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Letters to a Young Contrarian

4.1 of 5 stars 4.10 · rating details · 2,694 ratings · 218 reviews

In the book that he was born to write, provocateur and best-selling author Christopher Hitchens inspires future generations of radicals, gadflies, mavericks, rebels, angry young (wo)men, and dissidents. Who better to speak to that person who finds him or herself in a contrarian position than Hitchens, who has made a career of disagreeing in profound and entertaining ways.T...more

Paperback, 160 pages

Published April 13th 2005 by Basic Books (first published 2001)

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Jun 13, 2012 Jacob J. rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, religious-criticism, 2012, politics-social-issues, essays-letters

Death hath wrought a pernicious dent in the erudite and intellectual world; Hitchens will not be one to be soon forgotten, nor ever replaced (but emulated, definitely). Let me stop you before you roll your eyes. Yes, I am providing my belated, unasked-for, and pedantic tribute to the late Hitch, but this is as appropriate of a forum as any to do so, right? Indeed, I read this magnificent little collection of letters of advice written to no one in particular (but everyone) in modest and solemn re...more

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Jul 16, 2007 Zach rated it 4 of 5 stars

I loved Hitch before Iraq 2. I'm coming back around to him, but I just pretend he has no opinion on the occupation.

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Jan 03, 2008 Mr. Brammer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Young Contrarians

Recommended to Mr. Brammer by: Anna

Christopher Hitchens professes a great admiration for Oscar Wilde in this book - mainly for Wilde's wit, but you can see that Hitchens is also influenced by Wilde's public facade. Like Morrissey, it's hard to tell what about Hitchens is real and what is adopted persona - in "Letters to a Young Contrarian" he writes in earnest about the necessity of noconformity to the survival of modern liberal society, but he also likes to show off his breadth of knowledge, his acidity and mercilessness towards...more

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Aug 06, 2011 Travis Kendall rated it 5 of 5 stars

This was a really inishgtful and engaging book. Despite its short length (141 pages) I found myself constantly going back over passages (this book has a ton of great quotes). Some of the advice that Hitchens gives his mock student may seem a little cliche in parts, but even there he presents it in such a witty and honest way as to still make it insightful. What I also like about Hitchens is that he uses just the right balance of high mindedness and modesty/self deprication. This book would be us...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Gary rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: own, philosophy, political

hitch is just great, I know, insightful review
being a christian who is passing , "through the dark night - alright - of the soul", as he hilariously concedes to the young contrarian. i totally see his side of the whole god issue. this missing element here is faith, which the bible states is a gift of god,
his position is honest, and respectful. and damn good advice.
to not just go along, with anything, to have your own mind, and to "question the obvious".

this is a quick, enjoyable, and eloquent r...more

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Feb 05, 2013 Ezetsubou rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013-resolution

I found is infinitely inspiring. I could not put this down since I started, and I wanted to bookmark every page. Hitchen's wit and audacity are balanced out by his perfectly apt diction and a pinch of obligatory didacticism. There are several aspects that stand put right away: his use of language and a wide array of historical anecdotes to draw evidence from. Firstly, always points to language to bring the reader's attention to hypocrisy that permeates the media, and he encourages to recognize a...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Ilhan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some quotes worth remembering ...

“Could I offer any advice to the young and the restless; any counsel that would help them avoid disillusionment?"

"It's not about what you think but how you think."

"Alain, in Martin du Gard’s Lieutenant Colonel Maumort says that the first rule—he calls it the rule of rules—is the art of challenging what is appealing."

“John Stuart Mill (who by a nice chance was Bertrand Russell’s godfather) said that even if all were agreed on an essential proposition it would be e...more

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Sep 12, 2012 Chris Jenkins rated it 4 of 5 stars

A very good read that to me encouraged, above all, independent thinking and introspection. It will not be the last I read of Hitchens.

"...I have concluded that the moment of near despair is quite often the moment that precedes courage rather than resignation."

"Ruthless and arrogant though power can appear, it is only ever held by mere mammals who excrete and yearn, and who suffer from insomnia and insecurity. These mammals are also necessarily vain in the extreme, and often wish to be liked almo...more

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Jun 21, 2012 Taymara Jagmohan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Wow!

I did see this book while I was screening around, but then Rajiv recommended it, and as usual, this chap recommends quite informative and spell-bounding ones. Thank you Rajiv.

Letter to a Young Contrarian was quite a difficult read, and required your focus. It broadened my mind, and even bartered it for some speculations. Christopher Hitchens is bitter, and solemn, but he finds Literature in it, and philosophy. Quite the enchantment. He grabs the topics of solitude so wonderfully, that one is...more

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Jan 28, 2012 Rick rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This was my third Hitchens in a short span during the fall of 2011. Surprisingly, I didn’t get tired of the journalist’s prose or arguments during this impulsive reading binge, despite the 1000 plus pages in a few weeks span. After his passing, I was even glad to know that there is more Hitchens to be read. Unlike Arguably but like god is not great, Letters to a Young Contrarian is a full-length book, not a collection of independent essays, albeit one that is comprised of short thematic chapters...more This was my third Hitchens in a short span during the fall of 2011. Surprisingly, I didn’t get tired of the journalist’s prose or arguments during this impulsive reading binge, despite the 1000 plus pages in a few weeks span. After his passing, I was even glad to know that there is more Hitchens to be read. Unlike Arguably but like god is not great, Letters to a Young Contrarian is a full-length book, not a collection of independent essays, albeit one that is comprised of short thematic chapters pretending to be letters. Clearly, short-non-fiction is Hitchens’s form. His punchy prose (jabs in combination, the occasional surprise hook, the well-set up and delivered haymaker) is economical, crisp, and stings when it doesn’t knockout. The book argues not for contrariness but for speaking up when your opinions are contrary to those of others. Not to keep silent for politeness or fear, but to speak up.

The letters site pitfalls (manners, timing, reluctance to be pigeon-holed as a professional nay-sayer), models of resistance, and rationales for always contradicting a public opinion that is false, dangerous, small-minded, or mean, no matter how well disguised the opinion is with piety, patriotism, or general acceptance. They recommend writers and books who were precedent for Hitchens (Orwell, Catch-22, Zola, Wilde, Huxley, and many more). They extol travel, skepticism, and wit as tools to sustain an open mind. They advocate we always challenge conventional wisdom and intellectual wallpaper (to cite one example of the latter, The New York Times’s asinine motto: All the news that’s fit to print. “I myself check every day to make sure that the bright, smug, pompous, idiotic claim is still there. Then I check to see that it still irritates me.”)

Hitchens is smart, logical, incisive, witty, well-read, experienced in the areas he contends, and has incredible muscle-memory for historical and literary precedent and exemplars. I keep falling into the present tense: Hitchen is when now it is Hitchens was. But like Orwell, Hitchens remains an example of principled objection to authority, whether that authority is an institution or a received opinion or the assembled crowd. He had the courage of his convictions and respectfully armed himself against those he challenged by hearing or reading their arguments and sources and contending with them on their playing fields. Hitchens was not a nihilist or a cynic or one who heard someone else’s opinion and simply argued the opposite. He cared about what he advocated for (freedom of speech, for example) and loathed what he argued against (religious extremism, tyranny, bigotry).

While I could have done without the pretense of letters to an unknown person, the times when the device distracts are few and generally the distraction is confined to the first sentences or so of a given letter. That trivial flaw aside, this short book is a compelling reminder why the insistent voice of a contrarian such as the late Mr. Hitchens is a precious and necessary resource for any democracy that wishes to remain vital and true to its aspirations.(less)

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Jan 27, 2012 Mangoo rated it 4 of 5 stars

Not only a witty, intrusive and bright mind, but one of the best English writers as far as elegance, humor, sapidity and lack of redundance are concerned.
That was Hitchens, as unfair as it is to write this just a few days after he was lost. Unfair was the loss, be sure.
He invites the reader here to come with him and his noble cohorts of gentlemen to become a contrarian - not a rebel, as Sartre may have pointed out.
Being a contrarian has its stern discipline, which requires being at ease in feeli...more

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Dec 29, 2011 Lisa Barnes rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm going through a Christopher Hitchens phase right now, saddened by his recent death, although this is probably the last title I will read. This book takes of the form of letters that he writes to the young person who aspires to be an independent thinker, primarily someone who aspires to be a professional writer on politics and religion, or someone who aspires to hold public office or be an activist in the public sphere. Although I like to think of myself as an independent thinker, I found it...more

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Nov 15, 2010 Scott Koestler rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Good advice for anyone living in, what Salman Rushdie calls “a world of timidity” where everyone is trying to be politically correct and where identities are constructed around one’s “offendedness”. Hitchens, in a long tradition of naysayers, dissenters, tell-it-as-it-is contrarians, points out that postulating a special connection between one group of people and their supposed intrinsic traits can run the risk of perpetuating received essentialist concepts of their culture, concepts, for instan...more

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Feb 04, 2011 Shinynickel rated it 1 of 5 stars

This is the first thing of Hitchens' that I've read, and it doesn't make a good impression. He's certainly well-educated, and some of the connections and references he make are a pleasure to read, but the book doesn't amount to much beyond that. The conceit of the book (and the larger series of which it is a part) is to use Rilke's Letters to a Young Poet as a model. But Hitchens doesn't present any real guidance, just contradictory assertions and unsupported dismissals of people who don't agree...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio-book, non-fiction, read-in-2013

I’m not sure why but I am on a bit of a Hitchens kick. Until this year I think it would be fair to state that I probably knew Hitchens more from his appearances on television (and subsequently on Youtube, the true source of my knowledge). I find it odd because I’ve not fallen in love with any of the books I’ve read so far but still find him so compelling. Maybe it’s because he’s so smart and unflinching, or because he’s modern muckraker, or maybe it’s just because he’s sometimes a dick.

This sli...more

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Jan 02, 2012 Todd Martin rated it 3 of 5 stars

To be a contrarian you have to be prepared to:
"Shun the “transcendent” and all who invite you to subordinate or annihilate yourself. Distrust compassion; prefer dignity for yourself and others. Don’t be afraid to be thought arrogant or selfish. Picture all experts as if they were mammals. Never be a spectator of unfairness or stupidity. Seek out argument and disputation for their own sake; the grave will supply plenty of time for silence. Suspect your own motives, and all excuses. Do not live f...more

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Feb 08, 2012 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Like many others dismayed at his stance on the Iraq War, his defence of the Bush administration and his bewildering pursuit of Bill Clinton's personal morality (a theme raised again in this book), I haven't always found it easy to like Christopher Hitchens. I'm sure he wouldn't have had it any other way, but what are we to make of a man whose diversity of public statements so deftly evades easy categorisation? What to do with a man who lambasts the manipulative pretensions of the Dalai Lama and...more Like many others dismayed at his stance on the Iraq War, his defence of the Bush administration and his bewildering pursuit of Bill Clinton's personal morality (a theme raised again in this book), I haven't always found it easy to like Christopher Hitchens. I'm sure he wouldn't have had it any other way, but what are we to make of a man whose diversity of public statements so deftly evades easy categorisation? What to do with a man who lambasts the manipulative pretensions of the Dalai Lama and Mother Theresa while at the same moment playing apologist for men like Paul Wolfowitz and Donald Rumsfeld? This book makes sense of some of these seemingly contradictory aspects of Hitchens' thought, and I wish I'd read it earlier if only for that reason.

As other reviewers have noted, this book is basically a hortatory series of essays written to encourage the spread of individual thought and rebellion against the powers that be. He seems to make it his business to cast his formidable intellect against the tides of public opinion where possible (he says explicitly here not to trust opinion polls) and his greatest fear, I think, would have been to submit alongside others - in the interest of "getting along" - to a genuinely unworthy cause. It is ultimately his almost militant sense of anti-authoritarianism, and his refusal to grant legitimacy to any didact presumptuous enough to speak in moralising tones on behalf of others, that ties his opposition to Saddam Hussein (and therefore his support for the Iraq War) with his objections to the personality cult of the Dalai Lama, as well as forming - it seems - the primary basis of his political philosophy. It's difficult to read this book without coming to share his belief that argumentation - and adopting a contrary position - "is good for its own sake".

The breadth of his reading - and his capacity to cite from such texts - is, here as elsewhere, hugely daunting. The book would suffice as a recommended reading list, drawing as it does on a wide and obscure range of works. It must be said, though, Hitchens' own writing style - against his protestations - compares favourably with the style of those he quotes. I'm unfamiliar with anyone who is capable of a style quite so mellifluous and quite so pointed at the exact same moment. He reminds me a little of a modern Nietzsche in this regard, only without the tedious sense of self-aggrandisement. So even if you don't agree with him he is still enjoyable to read (again, much like Nietzsche) and he remains thought-provoking and worth listening to even where he is wrong (rather less like Nietzsche).

Whatever you thought of him personally, a world without Christopher Hitchens is just that little bit less interesting a world to live in and I can recommend this book as a nice, brief insight into his unique mind. RIP Christopher.(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Garrett rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Tickled pink by the title, I was forced to pick up this tome by Christopher Hitchens. When actually discussing going about being a contrarian, this book hums along with an electricity and brilliance that is rarefied. Hitchens is obviously a terrific wit, and certain turns of phrase by him elicited epiphanies in myself regarding preconceived notions held by me. If you are an militant atheist and argue your points base on anything other than chapter IX of this book, I shake my head at your ineptit...more

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Sep 18, 2011 Daniel rated it 5 of 5 stars

As intelligent as I think myself, some areas of this book were difficult to grasp. I will read this again (and I can already say now that the second reading wont be the last) after I know more about what Hitchens was talking about. I think this is part of the point of the Letters, to widen your field of reading, and to find out about some things you didn't even know existed. A lot of the book does feel like a reading list, and of this I am glad. When I return to the Letters again, I hope to have...more

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Nov 21, 2011 Shaun rated it 5 of 5 stars

Current events tell of many stories where the voices ( or votes) of the people are being hijacked by the political parties. It so happens that people who don't further inquire into the political soundbytes that are spewed, are in effect disenfranchised from the political process and unwittingly conform to misinformation.
In this book of we find Christopher Hitchens engaged in a series of letters, written in earnest prose about the necessity of nonconformity for the survival of the modern liber...more

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Mar 20, 2011 Martin Mulcahey rated it 4 of 5 stars

The headline is a bit simplistic, but basically this is Hitchins expanding on the thought processes of the great minds he recalls. Which I see as a good thing, since variety (in thought and belief) is the essence of learning, as long as you are open minded. Which I believe some of the reviewers were not. I disagreed with about 30% of the book, but at no point was turned off by Hitchins views since it stimulated my own thoughts on previously untapped but timeless subjects. The text sampled from a...more

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Dec 08, 2010 pip poesy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Here the plummy voice of the erudite guides you in the hope that you will think for yourselves.There is often a elegent turn of a phrase and mild warnings to be aware of tautology. Honestly this work is a rallying cry for argument and civility and that you should organize with points of contestion and the "how to" of combativity in your arsenal to wage a unending conflict. ..."because if you are not then the 'center' will be occupied and defined without your having helped to decide it, or determ...more

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Oct 14, 2008 Also, Safety Math rated it 5 of 5 stars

I loved reading this book. There's probably no political commentary I enjoy reading (or watching, for that matter) more than that of Christopher Hitchens. No one is quite as good at being condescending and disagreeable and intelligent and hilarious all at once. His talent for making people look stupid is enviable.

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Aug 09, 2009 A.J. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: history-politics

There are two basic ways to approach this book. First, there's reading it as an inspirational tract on living a life of contrariness and dissent and all the baggage that comes with such a life. Secondly, one could read this as a treatise on several of Christopher Hitchens' favorite topics, ranging from misspent socialist youth to his journalism days to the preview of coming anti-religious attractions phase.

In both cases, the book fails. To the first option, I'm not sure anyone will walk away fro...more There are two basic ways to approach this book. First, there's reading it as an inspirational tract on living a life of contrariness and dissent and all the baggage that comes with such a life. Secondly, one could read this as a treatise on several of Christopher Hitchens' favorite topics, ranging from misspent socialist youth to his journalism days to the preview of coming anti-religious attractions phase.

In both cases, the book fails. To the first option, I'm not sure anyone will walk away from this book with an inspired feeling. Hitchens certainly makes a plethora of valid and insightful points about the type of person he is (and the type of person we could do with a lot more of). But lost between the vague, self-serving references and the almost indiscernible pieces of advice, one is more or less forced to conclude that being a contrarian is either innate or it isn't. Question everything, don't let fear set up blockades, be informed––all these pieces of essentially valid advice are hedged by mountains of irrelevant and often times cloudy discussions of foreign affairs and quasi-history/philosophy. Put simply, finding the point in many chapter-letters is like finding a piece of glitter on the beach.

Regarding the second approach, here is where the one weakness of Hitchens' writing starts to glare through. I don't know if it's pure snobbery or a simple disregard for his audience, but Hitchens seems to very much enjoy talking over people. This can be as simple a thing as mentioning a name (or a list of them) nobody has heard of without an appropriate explanation, or an entire political upheaval which he was privy to but about which the rest of us are completely clueless. (Let's remember that a 'young contrarian' in 2001––the book's publication date––probably would have no idea about the Bosnian war in the early 90s). The true mark of an educated man isn't in what he knows, but how well he's able to share it. Sometimes this book lets off the impression that Hitchens is more concerned with appearing brilliant than informing his audience. A shame, because with a skeptic like me such an approach appears neither informing or brilliant.

The two star rating is then perfect here. "It was okay." And while this was by no means a chore to read, there were instances where I wished Hitchens would drop his academic facade and simply explain what the hell he was talking about. The surface treatment of nearly everything can give the impression of hidden depth to the unwary, but the ultimate impression left by this book is one of shallowness. Fans of his work may be riveted, but for newcomers I'd try one of his more focussed books.(less)

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Dec 30, 2008 Rebecca rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: mavericks

This book is a series of letters to a hypothetical young person who wishes to be a contrarian -- a rebel, a radical, a boat-rocker. Each letter is a brief essay on some point that Hitchens feels is essential for being a good dissident in today's society: traveling the world, discarding religion and seeking truth, speaking up against injustice, debating for the sake of keeping disagreement alive in society, distrusting Utopias and the predictable boredom of imagined Paradises, dealing with charge...more This book is a series of letters to a hypothetical young person who wishes to be a contrarian -- a rebel, a radical, a boat-rocker. Each letter is a brief essay on some point that Hitchens feels is essential for being a good dissident in today's society: traveling the world, discarding religion and seeking truth, speaking up against injustice, debating for the sake of keeping disagreement alive in society, distrusting Utopias and the predictable boredom of imagined Paradises, dealing with charges of arrogance and elitism, and taking the fear out of experts and authorities by treating them as just more mammals like yourself.

The most valuable lesson I took away from these letters was Hitchens's claim that argument and debate are good in and of themselves -- they ensure that no society's values, even if commendable, get lazy and stagnant and forget how to justify themselves. Questioning the given and the obvious can be the first step to radical change, and dissent and disagreement are crucial to maintaining real democracy between the ruled and the rulers.

Hitchens makes his points passionately and clearly has a wealth of personal experience and reading experience to back up all of his claims plausibly. However, something that I found frustrating as a reader is that he would reference people, events, books, political theories, conflicts, etc. as though everyone was (or should be) familiar with them, when in fact they are quite obscure. He also used multiple uncommon French and Latin quotations without translating them -- essentially closing off to anyone who doesn't know French or Latin whatever pithy idea he was trying to convey. All of this gave me the impression that Hitchens was talking down to the reader, or that he was showing off his education a bit too much. However, since this book was designed to be so short, perhaps Hitchens just didn't have the space to explain or clarify all of these ideas. This lack of clarity and explanation is why I gave the book three stars.

I would recommend this book to anyone who finds that their opinion is often in a minority compared to mass American culture, or who wants to change the status quo, or anyone who values dissent in general. (less)

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Dec 28, 2011 Ed Holden rated it 4 of 5 stars

I wasn't sure I'd like this when it arrived. It was thinner than I'd imagined, and its format -- letters to an imaginary correspondent -- is admittedly a little contrived. But what a great read. Agree with Hitchens or not, and on a range of issues, it is hard to argue with many of his principles. When Milosovic's policies in the Balkans led to the massacres of ethnic groups there, Hitchens was one of those calling out the abuses while the governments of many developed nations ignored these abuse...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Angel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: commentary-and-opinion, education, leadership, philosophy, politics-and-political-science

This is a brief book about what it takes to be a good contrarian. I think in an era where either people favor being loud, obnoxious, and ill-informed (or just willfully ignorant) or the intelligent people tend to just remain quiet to avoid, as Peter from the film Office Space would say, "avoid being hassled," Hitchens gives advice on how to stand up for something. Argue. Question everything. Do so well prepared. Being well read also helps. The book is written in a style very much like Letters to...more

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Nov 08, 2012 Matt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction

A major unifying thesis that the Hitch investigates throughout his letters is the argument that it's not what you think but how you think. He starts out with a bit on Rilke that I could do without, but around the time he starts getting into the philosophy of rebels who decided to live "as if" the world's they wished for existed, everything really picks up. "The mind cannot benefit from assuming what must be proved," is also in there among a variety of other well-worded observations that bolster...more

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Mar 05, 2013 Sean Finn rated it 3 of 5 stars

For me it was a difficult book to read, in that, I had the dictionary open the entire time and thus provided a dilemma in terms of smooth reading and perhaps appreciation of the book. It is my intention to re-read this book in an attempt to connect with its message on the level intended.
There is extensive reference to the lives and works authors and political figures which would I'm sure give great meaning to the writings had I have previously been educated in prior to reading this book.
While t...more

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Jan 31, 2008 Scott rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book underscores what I like about Christopher Hitchens: he confronts every ideology, pissing off both liberals and conservatives. If I don't always agree with him, I always admire his iconoclasm and his style of disputation.

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About Christopher Hitchens

"Christopher Eric Hitchens (April 13, 1949 – December 15, 2011) was an English-born American author, journalist and literary critic. He was a contributor to Vanity Fair, The Atlantic, World Affairs, The Nation, Slate, Free Inquiry and a variety of other media outlets. Hitchens was also a political observer, whose best-selling books — the most famous being god Is Not Great — made him a staple of ta...more

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