Christopher Hitchens; debater, polemicist, writer, philosopher, essayist.
In my humble opinion, he remains one of the greatest thinkers of our age.
Christopher Hitchens took on the strongest arguments of religious believers and dismantled them in both his writing and in front of live audiences. His debates and lectures are still widely available on YouTube and his books continue to be incredibly popular.
When you think of an atheist, your mind probably goes straight to Christopher Hitchens.
What some people fail to realise, however, is that he was also a prolific essay writer, on an eclectic range of subjects that are unrelated to his political or philosophical views.
In this article I have listed some of my favourite Christopher Hitchens essays and why I appreciate them so deeply.
My favourite Hitchens essays:
1. “Prisoner of Shelves”
City Journal, 2008
Book lovers will understand the deep-rooted emotion of this essay. Hitchens compares himself to that of Kaspar Utz, Bruce Chatwin’s character who “becomes the captive of his porcelain collection – and eventually loses his life because he cannot move without it.” Hitchens is ensnared by his books as their piles grow larger and larger.
“Bibliomania cripples my social life… Some kind friends argue for a cull, to create more space and to provide an incentive to organize. All right, but I can’t throw out a book that has been with me for any length of time and thus acquired sentimental value.”
Hitchens hits the nail on the head for all of us book worms. So many books, so little space.
The essay discusses the possibility of arranging them in some order… alas, but no, how would one arrange them? And, what about throwing some out? Well, that is also impossible for a bibliophile like Hitchens (and many of you, I’m sure.)
The essay speaks to me on a personal level; whilst writing this post I ordered two more books from eBay, including Chatwin’s Utz, as referenced to by Hitchens.
It is just too easy to become a prisoner of your shelves!
2. “Charles, Prince of Piffle”
Slate, 2010
Long before the death of his mother, the Queen, Charles was being berated by the UK press for being a weakling and an unfit ruler of the British people. Christopher Hitchens was one of the more vehemently opposed journalists to Old Charlie Boy.
Only Hitchens could come up with such pejorative put-downs for the – now reigning – royal as “a morose bat-eared and chinless man, prematurely aged, and with the most abysmal taste in royal consorts” – and get away with it.
In three short pages Christopher Hitchens took the Prince down in style. Mocking Charlie’s pathetic toadying to religious quacks and the ridiculous notion of monarchy itself, Hitchens comes across not only as superbly intelligent but also unwaveringly righteous.
It is hard to argue with this essay’s barbed and pointed tongue.
3. “Fraser’s Flashman: Scoundrel Time”
Vanity Fair, 2006
As a book reviewer, this essay was a particular inspiration to me.
Flashman is a series of novels written by George MacDonald Fraser based on a central anti-hero, Harry Flashman. In his essay, Hitchens praises the books for their coverage of history from the anti-hero’s point of view which is refreshing and authentic. It is a change from the story always being told from the victor’s annals.
Hitchens clearly read the entire series because he aptly notes what many other readers realised at the time. Flashman was starting to go from anti-hero to hero in the most unappealing way.
“All you needed, in order to anticipate old Flashy’s moves, was to guess at the lowest possible motive. And then, unaccountably, our hero started to go soft.”
Flashman started out, as Hitchens states, as the baddy. “In the earlier stories, Flashman is a sadist and a brute as well as a rascally coward and goof off” but as the novels came out and the story progressed, “one blushed to see the pitiful wreck of what had once been such an ignoble man.”
It is within this kind of acute awareness of both the readers and the motives of a character within another author’s work that Hitchens enshrines his intellect. He had clearly read the novels deeply, reviewed them, and found them wanting a certain scoundrelly flair.
4. “Political Animals”
The Atlantic, 2002
Politics and animals – not much cross over there right? Wrong! And, Hitchens explains why.
The essay starts as an interesting view into The Whitehouse’s speech writer’s ironic banter amongst one another. A well known vegan being made to write speeches on the eve of the mass slaughter of turkeys for Thanksgiving, for example.
This leads into a polemic against animal cruelty that is as persuasive as it is eloquent. Hitchens was not a vegan or vegetarian but, as with most of us, detested the idea of animal cruelty. He riles against the utilitarian hippies as well, claiming that their pseudo-moralistic stance is just as abhorrent as the rationalistic and unfeeling mass farming techniques that have become so popular.
This essay is a lesson in how to write a persuasive argument on any subject.
Why Christopher Hitchens is My Favourite
Christopher Hitchens holds a special place in my heart and my book shelf. He is one of my heroes and remains popular with millions around the world, as much for his debates as his writing.
His essays are well worth the read. They have taught me how to approach subjects with passion, curiosity and no small degree of wit. I strive to emulate his terse and dry humour when tackling the biggest issues of the day as well as the smaller, more superficial pieces.
He stands alongside Orwell in many respects, especially the impression one gets when reading his work that every word belongs exactly where it falls. He never left anything unsaid, and yet, never wasted a single milometer of paper.
Hitchens’ dazzling intellect shines through in every sentence he wrote and one only need listen to him speak for a moment to realise there was nothing insincere about his intelligence.
I highly recommend reading his essays to get a feel of the power of words and their influence when utilised properly.
Written by R.P.C.
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