Tuesday 15 January 2013

Hitch 22 by Christopher Hitchens

This is Hitchens's memoir and, like other books of his that I have read, it is very well written. His style is just intricate enough to keep you interested in the flow of the language, without being so difficult that you have to keep re-reading.

It is very much a reflection of the times of his life and his references seem very familiar to people of, well, about my age. Quotes from The Waste Land, ruminations on the enduring impact of the Second World War on the British psyche, stories of political commitment to left wing causes and rethinking them in middle age.

But he is intellectually rigorous and he has integrity. He is occasionally prolix in this book and it could probably have done with some more editing. I enjoyed reading it but sometimes I had to swallow hard before picking it up.

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