/lit/ - Literature

I'm pretty new to /lit/, so I'm wondering what everyone here thinks of Christopher Hitchens (his writing, intellect, and debates).

What say you, /lit/?

Which class would your favorite writers be in Guild Wars 2?

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Profession

It was only a matter of time I suppose. Still, I'm pretty upset about this. It's so odd, the amount of influence someone that you've never met can have on you.

He carved a massive presence on my life and I've always aspired to have his erudition and skills as a writer.

More than anything actually I'm upset that he won't be around to write anymore. I always made a beeline to his columns whenever some hefty socio political event was taking place. Now when the next one happens, all we can do is wonder how he'd write about it.

Salute, Hitch.

>THIS is what pseudo-intellectual looks like.

Martin Amis on Christopher Hitchens:

"Every novelist of his acquaintance is riveted by Christopher, not just qua friend but also qua novelist. I considered the retort I am about to quote (all four words) so epiphanically devastating that I put it in a novel. The year was 1981. We were in a tiny Italian restaurant in West London, where we would soon be joined by our future first wives. Two elegant young men in waisted suits were unignorably and interminably fussing with the staff about rearranging the tables, to accommodate the large party they expected. It was an intensely class-conscious era (because the class system was dying); Christopher and I were candidly lower-middle bohemian, and the two young men were raffishly minor-gentry (they had the air of those who await, with epic stoicism, the deaths of elderly relatives). At length, one of them approached our table, and sank smoothly to his haunches, seeming to pout out through the fine strands of his fringe. The crouch, the fringe, the pout: they had all clearly enjoyed many successes in the matter of bending others to his will. After a flirtatious pause he said, 'you're going to hate us for this.' And Christopher said, 'We hate you already'."

So over the past year or so I've developed what I can only articulate as a mental stutter, where in a conversation I'll just lock up because my mind is scouring my vocabulary in order to pick out the right words.

I'm halfway through my journalism degree, and although it hasn't really had any noticible effect in social situations - I notice it and it's fucking awful.

I've surmised that I'm basically just overly anxious with my speech and that all I need to do is to stop worrying so much about. Naturally, I obsess over it.

I've asked around as to whether it's a mild form of autism or adhd or something and apparently it most probably isn't, just something that I need to get over.

Any advice for someone trying to overcome this mental obstacle?

Pic somewhat related. I'd like to be as incisive and articulate as this guy.

Hitchens is quite possibly the coolest motherfucker alive. It was his books that got me into academic debate, which then influenced me to go to law school.

I wish I could write, debate, and drink scotch for a living.

He's a narrow minded wanker favoured by pseudo-intellectuals.

Pic is superior.