Saturday 7 August 2010

And what beautiful light it gave

I saw yesterday the recent interview Christopher Hitchens gave to Anderson Cooper about his cancer. I got so fascinated by that I watched it twice in a row. I haven't read Hitchens much, apart from some articles here and there, but I watched him a fair deal on TV. I admire the man, his great culture, his profound intelligence and his merciless lucidity.

I don't really want to blog about serious subjects like cancer. I want this blog to be as much as possible about pleasant topics. However, I have a personal dislike for cancer (for reasons I might blog about one day) and what Hitchens says about the disease and what lead him to have it is both very thoughtful and poignant. He admits that he burns the candle by both ends and then says "what beautiful light it gave". Witty, funny and remorseless. I hope to be able to say such at the end of my life.

3 comments:

The Artful Gypsy aka Wendy the Very Good Witch said...

Wow! I don't even know who he his, I've not heard of him before. But the interview was really interesting. I love his intelligence and even his overly objective way of reasoning and dealing with his illness. I do however feel that his past has had a profound impact on his views and demeanor. Sometimes, highly intelligent people are the ones who have the most difficult time coming to grips with their emotional core, and some never can. Thanks for posting this!

Gwen Buchanan said...

Thanks for the Hitchens Interview.. I am really sorry he has cancer.. He has more to tell the world, Hope he can pull through.

Guillaume said...

@Wendy-What touched me is how matter of factly he is about such tragic circumstances. That is what I mean about courage.
@Gwen-It will be a great loss for secular humanism when he goes. To our modern world too.