SOURCE: Brogan, Colm. Review of Cold Friday, by Whittaker Chambers. National Review 47, no. 23 (11 December 1995): 127.

In the following review, Brogan maintains that Cold Friday provides much insight into Chambers's life and character.

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 [Cold Friday] 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...