The End of Time

I think Horowitz's political persona obscures important facts about him as a man and a writer: He is very obviously an honest and courageous guy, and he also pens beautiful prose. This book will, in no way, disappoint: surprisingly, I found it to be a quite pleasant, thought-provoking rumination on a difficult subject that I, like most others, would normally have steered clear of. Had I not already been a fan, it is certain that I would have missed an important opportunity at personal introspection. (Thanks, David.)

David Horowitz, the notorious reformer and self-proclaimed agnostic, having survived a brush with death, struggles to make sense of life. I don't often pick up books that threaten to contain a long lecture, but I tried this one and was gripped by the way Horowitz illuminates the outline of a greater truth as he makes poetic connections between history and philosophy and personal anecdotes. I'm recommending his book with my highest praise. (I'm being precise when I say Horowitz "illuminates the outline"; the greater truth is far too big for us to perceive it with clarity. The collective wisdom of our lives leads us to seek as David Horowitz has done, but we remain uncertain. Horowitz approaches the Great Questions most appropriately, understanding on one hand why human life is meaningless without answers, while at the same time remaining painfully aware that the answers, if they exist at all, are beyond our grasp. The great paradox is created because we must seek that which we will never truly find. To fail to seek is to be less than fully human; to declare that one has uncovered the complete and ultimate truth is the mark of a dangerous fanatic, and evil is sure to follow.) The book drew me in and compelled me to continue. While my eyes moved across the pages, I felt I was in the presence of something overwhelming. It's as if Horowitz is my guide, urging me ever-closer to the curtain behind which God Himself must reside. But somehow there remains a boundary that we cannot cross in life, and so we have no choice but to return unfulfilled to our routines. Read the book. It's a brief journey that leads to an essential vantage. P.S. It has been noted that this is not a political book, and that's an accurate statement, insofar as its subject matter doesn't touch on any contemporary political battles. You won't find here the names of presidents or candidates or mainstream parties. But there is, among other topics, exploration of the human quest for utopia/Eden. Horowitz considers both the religious and secular extreme visions (as exemplified in our modern world by radical Islamists on one hand or Communists on the other), and contemplates how we come to perpetrate hell on earth when we were so intent on delivering heaven. As a one-time radical whose idealistic dreams were shattered when a close friend was murdered by erstwhile allies (which he has written about elsewhere), this contemplation is part of Horowitz's long journey. He is not writing about what's wrong with "the other guy"; his comments are addressed to every human heart, most of all his own.

Two elements are always found in any work by David Horowitz: marvelous writing and unshakeable passion. The End of Time does not disappoint as it is a unique and valuable addition to his oeuvre. As is to be expected, erudition is intrinsic to his efforts. He cannot compose without educating as, despite its brevity, within can be found brilliant quotations and granules of wisdom from the finest minds in the western world. Of these, one by Dr. Johnson is perhaps my favorite, "When a man knows he is to be hanged in a fortnight, it concentrates the mind wonderfully." Horowitz first got the idea for this reflective essay addressing life, death, and the totality of existence during air travel. He correctly points out that thoughts of death cross the mind of most every passenger as we ride and jerk above the clouds. A combination of 9/11 and being diagnosed with prostate cancer created a need for him to make sense of an indecipherable future. Impending death, if not due to cancer then to old age, conceptually has put him in the position we physically find him in upon the book's jacket cover. He wades alone at sea with no land or person to secure him. The figure we see is a shadowy composite who, like all the rest of us, ultimately stands alone. The End of Time is not tightly structured which allows its narration to flow along many lines of inquiry. Horowitz discusses a variety of topics and subtopics. Religion, of course, is one of them. He is an agnostic who scrutinizes the Pensees of Pascal, but, ultimately, cannot agree with the philosopher's conclusions. Although it is to our benefit that he so fully elucidates the Frenchman's final observations. His scholar's eye then fixes itself on cancer and the way in which it is treated today. Horowitz's experience with hospitalization and recovery illustrate just how non-exacting the science of medicine actually is. Different surgeons tell him different things, and before the prostrate operation commences there is cause to believe that his survival may come with the dear price of lost potency and continence. One is left, as far as health is concerned, with the same impression Somerset Maugham had about life, that the only thing with which to be certain is that there is precious little with which to be certain. It's been said by several commentators that The End of Time is not a political work, but I disagree. It is not as overtly political as the rest of his publications, and certainly it is, for the most part, a book about human existence. However, even a reader who was not familiar with the author's opinions and positions, would have no question as to where his political allegiances lie. His arguments are unquestionably (and fortunately) conservative. Indeed, one could argue that a devoted attempt to ascertain what the future will bring is by definition a conservative trait; just as is the sentence, "Therefore recognition of consequences is the beginning of wisdom." Such a stateme

This book is not about politics, at least insofar as David can write a book without politics. It's somewhat of a memoir. Horowitz reflects upon being struck by prostate cancer, which brings to the surface thoughts of death; what that means to him, what it means to his wife. David is agnostic, and he does an admirable job of describing certain questions of life and death form the perspective of those of us who have no preordained set of beliefs about what that means. Love him or hate him, David Horowitz is an intriguing man, and boldly honest when writing about himself. This book provides insight into his character; insight that perhaps he himself might not even realize.

The Left commonly describe David Horowitz as a "Right-wing extremist". They thus put a pro-Israel agnostic Jew in the same company as antisemites -- once again illustrating the grossly simplistic black-and-white thinking that is characteristic of the Left. I think David's latest book, however, clarifies exactly what he is. David has kindly just sent me an autographed copy of it. I get lots of books for one reason or another but rarely read much of them. I have read so many books in my 61 years on this earth (when I was aged 8 I was already reading three books a week) that I mostly just read articles now. So when I picked up David's book, I expected just do do a quick scan. Instead I sat down and read it right through. The book crams an immense amount of thought into 155 pages but it is all expressed with such simplicity and clarity that it is for all that not the slightest labour to read. I have always said that obscure writing betrays confused thinking and that clear thinking yields clear expression. David's book is an excellent example of the latter. The book is basically a reflection on life in general and David's own life in particular. As such it is not a directly political book but, given David's life in politics, there are many penetrating reflections about politics in it. So I think I will here mainly share a few quotes that I particularly liked as accurate summaries of the world: "If you look long and hard enough, you will find that a lie is at the root of most human wrong" "The desire for more than is possible is the cause of greater human misery than any other" "How can utopians dream of changing the world when it is so difficult to lose an inch off one's waistline?" "My father's prophet was Karl Marx, who was himself descended from a long line of Rabbis" "What Mohammed Atta and my father wanted was an escape from this life" "My father was a decent man who was not prepared to harm others ... But along with millions of decent progressive souls, my father abetted those who did just that. Progressives looked the other way and then endorsed murder of untold innocents for the same reason that Mohammed Atta and the Islamic martyrs did: to make the new world possible" "This very envy and the cruel desire for revenge that accompanied it were Joseph Stalin's most human traits" "To the devoted [Leftist] the source of human misery cannot be located in a deficiency of self [i.e. a deficiency in himself], let alone the wish to escape it [i.e. escape his own deficiencies]" "Self-loathing is the secret revolutionary passion" "Social redeemers ... cannot live with themselves or the fault in creation, and therefore are at war with both. Because they are miserable themselves, they cannot abide the happiness of others" "The Devil they [Leftists] hate is in themselves" "The personal dream of every revolutionary is to be at the center of creation and the renewal of the world" "Here is why you cannot change the world: Beca