Tony Judt (1948-2010)

by Ken

In the February 11 New York Review of Books, in a piece called "Night," which launched what the magazine described as "a series of short reflections," the British-born historian Tony Judt detailed the physical state to which his neurological disorder, "a variant of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS): Lou Gehrig’s disease," had reduced him. "Progressive imprisonment without parole," he called it. (He was then, he wrote, "effectively quadriplegic.")

Somehow, though, he produced the extraordinary series of memoir-reflections we've talked about some -- but not nearly enough -- here. He explained that he developed the process to cope with his helplessness at night.

My solution has been to scroll through my life, my thoughts, my fantasies, my memories, mis-memories, and the like until I have chanced upon events, people, or narratives that I can employ to divert my mind from the body in which it is encased. These mental exercises have to be interesting enough to hold my attention and see me through an intolerable itch in my inner ear or lower back; but they also have to be boring and predictable enough to serve as a reliable prelude and encouragement to sleep. It took me some time to identify this process as a workable alternative to insomnia and physical discomfort and it is by no means infallible. But I am occasionally astonished, when I reflect upon the matter, at how readily I seem to get through, night after night, week after week, month after month, what was once an almost insufferable nocturnal ordeal. I wake up in exactly the position, frame of mind, and state of suspended despair with which I went to bed—which in the circumstances might be thought a considerable achievement.

Judt was one of the most penetrating and illuminating writers of his time. He left behind an extraordinary body of writing which I suspect can continue to nourish us for as long as we need. At the moment, the home page of the NYRB website has links to some of his work for the magazine, and a link to a full list.

He made clear that he dreaded the inevitable even-further deterioration of his condition. He died Friday.

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