[lbo-talk] Hitchens Reviews "Darkness At Noon"

N P Childs npchilds at shaw.ca
Thu Sep 15 18:09:55 PDT 2005


Nyuk, thought so. Although as pointed out earlier it's Koestler's 100th birthday so this is probably some kind of centennial publication of the book.

I have to admit I liked Darkness at Noon, not necessarily because of take on Stalin's USSR, but on the ability of political psychosis to allow someone to lived in a totally warped reality, and to let other become victims of that reality. You only need to look at the current regime in the White House to see that.

PC


>Just a few years ago, Hitchens would have us
>believe that he was the new Orwell. I guess
>now he would have us believe that he was
>the new Koestler, bravely standing up to
>the forces of "totalitarianism." I suppose that
>he does have a few things in common with
>Koestler. Koestler had been a leftist
>and Marxist who came to reject Marxism.
>Hitchens is likewise an ex-leftist who
>has turned his back on Marxism and
>socialism. So they got that in common.
>Koestler had a fondness for strong
>drink. Hitchens is likewise notorious
>for his fondness for the bottle.
>Koestler was noted for his fondness
>for brawling. Indeed, it has been said
>that he once engaged Albert Camus
>in fisticuffs. Hitchens has probably
>soiled his pants, once or twice, when
>faced with the possibility of getting
>into a fist fight.
>
>Yes, I do believe that Hitchens is
>the Koestler of our time. All that
>remains for him to do is to develop
>an interest in parapsychology. A
>little more strong drink should
>help out in that department too.

N Paul Childs 5967-157 Avenue Edmonton, Alberta, Canada T5Y 2P3

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