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Cheryl's Reviews > Mortality
Mortality
by
by
Cheryl's review
bookshelves: biography, non-fiction, essays, religion, death, philosophy
Sep 16, 2012
bookshelves: biography, non-fiction, essays, religion, death, philosophy
Wow. He did it. He did dying just as he did living.
He faced his mortality with a steadfast gaze, as well as his trademark wit, humour, and incessant curiosity. His real most deep-seated fear was of losing his ability to express himself, of not being able to talk or to write.
He does still get the last word. I love that this book comes out posthumously. It's as if he is talking to us right now: "And another thing!"
His wife Carol Blue wrote a moving afterword in which she described their 'new world', that world which lasted for nineteen months until the end. Of the day of his 'presentation', in which the tumour declared itself, she describes their transition: "We were living in two worlds. The old one, which never seemed more beautiful, had not yet vanished; and the new one, about which we knew little except to fear it, had not yet arrived." This reminds me of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's terrific book Cancer Ward, in which Time and Memory were classed as "before cancer" and "after cancer".
What I admire most is his perseverance to his craft. Writing really was his reason for living. The way he did his last 19 months, and this book, was about as good a goodbye as anyone could ever hope for for themselves.
A toast to a life well lived and well written, and to this most fitting finale.
He faced his mortality with a steadfast gaze, as well as his trademark wit, humour, and incessant curiosity. His real most deep-seated fear was of losing his ability to express himself, of not being able to talk or to write.
He does still get the last word. I love that this book comes out posthumously. It's as if he is talking to us right now: "And another thing!"
His wife Carol Blue wrote a moving afterword in which she described their 'new world', that world which lasted for nineteen months until the end. Of the day of his 'presentation', in which the tumour declared itself, she describes their transition: "We were living in two worlds. The old one, which never seemed more beautiful, had not yet vanished; and the new one, about which we knew little except to fear it, had not yet arrived." This reminds me of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's terrific book Cancer Ward, in which Time and Memory were classed as "before cancer" and "after cancer".
What I admire most is his perseverance to his craft. Writing really was his reason for living. The way he did his last 19 months, and this book, was about as good a goodbye as anyone could ever hope for for themselves.
A toast to a life well lived and well written, and to this most fitting finale.
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Petra X wrote: "I have to read this. Last year I read Arguably: Selected Essays and Hitch-22: A Memoir. So now I'm going to have to read this. It's a slim book, and I think most of it was previously published in Vanity Fair. I liked his retorts to those who hoped he might find religion while in extremis You will be able to predict readily what he's written, having read those books, and in fact he does go over a bit of the same stuff as, but he also offers a re-look at some previously voiced opinions, now from a different perspective.
I'm just going to start this book tonight.
Petra X wrote: "I'm just going to start this book tonight."I hope you enjoy it Petra. I look forward to your comments.
Wow, I'll have to get this book too. I have such a high regard for Hitch, haven been so impressed watching him debate (I especially loved a debate he did with Stephen Fry as his debating partner vs. representatives of the Catholic Church).
Cheryl wrote: "This book and Hitch are a favorite of mine. You said it best when you pointed out that writing was his life and it was so fitting that he wrote till the very end."It was just so right, wasn't it. I admired him a great deal for that -- he stayed the course.
Ted wrote: "Great little review, Cheryl. (applause)"thank you Ted!
I would re look at your first line. It's a good book but wouldn't say he did the same dying as he did living. The book has plenty of flaws. The main thing that he did do that was the same was still show his arrogance and confrontation. Admire him greatly for writing it while he was dying, but he was a long way off the mark.
You have a brilliant memory to remember that from Cancer Ward.