a stage where,
through roughly similar circumstances, we realized we are living at
the wrong country. And we both made a move, but the moves we made say
a lot about the person that made them: Hitchens moved to the USA, the
place he loathed through the Vietnam War but the place he recognized
to be the most influential to be at; I, on the other hand, took the
escape route to Australia. That choice of a path less traveled still
resonates with me: I often wonder of the life that could have been
lived in the USA and the person I would have become instead.
That difference of choice also
summarizes the Christopher Hitchens self portrayed in Hitch-22. A man
who cannot be half a heretic, a man who cannot stand the totalitarian
whatever manifestation it may have, a man in love with life and
struggling to make the world better as a result. It is a great pity I
now have to start talking about him in past tense.
Overall: Hitch-22 is a very enjoyable
ode to life written by a worthy veteran. 4 out of 5 stars.
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