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Article: Cold Friday.
- Article from:
- National Review
- Article date:
- December 11, 1995
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1995 National Review, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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A MAN who knew Whittaker Chambers well once told me that he did not believe there was anybody who knew him with full intimacy. At the core of Chambers's being there was something elusive, something not responsive to ordinary standards of judgment and understanding. "There is an element of Dostoyevsky there," he said.
The majestic Witness gave much evidence to support that perception. But this posthumous assembly of diary notes, fragments, and short pieces strongly suggests that Chambers had also a large element of Thoreau. Thoreau turned his eyes away from contemplating the Himalayas because he had "some business with a drop of dew." He turned from the overwhelmingly ...