Aman who knew Whittaker Chambers very well once told me that he did not believe there was anybody who knew him with full intimacy. At the core of being of Chambers there was something elusive, something not responsive to ordinary standards of judgment and understanding. “There is an element of Dostoievsky there,” he said.
The majestic Witness gives much evidence to support this 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 immense to what was private and particular and could also be made personal.
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