Mortality by Christopher Hitchens

I was about a generation too young to have a clear picture of the erudite intellectuals one would have seen in the sixties and early seventies, the William F Buckley's and Gore Vidal's that would appear anywhere a stage was presented and a subject to debate.

As we in the last twenty years have become more and more a people of the lowest common denominator and one that values less and less thought and civil discussion this might soon be something one has to seek out in order to experience it.

One of our greatest intellectuals in the last generation was Christopher Hitchens. Hitchens still a fairly young man when he was struck with esophageal cancer two years ago passed away in December of 2011. Hitchens, perhaps best known as being the worlds most virulent atheist was a brilliant man. His writing over the last twenty years was voluminous in the extreme and he would write on anything. Public debate was another of his passions and because of his talent at this he often came into contact with those of differing opinions, including those who are strong Christians.

I think it must say something about a person if the people he disagrees, argues with, debates with are those that speak the highest of him. Hitchens loved life and when he was stricken with this especially nasty form of cancer he resolved to record his experience as best he could, as he always did, through the written word.

In this book we read the first essay he wrote for Vanity Fair once he was diagnosed. Originally not sure he wanted to write about it, once he did, the words flowed in his typical manner. Hitchens described living in Tumorland as opposed to the regular world. He tells us in the short book Mortality that one can visit Tumorland and even consider the experiences original but it is no place to stay.

Speaking about the horrible proton treatments he had and the severe burns inside and out one feels for him, hearing him speak about the phrase " what does not kill you makes you stronger" as one of the stupidest expressions he has ever heard mirrors my opinion on this subject. Hitchens describes that perhaps a small book of etiquette should be published for both those living in Tumorland and their friends and loved ones so that each avoids the things said which are not helpful.

Hitchens embraced his treatment, was a patient that was tough and a trooper, he writes of calling his friend the Geneticist Dr. Francis Collins about a treatment he had heard about that showed promise. Collins, a dear friend, and a Christian, told him gently but firmly that his cancer had spread too far to be treated in that way. One can feel Hitchens sitting down as he holds the phone feeling a kick in the solar plexus worse than any boot could give him.

The old saying goes that there are no atheists in foxholes but in the case of Mr. Hitchens there are evidently some with cancer. Hitchens expressed appreciation and wonder at thousands of letters he received advising that people, both regular citizens like you and me, as well as famous folk, were praying for him, but he never changed his mind that belief in God was not for him.

He even talks about those on the far right who saw a correlation to his illness to his " blasphemy against God." That " surely it is relevant that the organ that he blasphemed with ( his mouth) is where his cancer is based." For me, and I do believe in Jesus as the savior I think those folks with those thoughts do nothing to illustrate their belief that God is love. Hitchens in response questions if that means that a two year old who gets brain cancer is also chosen by God to have that disease. The answer is, in both cases, no.

Only reviewing the book and having read a great deal of his essays I can say this easily. Christopher Hitchens was an amazingly talented man, gifted and intelligent. The world will miss him.