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We all spend longer than we would like waiting around in airports, but we rarely discover anything about our fellow travellers or those who work there.In the summer of 2009, however, Alain de Botton was given unprecedented, unrestricted access to wander around Heathrow, one of the world's biggest airports, having been appointed its Writer-in-Residence. He spoke with everyone from airline staff and senior executives to travellers passing through, and based on these conversations he produced this extraordinary account of life at an airport and what it says about modern existence.Working with the renowned documentary photographer Richard Baker, he explores the magical and the mundane, and the stories that inhabit this strange 'non-place' that we are usually eager to leave. Taking the reader through the departures lounge, 'airside' and the arrivals hall, de Botton shows with his usual combination of wit and wisdom that spending time in an airport can be more useful and more revealing than we might think.… (more)
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I love watching people and luggage and planes and tarmac - just the thought of people traipsing about all over the world makes me giddy. Love it! So, when it comes to Alain de Botton's writing about being hired by BAA to spend a week at Heathrow as their writer-in-residence, I probably cannot be trusted to be an impartial judge (extraordinarily jealous as I am of his all-access pass and his opportunity to walk on 27L, where the inbound aircraft touch down).
Although the writing is more philosophical than technical, I really appreciated the behind-the-scenes information and the stories of the travelers and workers that de Botton met. Spending seven days and nights in Terminal 5 and its adjacent hotel, he got to see Heathrow from all angles, those that the rest of us see and those we never will have access to, no matter how much we ask to get a glimpse behind the curtain.
His story should invoke severe wanderlust in just about anyone. I only wish it had been a much longer book (it's only 100+ pages), but since it is a commissioned work, de Botton obviously had some restrictions, time- and otherwise.
Sponsored by British Airways and staying on-site in a Heathrow airport hotel, provided with every facility, including a desk in a prominent area, Alain De Botton (a Swiss but English educated writer and television presenter) became surely the world’s first airport ‘Writer in Residence’ for a week.
This series of essays, supported by great photography, provides fascinating interviews with members of the wide range of specialists who operate the terminal; from Pilots of the sky to the airport’s own ‘sky pilots’, the chaplains who help those who need prayer!
A voyeur extraodinaire, Botton’s portraits from his people-watching will stay in your mind long after the reader finishes this quick and highly interesting read.
The resulting, small book was a
Why De Botton was approached is not mentioned, perhaps because he wrote The Art of Travel (2002) or is more generally seen as an essayist. However, he is a bit of a maverick, and particularly his earlier works did not seem very serious. Was Heathrow from the start looking for a "middle-of-the-road man"? Not that exuberantly famous, neither controversial. Or was the author chosen for any particular skill. That was in 2009. In 2011, Tony Parsons became the second writer-in-residence at Heathrow. He wrote Departures: Seven Stories from Heathrow. This booklet apparently did not do very well. Did he screw up? There haven't been any new writers-in-residence at the airport since. Have the powers-that-be lost interest in literature, so soon?
A week at the airport. A Heathrow diary is quite successful, surprisingly, as it is also pretty dull. De Botton is quite sarcastic at times about his commission and the facilities he could make use of. An airport is just not that fascinating. Are the "Airport Priests" really there because travellers anticipate the possibility of death? De Botton really wants to show that his patron made a good choice selecting him, and sprinkles the text with philosophical observations and references to philosophers. Hence, the observation that the dominance of consumerism at the airport is connected to travellers fear of a deadly accident. It seems rather far-fetched. On the other hand, the author does not mention the stress that is often so palpable at airports.
We do not normally stand still, to contemplate a utility such as an airport. On the other hand, an essay can be about anything, why not an airport? Whether De Botton did the best he could, writing A week at the airport. A Heathrow diary is doubtful. He just did his job, it seems. The book is well-crafted, but not inspired. A week at the airport. A Heathrow diary may not be so interesting now, but perhaps in 2160, a 150 years on, it will be a valuable source, or even common people may read it with relish.
He reminds us that anything and everything can be interesting, even the mundane things we encounter every day, but no longer really see or notice because they are so familiar. If we look with a traveller's eye, we can once again see the wonders and complexities of our own daily worlds. It's a slim little book, littered with small photos accompanying his observations, and is a fast but satisfying read.
I found it somewhat disappointing on the whole; as well as the expected stories of individuals, it contains reflections on wider issues such as diversity, assumptions, interconnectedness, separation and so on, but at a fairly superficial level. Perhaps the most interesting parts are those where the author reveals himself, as in his admiration of airline pilots and their (to him) demi-god status. It's not a bad book: one might pick it up at an airport bookshop and use it to while away a flight to Athens. But it wouldn't get you to Sydney.