Morbid Monday: Of Death & Communism

by Annetta Black December 19, 2011

The last few days have seen the deaths of four men with deep ties - for better and for worse - to the Cold War, communism and the world of words.

Revolutionary: In Prague, mourners gathered to remember the poet and statesman Vaclav Havel in Wenceslas Square, the center of the Velvet Revolution in 1989.

Despot: In this video, North Koreans weep hysterically - if not entirely convincingly - over the loss of Kim Jong Il, aka the “Ever-Victorious, Iron-Willed Commander.”

Agitator: Christopher Hitchens, a booze-fueled man of eloquence, wit, and very complicated politics. Here he is, offending everyone in his gorgeous voice. (Video opens in a new window)

Socialist Bookseller: George Whitman reopened the legendary Shakespeare and Company bookshop in Paris, described as “a socialist utopia masquerading as a bookstore” and one of our very favorite places in the world.

More Hitchens, Whitman, Havel & Jong Il

Christopher Hitchens, George Whitman and Vàclav Havel: Three Dead Wise Men, Spectator Book Blog

As relevant now as when it was fiurst written: Vaclav Havel “The Power of the Powerless”(1978)

“Shakespeare and Company was only part bookshop; it was also part library, part youth hostel and part cultural shrine.” George Whitman’s obituary, Telegraph.co.uk

“Unspoken Truths” Christopher Hitchens, on voice in Vanity Fair

List of Kim Jong-il’s many, many titles Dear Leader, who is a perfect incarnation of the appearance that a leader should have”