I was pretty saddened yesterday by the news of Christopher Hitchens’ death. The inevitability of his cancer diagnosis meant it was a matter of short time, but the lucidity and intelligence of his subsequent writings must have left me optimistic that he’d recover.
I’m going to read some of his literary reviews and essays this weekend, and perhaps take up some of the novels and poems that he recommended, like Evelyn Waugh’s Scoop
Here’s his lengthy take on Anthony Powell and the Dance (with spoliers). I haven’t found any review or comment by him on The Leopard, but I’ll post if I do.
At the end of this long-ass post is the brief tale of the one time I bumped into Mr. Hitchens.