He was born into a military family. His father was in the Royal Navy. His mother killed herself in a suicide pact with her lover. He was a foreign correspondent in a number of Central American and communist countries in the seventies, writing for mostly left-wing publications. He went to school with and befriended some of England's best late-20th century novelists (Ian MacEwan, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes), helped shelter Rushdie at his Washington apartment during the fatwa, contributed to and edited a number of middle- and high-brow publications; he wrote vibrant, insightful literary criticism; he had a prodigious memory for details of historical and literary events; he read more books than most of us have even held; he met, interviewed, and socialized with great writers of both fiction and non-fiction; was well-connected with influential writers, commentators, and politicians; he hated the Clintons; he was a best-selling author, and he drank and smoked his whole life, and died before he became decrepit and irrelevant.
In other words: he lived the life I wish I could lead. I defy any one of you to tell me why Christopher Hitchens should not be a role model for us, the Veeky Forumserati.
For all his virtues (and he had many), he couldn't write fiction and he couldn't write poetry. That's what I love, so no, I don't think I'd want to be him.
Justin Morgan
>tfw still alive due to superior Christian morality steering clear of degernwrate behavior
The atheism bit is the least interesting thing about him. I enjoy it and agree with much of it, but he contributed so much more to the world than that.
That's fair. He attributed his lack of fiction-writing ability to his having little appreciation and understanding of music. He believed that every good fiction writer and poet had a sharp ear for the musicality of words, and that novels and stories flowed like tunes. He recognized that he lacked that musicality.
Brayden Richardson
bit of a shit speaker tho
Only really loved by the internet atheist commuinity back in their cult of personality days
Leo Howard
>I defy kek, he's a cultureless pseud user.
John Wilson
He used rhetorical tricks, yes. But take away the atheism part and almost everything about him was a piece of a great literary lifestyle.
Nice empty reply. Try criticize what I said about his life.
Nathan Gray
Forgot to mention:
He was a tireless proponent of free speech and loved America.
Leo Turner
>great literary lifestyle >shit writer You're a faggot
What are you talking about? Have you read any of his literary criticism? Any of his historical/political commentary?
Below is the real bait...
>he died in Houston, the headquarters of Halliburton
C'mon now. Someone, anyone, tell me, aside from the atheism, is not perfectly in-tune with the literary lifestyle we all dream of.
Easton Sullivan
>the Veeky Forumserati the literati need to be mercilessly culled, literati and intelligentsia are enemies of the species and σοφία
Grayson Bailey
>implying long life isn't a curse if you actually expect to go to heaven when you die
Isaiah Johnson
>He went to school with and befriended some of England's best late-20th century novelists (Ian MacEwan, Salman Rushdie, Martin Amis, Julian Barnes) I’d probably kill myself
Camden Wright
>I'd probably kill myself
...as he shuffles back from the toilet and sinks back into his gaming chair, a bowl of stale doritos and a mug of lukewarm Dr. Pepper to his left. He munches on a handful of doritos then washes it down with the pop and continues with his masterpiece, muttering to himself:
>"Fucking pleb, fraternizing with like-minded writers and expanding an entire branch of English literature before the age of forty. Fucking losers."
Brody Adams
He is the best OP
Kayden Richardson
Man, his death always seemed to me as a mark of an end. You know that "era" that early web 2.0, new atheism, iraq war, dubya era? 2000's died with Hitchens.
Brody White
Why would you mention his mom dying in a suicide pact when the entire post is about a life you want? Are you some kind of egotistic fuck who wants others to be in pain for your own legacy?
Joshua Powell
No, not at all. I brought it up to emphasize that he had some rough experiences as a young man. People with nice, perfect childhoods generally don't produce good writing.
Aiden Lee
And btw, my mom is already dead, so I didn't think about how another user might see it.
Juan Price
Ah, I see. Sorry to hear that.
Nolan Russell
Agree with you on the atheism. His best work was in the political sphere.
Justin Ortiz
Why would you hope he converted? That would mean he felt too weak to stick to his convictions in the end. I would be sad if I learned he converted.
Jonathan Cook
Because he's a christfag
Dylan Anderson
haha come on McEwan.. cool it..
Hunter Garcia
>Why would you hope he converted? That would mean he felt too weak to stick to his convictions in the end. truth>conviction We ought to seek truth not conviction. I don't respect a flat-earther's opinion because he has great gusto in his conviction; I don't because he is a fool.
>also, humility>hubris
Grayson Bennett
>because he has great gusto in his conviction *because he does not have great gusto in his conviction
Jayden King
>England's best late-20th century novelists (Ian MacEwan, ... Martin Amis, Julian Barnes) Trust me that I don't wish anything less than your dream becoming true, you pathetic midcult dork.
Henry Parker
>that video Somehow that's incredibly sad and beautiful.
