Heathcote Williams (1941–2017)
Author of Whale Nation
About the Author
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 show more 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) show less
Works by Heathcote Williams
The Local Stigmatic 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Legal name
- Heathcote-Williams, John Henley Jasper
- Birthdate
- 1941-11-15
- Date of death
- 2017-07-01
- Gender
- male
- Education
- Eton College
- Occupations
- poet
playwright
actor - Relationships
- Heathcote Williams, H. (father)
Samson, Polly (ex-partner)
Gilmour, Charlie (son) - Nationality
- UK
- Birthplace
- Helsby, Cheshire, England, UK
- Places of residence
- Oxford, Oxfordshire, England, UK
- Map Location
- England, UK
Members
Reviews
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 show more 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🌟 show less
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 show more 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🌟 show less
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 show more 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… show less
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… show less
I was recommended ‘Autogeddon’ because it echoes the theme of my PhD - the need for less car ownership and use, particularly on environmental grounds. As such, I found it a wonderful contrast and complement to the dry academic literature I trawl through. The book has two sections: a poem and an anthology of writing on the subject of cars. Photographs are also included throughout, some of which are absolutely stunning. On pages 54 & 55 is a photo of a drive-in movie at sunset, crowded show more with vehicles all turned towards a vast screen watching Charlton Heston part the Red Sea. A really striking image. It is the words that really bring the message home, though, that the system of automobility (as [a:John Urry|573080|John Urry|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] calls it) is appallingly destructive and dysfunctional, yet entirely normalised and taken for granted. When you consider its true social costs - to our health, to the natural environment, to the built environment, to the air, to the climate, to politics, to society, and to emotional wellbeing - car dependence appears disastrous. Heathcote Williams captures the various facets of this beautifully.
Some quotes that especially appealed to me from the poem:
And some memorable parts of the anthology:
‘Autogeddon’ was published in 1991. Since then, cars have continued to conquer the world. Nonetheless, there are signs of growing ambivalence towards them in European and some American cities. Growth in car use has stopped, whilst in some cities (notably London) a quiet renaissance in public transport has taken place. Increasingly smartphones and other such technology are seen as a more important status symbol than a car, especially among the young. Some academics suggest that in cities a new era of transport may be upon us, one in which owning a car is unnecessary as your phone provides a choice of cheaper and just as convenient mobility options. (See [b:Peak Car: The Future of Travel|22522002|Peak Car The Future of Travel|David Metz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403040308s/22522002.jpg|41969212].) This somewhat utopian vision elides the fact that cars still dominate the Western world, figuratively and literally. Dislodging them may take more than a few apps. It will happen, though. Roads existed millennia before the car was invented, and roads will still exist when cars are nothing but rust. Quasi-mystical statements of that sort are discouraged in social science PhD theses, however maybe I could sneak in a quote from this book. It would be extremely appropriate. show less
Some quotes that especially appealed to me from the poem:
Were an Alien Visitor
To hover a few hundred yards above the planet
It could be forgiven for thinking
That cars are the dominant life form,
And that human beings were a kind of ambulatory fuel call,
Injected when the car wished to move off,
And ejected when they were spent. [...]
The Visitor follows up the court reports:
Hit someone over the head with a discarded chrome fender
And kill them:
Life.
Take the precaution of attaching the fender to a car
And kill them:
Six months,
License to drive briefly suspended. [...]
The only green car
Is skeletally rusted and overgrown. [accompanied by a beautiful photograph of such]
And some memorable parts of the anthology:
The motorist straying off the main roads is driven by a need to escape from modern civilisation. He is a man seeking to withdraw himself, in quest, though he may not know it, of a retreat, a retreat bathed in the impalpable fragrance that is distilled by old and traditional things. He finds it, but only for a moment, for, in the act of finding it, he transforms it into something other than what he sought. It is a lane, say, leading to a village; yet scarcely has he passed that way, when the lane is widened to accommodate him... The motorist’ is, indeed, the true anti-Midas touch. [Written in 1946!]
The car is a weapon in the hands of those who choose to use it as such. The driver rattles his symbolic sabre and announces himself as lord of the highway. His inflated sense of confidence and his appreciation of the deadly features, both real and symbolic, transform his emotions and his behaviour. In a car, even the meekest of men has, like James Bond, a licence to kill. [1986]
Motor trucks [in New York] average less than six miles per hour in traffic, as against eleven miles per hour for horse drawn vehicles in 1911. [1961]
‘Autogeddon’ was published in 1991. Since then, cars have continued to conquer the world. Nonetheless, there are signs of growing ambivalence towards them in European and some American cities. Growth in car use has stopped, whilst in some cities (notably London) a quiet renaissance in public transport has taken place. Increasingly smartphones and other such technology are seen as a more important status symbol than a car, especially among the young. Some academics suggest that in cities a new era of transport may be upon us, one in which owning a car is unnecessary as your phone provides a choice of cheaper and just as convenient mobility options. (See [b:Peak Car: The Future of Travel|22522002|Peak Car The Future of Travel|David Metz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1403040308s/22522002.jpg|41969212].) This somewhat utopian vision elides the fact that cars still dominate the Western world, figuratively and literally. Dislodging them may take more than a few apps. It will happen, though. Roads existed millennia before the car was invented, and roads will still exist when cars are nothing but rust. Quasi-mystical statements of that sort are discouraged in social science PhD theses, however maybe I could sneak in a quote from this book. It would be extremely appropriate. show less
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 show more 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 🤯 show less
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 show more 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 🤯 show less
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