Bohemian Rhapsody

Whilst wishing to avoid thematic repetition on this still fresh maiden voyage of the good blog STJ, further thoughts, or musings rather, on the downfall of Christopher Hitchens trouble me.

Time and again in the tributes, the interviews, the recollections and the criticisms of the departed polemicist extraordinaire, reference was made to his "bohemian lifestyle" which, even in his own reflections, was credited - if that is the right word - in being the tiresome yawnworthy cause of the particular type and bodily location of the vicious affliction which brought about the abrupt ending of his final chapters.

One wonders how one qualifies to be admitted to this dangerously enticing club. Hitchens' consumption of JD and Perrier water, half a bottle of wine and tobacco was reported to be on such a distinctly Soviet industrial scale that one wonders if the writers attributing this intake of sweetly laced toxin were in any way emulating the Ministry of Plenty's official spokesperson. Apparently, according to all sources, these requirements were not only the fuel for Hitchens' juggernaut of penmanship and craft of word, but the oil, the coolant, the hydraulic fluid and the windscreen washers too.

But, just as all pre-1990s cars have now been converted to unleaded, one wonders why in an age of alternative alternative (repetition intentional) medicines and the multitudes of placebic non-alcoholic drinks, why the fermented barley, grape and rolled leaf were allowed to go unchallenged in their dominance on the western front that was the health of a human being.

It seems that intelligence, argument, reason and conviction of belief are no match for those most basic of human instincts - temptation, desire, want, lust. Whatever the power of the brain, the power of our biological weakness will always win the war. Which, this writer, finds to be the greatest irony, the greatest insult, of all.

It also reaffirms, and reinforces, Hitchens' contrarian ways. His embodiment of this battle between reason and desire, and the subsequent horror of the aftermath of the fallout, is more of a lesson for us than any teachings, gospels or even reasoned polemics. As we embark upon the season of glutton and imbibing, one cannot help wonder how much of an impact this lesson will have upon those of us whose interest in the grape and the grain stretches beyond what modern governments would term "reasonable." Personal freedom activists on the libertarian side of the compass would point out that we are each responsible for our own actions. I agree, yet I simultaneously abhor the rejection of personal responsibility and transfer of that responsibility onto others at the same time as feeling mild resentment and irritation with those who would sell us products which have the potential for such harm, and the lawmakers who profit from them.

Tis the season to be temperate, perhaps.