Friday, September 21, 2012

An Outstanding Column By Chris Hedges,Against War


A Brief Outline About Chris Hedges:
============================

Mr. Chris Hedges is an author of several books,a columnist and journalist He worked for The New York Times and covered wars and crises in the Middle East, Latin America and Eastern Europe. He is a graduate of  the School of Divinity of Harvard University.

At the present time, he writes a column every Monday. His column appears on Truth Dig Website every Monday.

I have followed the writings of Chris Hedges for,at least, the last 20 years. Accordingly, I have reached the conclusion that his eloquence,honesty and broad knowledge are rarely matched by his American peers. No one needs to take my words. Just read his columns and books and reach your own conclusion.

My Own Essay About One Particular Column Written By Chris Hedges :
====================================================

On March 19,2012, Chris Hedges has written a column entitled, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War ".

I had read the above specified column when it was first published on Truthdig Website and I had reviewed it again last week and I thought it would be beneficial to the interested readers to share what I wrote then about the column entitled, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War " :

The whole column, from the beginning to the last word of it, is a gem. However, the most eloquent and genuine gems are the following brilliant quotations, constructed as an integral parts of the whole essay or column :

Quotation One :
==============
" I,too,belong to the species ( human being ) "  J. Glass Gray wrote of his experience in World War II. " I am ashamed not only of my own deeds, not only of my nation's deeds, but of  human deeds as well. I am ashamed to be a man. "

Quotation Two :
==============
" Force", Simon Wall wrote, " is as pitiless to the man who possesses it, or thinks he does, as it is to its victims; the second  it crushes, the second it intoxicates. "

Quotation Three ( A Poem By Catullus ) :
================================
" By strangers  coasts and water and many days at sea
I come here at the rites of your working,
Bringing for you, the dead, these last gifts of the living
And my words-vain sound of the man of dust,
Alas,my brother,
You have been taken away from me. You have been taken away from me
By cold chance, turned a shadow, and my pain.
Here the foods of the old ceremony, appointed
Long ago for the starving under the earth;
Take them; your brother's tears have them wet; and take
Into eternity my hail and farewell. "

End of quotations.

It is, indeed, a brilliantly constructed and eloquent piece against wars. I  have enjoyed reading it again and again and again. Beautiful !!

Notes To The Readers Of This Website :
===================================

Any reader who is interested in reading, " Murder Is Not an Anomaly in War " by Chris Hedges can dig in the archives of Truthdig Website and read it there:

www.truthdig.com

It is truly worth the time in digging it and worth the time in reading it as well.

Happy reading.......  
   




   

       

7 comments:

  1. Excellent quotations and humanly touching.

    Thanks for quoting them.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yes,yes,yes,Chris Hedges is "eloquent,honest" and with a "broad knowledge",his American peers,as Sodium put it,"Rarely matched."

    I could not agree more. I am one of his fan.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Estifan,

      Welcome back and thank you for your comment.

      Delete
    2. Proctor,

      I am pleased that you have quoted the exact words I used in describing the writings of Chris Hedges. And I am delighted that you are one of the thousands of his fans.

      Thank you for your comments.

      Delete
  3. I read Chris Hedges column whenever I can. I like his "eloquence,honesty and broad knowledge", but I am turned off when he uses the word,(we),in some of his writings. What does he mean by the word,(we)? I certainly have not asked him to speak for me. Any clue?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous,

      I wish I could answer your valid question with a degree of certainty. I simply cannot, because I just do not know. I can only provide you with the following assumptions:

      (1) Chris Hedges has a large number of readers,not only at www.truthdig.com website,but also at another website called: www.commondreams.org where his column/essay appears bi-weekly,meaning once every two weeks. Really a large number of readers on both websites.

      (2) The vast majority of his readers are his fans, or at least, they agree with what he writes.

      (3) It seems to me that when Hedges writes the word,"we", in some of his columns/essays, most likely, he addresses the "we" to his fans and perhaps also to those readers who agree with him. I am one of those readers who agree with what he writes most of the time. And it does not bother me, at all, when the word "we" appears in some of his columns or essays.

      Anonymous: That's the best I can do for answering your question. And thank you for your comments. your questions are most welcome. In spite of shortage of time, I shall do my best to answer them,if I feel I can.

      Delete
    2. Sodium,

      Many thanks.

      Delete