After watching so many of his debates on war and religion on You Tube, I finally got round to reading one of his terrific pieces: God Is No Great - How Religion Poisons Everything. I do not agree with every thought he so eloquently conveys, but his prose and grasp of the English language is utterly terrific and his points are very thought-provoking.

Are there any fans here on Tell Me?

Big fan... was very upset when he died. Brilliant dude.

I'm a big Hitchins fan. I prefer the audio books because he has such a great speaking voice. Just finished "Mortality", in which he basically takes you through his final days with his usual eloquence (this was not read by the author, for obvious reasons). Ironic that he stated at the beginning of his memoirs "Hitch 22" that one of the reasons he wrote it was because he saw a photo with the caption "The late Christopher Hitchins" and he thought "you never know". "Mortality" is a very tough read. He fought to the end. RIP, Hitch.

My discovery of him was an accident, really. My late father used to enjoy his brother, Peter Hitchins' column in the Mail On Sunday. Peter is, of course, far less well-known and a totally different, though equally opinionated, beast. I viewed and episode of BBC's Question Time which featured the two of them as panellists. The intrigue started there. There is a terrific debate between the two of them up on You Tube.

I'm going to read his memoir next: Hitch 22.

Brillant writer, fascinating man. It was sad the way he went to that great nothingness in the sky, as Hitch would call it.

He could be quite hilarious, too!

very big balls. Big fan.

He carried on where George Orwell went with His essay Politics and the English Language and novels by exposing the B.S. in language which was used to con the genral population by their political rulers.

His voice is sorley missed.

There's a great dowbloadable podcast put together after his death as a tribute here: [soundcloud.com]

I learned a lot from his books. Although when he died some on here said they were glad he was dead. Idiots.

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Title5Take1
I learned a lot from his books. Although when he died some on here said they were glad he was dead. Idiots.

Really? I've done a search, but could not find any previous related threads.

He spoke the truth. His points were merely common sense, in my opinion. It was just brilliant to always have it all put so eloquently.

Fascinating writer...Christopher HitchEns.

Sure I liked Hitchens. A flamboyant intellectuall. I opposed his stance on the Iraqi War though. I'm a fan of Richard Dawkins too even if he's a bit dryer than Hitchens (was). Both of them can be seen as modern days enlightenment philosophers. I miss the great Norman Mailer too. Intellectualls seems to be a scarce commodity these days.

This is probably my favourite debate. Hitch saves his greatest moment for the ending: 'I would have been proud to have Stephen as my children's babysitter, but if a man in religious robes turned up, I'd first call a taxi and then the police!'

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Big Al

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Title5Take1
I learned a lot from his books. Although when he died some on here said they were glad he was dead. Idiots.

Really? I've done a search, but could not find any previous related threads.

[www.iorr.org]


"As we say in England, it can get a bit trainspottery"

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Big Al
This is probably my favourite debate. Hitch saves his greatest moment for the ending: 'I would have been proud to have Stephen as my children's babysitter, but if a man in religious robes turned up, I'd first call a taxi and then the police!'

I LOVED that! Hahaha!
I felt a detachment from anything religious growing up. The whole "god in the sky" thing was as believable for me as the tooth fairy. Hitchins' voice was a key one for me, refreshing, logical, yet accessable to so many. But sadly not enough people in the world have heard his voice on the subject of religion. It needs to end.

[thepowergoats.com]

I'm a huge fan. I am also a practicing Catholic, but really feel he had something utterly valid to say about Mother Teresa, whom, in my opinion, was a vile hypocrite.

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jamesfdouglas
But sadly not enough people in the world have heard his voice on the subject of religion. It needs to end.

One of the key problems is that many in society around the world are too scared to admit to being a non-believer - especially those who have grown-up amongst Christians and the church. I myself am technically a Christian - a Catholic to be precise - but have had reason to doubt of late.

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Stoneage
Sure I liked Hitchens. A flamboyant intellectuall. I opposed his stance on the Iraqi War though. I'm a fan of Richard Dawkins too even if he's a bit dryer than Hitchens (was). Both of them can be seen as modern days enlightenment philosophers. I miss the great Norman Mailer too. Intellectualls seems to be a scarce commodity these days.

I wasn't happy about Iraq either, but that's a tough issue, cause we cant leave in dictators in power... oh well, I enjoyed his books and yeah, I'm a fan.

Mark Twain continues to be worthwhile in the area of human behaviour.

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Big Al
He spoke the truth. His points were merely common sense, in my opinion. It was just brilliant to always have it all put so eloquently.

I agree

His writing is always a joy to read and I also so loved seeing him win hands down the debate with Tony Blair. He was as lucid and clever as ever despite being in the clutches of the disease that eventually killed him.

A great mind. A provacateur. We need more like him. His Mother Teresa book was great. It made a lot of people angry, but the same people didn't dispute his facts. we are supposed to believe Mother Teresa is a saint. Why, exactly? because we are told we have to?

I've enjoyed his writing and the Youtube clips quite a bit. Even if I didn't agree with everything he wrote and said (such as the Iraq fiasco), he was always entertaining and thought-provoking. A great master of words who helped changed me from being a fence-sitting agnostic.

I finished God Is Not Great - terrific! - and have now started his autobiography, Hitch 22: A Memoir. So far, so good.

There is something fundamentally wrong with the education system in the USA though when you have to have guys like Dawkins and Hitchens convincing people that science isn't wrong.
I mean, more than 200 years after the enlightenment!

he's burninig in hell, any questions?

Love reading his books.
Love hearing him debate even more.

I found his book " Trial Of Henry Kissinger" really fascinating. Loved it !!! War, Love And Poverty was good too.