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Heathcote Williams (1941–2017)

Teoksen Whale Nation tekijä

20+ teosta 363 jäsentä 8 arvostelua

Tietoja tekijästä

John Henley Heathcote Williams was born in Helsby, Cheshire, England on November 15, 1941. He studied law at Christ Church, Oxford, but left without earning a degree. He was a poet, playwright, and actor who used every artistic means available to express his outrage at royal privilege, private näytä lisää property, environmental degradation, and numerous other targets. His first book, The Speakers, was published in 1964. His collections of poetry included Whale Nation, Sacred Elephant, Falling for a Dolphin, Autogeddon, Royal Babylon: The Case Against the Monarchy, and American Porn. His plays included The Local Stigmatic, AC/DC, The Immortalist, and Remember the Truth Dentist. He also appeared in several movies including The Tempest, Wish You Were Here, Orlando, and Basic Instinct 2. He wrote the television drama What the Dickens!, about Charles Dickens's fondness for staging amateur magic shows for friends. It was broadcast on the BBC in 1983. He died from lung disease on July 1, 2017 at the age of 75. (Bowker Author Biography) näytä vähemmän

Includes the name: Williams Heathcote

Tekijän teokset

Whale Nation (1988) 145 kappaletta
Sacred Elephant (1986) 65 kappaletta
Falling for a Dolphin (1988) 45 kappaletta
Autogeddon (1985) 42 kappaletta
The Speakers (1964) 14 kappaletta
Royal Babylon (2015) 11 kappaletta
Der Immortalist (1978) 6 kappaletta
American Porn (2017) 6 kappaletta
AC/DC (1972) 5 kappaletta
Hancock's Last Half-hour (1977) 4 kappaletta
AC/DC and the Local (1973) 2 kappaletta

Associated Works

Jumalainen näytelmä. 1 : Helvetti (1314) — Kertoja, eräät painokset; eräät painokset23,755 kappaletta
Jumalainen näytelmä. 3 : Paratiisi (1316)eräät painokset6,147 kappaletta
Orlando [1992 film] (1992) — Actor — 85 kappaletta
The Tempest [1979 film] (2000) 21 kappaletta

Merkitty avainsanalla

Yleistieto

Jäseniä

Kirja-arvosteluja

Ancient wise men from Brahma to Aristotle recognized and revered the elephant as the philosopher-statesman of the animal kingdom.
Now, the elephant is celebrated in this poem by the author of Whale Nation and Falling for a Dolphin. Beautiful empathetic photographs.
100 black-and-white and 70 full-color illustrations. Nothing specifically mentioned about Indonesia, but Asian elephants are of course covered.
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Alhickey1 | 1 muu arvostelu | Jan 6, 2023 |
Remember when Brexiteers said that there would be less bureaucracy? Well, as every sensible person predicted, there is a hell of a lot more. Everything Brexiteers were saying in 2016 is turning out, predictably, to be wrong. They even predicted economic growth in spite of the fact that the whole concept of Brexit was to do less trade with your most lucrative markets. And the ironies will not end. The sight of DUP MPs crying in the House of Commons about Northern Ireland's new status as only slightly British is very amusing. History will conclude that the Democratic Unionist Party was instrumental in the destruction of the Union. And Brexiteers can whinge all they like; the fact is that they voted to give Dutch custom officials the right to confiscate British sandwiches. And, let's make one thing very clear as the destruction of the UK gathers pace: there is no extra sovereignty to be had. None. Not a scintilla. You can only get into the EU by being fully sovereign in the first place. The notion of trading wealth for sovereignty was nonsense. Britain's wealth is being squandered for nothing.

Brexit, like Trumpism is a cult. Brexiteers will NOT wake up to the damage they have done, they will still blame it on something else, probably the evil EU. "See? Look at how evil the EU is, it's trying to destroy us now, we surely are glad we left so we exposed them!" They even will get to blame the government that didn't get a full no deal Brexit so we still have to abide by a minimum of EU rules. The evil elves, unicorns and leprechauns are next.... Germany went to a similar phase after the war, the country laid in ruins and Nazi supporters still blaming something and somebody else for the catastrophe. I don't know if it's a flaw in human nature or a by product of stupidity, greed, poor education or a combination of all those factors. The reality is that Brexiteers will never own this clusterfuck and find always some scapegoat. Too bad Labour still doesn't understand that it's complicit and bears responsibility as well, yes I'm talking to you Corbyn the undecider and Starmer the appeaser, you should fight to rejoin the EU not just lay there and accept the mess. This fight is NOT over till the Brits rejoin. I know there are millions of Brits "brerejoin" folks that want back what we had even if the common British people will lose all the privileges they had before as a special founding member of the EU. Maybe it's better this way. Sorry for the rambling rant, it's just my new state of feelings. British government completely misunderstood the workings of a single market and customs union. Yes, Brexiteers realise their mistakes which is why they are marching on Westminster demanding the Brits rejoin the EU. Political parties are collapsing unless they advocate rejoining the EU...Nah. Echo chamber Remainers won't give up, but everyone else is just getting on with it. The only point of discussion at present is getting the vaccine and getting the UK back to work again. Brexit is the past, people have moved on, it is a done deal. As such the majority don't give a shit, they have had over 4 years of Brexit and bored with it. Welcome to the wilderness, make yourself comfortable, you are going to be here for a long while.

The reality of foreign trade is that most tariffs thanks to the WTO are relatively low and don't impede trade that much. What impedes trade are so called non tariff barriers in which local manufacturers have ways to make imports hard and more expensive slower. That is why the Single Market had no such barriers. And of course the Single Market was a Thatcher idea and very much designed by Britain. Now if you want a single market you need common standards so there are no non tariff barriers. And for this yep you agree to give up a bit of sovereignty. Just like when you sign up to climate change reductions treaty you give up a bit of sovereignty. The Brexit voters simply don't grasp any of this. Can't in fact grasp it. Have instructed their brains to not work when this is explained. Hence their shock when non tariff barriers hamper business...

I know, I know my little Brexiteers. Hush…There there…
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
antao | 1 muu arvostelu | Jun 22, 2021 |
Just as hard hitting as Williams' "Whale Nation", and just as relevant now as it was 30 years ago. Both books emphasise the industrial need for lubrication and energy as driving environmental exploitation and ecological degradation.

Half the book is poetry, the other half extracts from Williams' sources of information and inspiration. Both elements are viscerally effective, as Williams doesn't shy away from the physical and psychological injuries caused by the apocalyptic holocaust of Autogeddon.

According to the surveillance device I'm writing this on, I spent 24 hours driving last month, during which I had 2 weeks' annual leave when I was fairly stationary, so typically that would be closer to 2 full days driving per month, practically a whole month behind the wheel in a year 🤯
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Michael.Rimmer | Apr 11, 2021 |
Well, that was an emotional rollercoaster! Williams divides the book into two parts: First, his poem, which is itself of two halves, then a series of extracts from books, scientific studies and historical reports.

The poem in blank verse begins with a meditation on whales and their environment, unfolding the brutal exploitation of both by humans, which is gut-wrenchingly tragic.
The extracts similarly begin gently with descriptions of our fascination with these amazing animals, then crashing into the genocide we've perpetrated on them through the industrial revolution and global capitalism - utterly heartbreaking. Williams is kind enough to end the book on a gentler note again. Throughout, the accompanying photographs are by turns gorgeous and horrific.

A wonderfully moving book which made me marvel and love, feel angry and ashamed. Unequivocally 5🌟
… (lisätietoja)
 
Merkitty asiattomaksi
Michael.Rimmer | 2 muuta kirja-arvostelua | Oct 21, 2020 |

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