Customer Reviews

Shibboleth: My Revolting Life

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As an avid fan of Crass' politics and art, I found Shibboleth to be an engrossing read. Penny's adolescent and adult life span a volatile, unexplored time in art and subculture, yet eventually drearily stagnant time in Britain's political scene. The scope of the story is large,and anyone familiar with Crass Records or the band themselves will find this history of the first anarcho-punk movement (as through Ratter/Rimbauds eyes) very interesting. Shining through in a somewhat different light in Penny's autobiography than in their songwork, Crass' anarcho-pacifist beliefs stem from the idea that "people are basically good, and that it was social conditions and social conditioning that produced the aberration of anti-social behavior." I reccomend this book for anyone interested in the smart side of punk.

Shibboleth recounts the origins of punk (as we know it), by finding early punk in the late 1960s and recording its evolution through the 1970s and 1980s. I've never heard Rimbaud's band Crass, and loved this book all the same. Rimbaud sets up an interesting double story line: that of his own life and that of Wally--a flower child. In a sense, the collapse of Wally's dreams, his ruination at the hands of the English mental health system, and the right-wing onslaught of Thatcher serve to explain punk. As hippie dreams failed, and as socialist alternatives proved barbaric, punk birthed new autonomous languages to own meanings apart from states, corporations, and utopias. Rimbaud is a creative writer--at times beautiful in his freedoms, while on other pages his disorder is inneffectual and tedious. But so it goes with punk, in which one makes one's own rules and one's own discoveries of beauty. Others can take your ideas or leave them. If others share the vision, so much the better. As always, Rimbaud's vision appeals to many of us across the decades and on either side of oceans.

So much of the punk ideals that surged through the youth in the 70's has given way to the poppish punk of the 90's and plain idiocy. Penny Rimbaud and Crass represented the real anarchists of the day. This great book delves into Penny's life and the life of "Wally Hope". "The Last of the Hippies" (the last part of the book) scared me to death, because it reminded me just what the government can do to people. Rimbaud is an excellent writer whose brilliant style will take on a journey through his revolting life. A must read for anyone who considers themselves an anarchist.

Good read if you were interested in the Crass movement back in the 70's and early 80's. John Ratter (Penny Rimbaud) gives us a somewhat detailed view of his up-bringing. Quite disturbing in some areas and a little difficult to understand in others. He writes quite well, but over does some of his descriptions. A good read all the same.

There is something depressingly familiar in the resigned assent to violence that Rimbuad closes his book with when he refers to the attempted assassination of Margaret Thatcher by the IRA. As the catalyst for a generation of young punk rockers to begin challenging the System, Rimbuad lead the band Crass on a raucous assault on the British establishment and it's icons. The banners then were anarchy, freedom and peace... Today, if I read Rimbuad correctly, they could well be that tried and failed cliche the worker's revolution and the attendant socialist fantasies that go along with it. This book is only truly coherent to those that followed Crass and absorbed the band's Rimbuad penned lyrics; Shibboleth is that personal. Still if you want an insight into one of the premier leaders and motivators of the British punk scene, and a major thorn in the side of the Thatcher era State read this book.

what a brave and interesting book. Penny really bares his soul and is sometimes disturbingly honest. Penny is a thoughtful, intelligent fellow with a lot of empathy and compassion which can be difficult in what is so often a cruel and hostile world. If only more of us would stop and consider where it is we are headed and how we might make this place better for everyone. Anyway Im going to include a bit of my favourite parts of the book... the lives of millions upon millions of people are run by a tiny handful of ruling elites who possess most of the wealth, almost all of the land and all of the power. We are expected to be grateful to them for the privelage of paying for the roof over our heads, the privelage of being slaves in their factories and offices and for accepting the miserable wages that they pay. They grow richer at our expense, but we are expected to look up to them as symbols of success. We are expected to be grateful for the privillage of paying them huge taxes so that they can finance their oppression of us, the people. Finally we are expected to be grateful to them for the privillage of fighting gor them in their wars and killing other people like ourselves, or being killed by other people like ourselves. We are expected to love, honour and obey.....

This book isnt all politics by the way. Its a very personal account of Penny and his life. I really enjoyed it. Peace!

I was a big fan of Crass in the early days ('78 to '84); the ultimate punk band in my opinion. And not just musically; they were self-sufficient in every way, meaning every last word they wrote in their lyrics. So I was excited to finally pick up a copy of this book. There are some strange meanderings in here, to be sure, including a description of a violent murder (no, not the bit about Wally Hope, but the opening piece), plus a rather detailed description of what sounds like an act of urban terrorism, which is never really fully explained. That aside this is a truly vivid inside glimpse into the life of someone who is clearly more of an influence on the past few decades of culture than he perhaps would be comfortable with or even realises? Reading books like this make one realise just how little real impact the rest of us really have on life and history. The truth is, some of us are just not brave enough to truly challenge the way things are, well certainly not in the direct manner that Penny and those of a similar ilk have done and continue to do. The poetic genius should not be underestimated neither.

Further book, film and music reviews, plus general shenanigans can be found at: www.mindcrash.co.uk and http://blog.myspace.com/mindcrash