"One must have the nerve to assert that, while people are entitled to their illusions, they are not entitled to a limitless enjoyment of them and they are not entitled to impose them upon others."
Christopher Hitchens
Letters to a Young Contrarian
I have never read Christopher Hitchens before. I'd heard his name often, he has been mentioned in many of the books I've read, and is often portrayed as an asshole (I can see where people who say that are coming from). And seeing as I've been shaking the table a lot recently, and have been having a very hard time dealing with some of the injustices of the world, I figured Letters to a Young Contrarian would be a good place to start.
This book took me a bit to get into. Hitchens can be a bit of an ass. But once I got past that I really enjoyed it. It is written as a series of letters from Hitchens to a young man, outline different ways to deal with controversy and confrontation. He talks about how its okay to feel like you are beating a dead horse, because if the issue is important you do not want to give up on it. He talks about how there will be people who disagree with you, after all it wouldn't be controversial otherwise.
For the most part, it was well written. And it was reassuring to know that its okay to have backlash for standing up for something that you think should be obvious to others. I recommend
it.
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