Harry & Meghan 14: The Reverse Harry - Restoring the Angevin Empire

[QuiverFullofBooks]

I’ve finished the book. It’s in three parts. The first one, by far my favorite, talks about his life growing up royal. It’s atmospheric, bizarre, and frequently hilarious. Harry might be right at home here at FJ. Sainted Mummy mostly escapes the snark, but here’s one good bit: “[William] loathed it when Mummy dressed us in the same outfits. (It didn’t help that her taste in children’s clothes ran to the extreme; we often looked like the twins from Alice in Wonderland.)“

The second part is his time in Afghanistan. It’s long.

The third part is Meghan and the resulting drama. It’s interesting to get their perspective, but nothing I didn’t know already. With the ghostwriter’s help, the story of their first date finally makes sense. In general, Harry comes off as incredibly spoiled and entitled, though not without valid complaints.

He’s completely obsessed with the idea that other royals leak stories about him to get better coverage for themselves. Just before Archie was born, William called Harry to vent that the same thing was happening to him. Harry thinks it was done by a “gung-ho” member of Charles and Camilla’s staff. He thinks their motive was to kill stories about “Camilla’s son, who’d been gadding around London, generating tawdry rumors.” Bear in mind, he has no proof of any of this. It also bugs me that he didn’t use Tom’s name, which always comes off like the person is below his notice. I checked the time frame and Tom had just gotten divorced, so he was entitled to a little gadding about (probably much less than Harry got up to). 

 

[adidas]

2 hours ago, Antimony said:

Way more than twice. We have to count Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, and Rhonda Byrne (author of The Secret) and Jenny McCarthy (anti-vax stuff).

The awful thing about Oprah for me, I was thinking about today weirdly, is that I really like her and I enjoy watching her content and a lot of her book club books (really loved The Rapture of Canaan) but she does keep platforming some of the worst.

Thanks for filling me in - I guess it’s obvious I don’t watch Oprah 🤣

I have enjoyed a few of her book club books though - Midwives is one of my favourite and I really enjoyed White Oleander.

A Million Little Pieces was a good read, but I was annoyed that I read it thinking it was a true account rather than a fiction novel. 

[DalmatianCat]

I’m going to wait for a copy from my library…what does he say about Chelsy?

[noseybutt]

20 minutes ago, adidas said:

Thanks for filling me in - I guess it’s obvious I don’t watch Oprah 🤣

I have enjoyed a few of her book club books though - Midwives is one of my favourite and I really enjoyed White Oleander.

A Million Little Pieces was a good read, but I was annoyed that I read it thinking it was a true account rather than a fiction novel. 

Unpopular opinion. The drama around A Million Little Pieces and Oprah’s anger was more interesting than the book itself. 

I agree marketing it as a true account was annoying. It fed into the never-trust-an-addict-who-is-always-an-addict trope and, bizarrely, may have been done knowingly by the publisher.

[QuiverFullofBooks]

14 minutes ago, DalmatianCat said:

I’m going to wait for a copy from my library…what does he say about Chelsy?

Virtually the same things he says about Cressida (they’re “Chels and Cress” later on). Great person, didn’t want to sign up for his crazy life, can’t blame her.

[just_ordinary]

6 hours ago, Destiny said:

Same. I read a lot of YA and I'm an Old. I know many other Olds who share my love of YA. Just because you find it beneath you does not make your opinion global @just_ordinary.

I never said anything against the YA genre????? I like YA. I was talking about real people in a certain phase of life. Which is also a normal phase to go through but also one to go THROUGH. And since when is disagreeing and expressing your opinion a problem? Even if I would think YA or SciFi or Fantasy is beneath me? Is that a problem? I read lots of lightweight roman novels. This genre gets trashed a lot and many people openly talk about how it’s beneath them. No need to get offended though. 
I think I give posting here a bit of a break

[prayawaythefundie]

2 minutes ago, just_ordinary said:

I think I give posting here a bit of a break

Please don‘t, I enjoy reading your point of view.

[Jackie3]

19 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Here is a little fact checking- there are so many verifiable lies in this book, I do not think anything is real.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/queen-consort-camillas-friends-insist-she-didnt-scheme-to-be-queen?

 

 

I think the information the palace leaks is much more reliable. Read the Daily Mail and the Sun for your info!

 

8 hours ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

He thinks their motive was to kill stories about “Camilla’s son, who’d been gadding around London, generating tawdry rumors.” Bear in mind, he has no proof of any of this. It also bugs me that he didn’t use Tom’s name, which always comes off like the person is below his notice. I checked the time frame and Tom had just gotten divorced, so he was entitled to a little gadding about (probably much less than Harry got up to). 

No, you are wrong. He thought their motive was to gain more access to Charles. That was the primary thing.  And as a reward for fewer stories about Camilla's son.

Whether Harry "gadded about" has nothing to do with the matter. Though he's quite open about all his gadding. 

It's not just the Daily Mail who distorts things.

 

 

14 hours ago, nausicaa said:

But a hereditary monarchy will always have "spares," and there will inevitably be different treatment because one child needs to be prepared to be the monarch. Unless he is advocating for everyone to have only one child, he still seems to be contradicting himself. 

Why would you need to "prepare" a child to be the monarch? They are essentially powerless and ceremonial. It's not like William had special lessons from the Queen or anything. Harry went to the same schools and did the same things that William did. 

How exactly was William "prepared" for his role as monarch? Bear in mind, he'll probably be about 60 when he takes the throne. Exactly what is he learning for 60 years?

Is George being "trained" in some way that is different than Charlotte and Louis? I doubt it.

[nelliebelle1197]

Here is a summary of the book by the guardian 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/12/i-was-alone-abandoned-with-only-a-hundred-million-in-the-bank-spare-digested-by-john-crace

[QuiverFullofBooks]

2 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Here is a summary of the book by the guardian 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/12/i-was-alone-abandoned-with-only-a-hundred-million-in-the-bank-spare-digested-by-john-crace

I love Digested Read! (If FJers aren’t familiar with it, it’s satire.) The “Digested Read, Digested” at the end is “I want my mummy.” 

[prayawaythefundie]

8 hours ago, Jackie3 said:

It's not like William had special lessons from the Queen or anything. Harry went to the same schools and did the same things that William did. 

William did have special meetings over tea with the Queen when he was a teenager and Harry was not invited. It‘s one of the things he is complaining about. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by prayawaythefundie

[Alisamer]

19 hours ago, just_ordinary said:

While it has a nice flow please be aware that it’s an easy read because this book is written in extremely short sentences.

This might give you a good idea of the kind of text:

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/12/i-was-alone-abandoned-with-only-a-hundred-million-in-the-bank-spare-digested-by-john-crace
 

I surely wouldn’t pay money for it, but hey we are all free to spend as we see fit.

 

 

I found it to be well written to me, in the sense that the writing stayed out of the way. Like, there wasn't any point where I particularly noticed the writing - no point so far where it's knocked me out of the story in any way - which is a sure way to get me to quit reading the book. It also seemed appropriate for what it is, since it is written as Harry's thoughts, and he clearly considers himself the less smart sporty one. It would have been kind of strange if it had read like high literature, you know? Coming from someone who talks about not really "getting" Shakespeare and who thinks Charles has difficulty relating to him because Charles is "bookish" and he's not. To me, despite knowing full well it was ghostwritten, it felt like Harry's words, IMO. 

I will say the last 3 autobiography/memoir things I've read were The Heroin Diaries by Nikki Sixx, and the ones from Slash and Steven Adler from Guns N Roses. So I'm not coming from reading stuff by high scholars!

16 hours ago, Giraffe said:

I am in my 40’s. I’m in a bookclub with other 40 year old and older people. Almost all of us enjoy YA even though we’re all long out of our mid twenties. 

Yeah I tend to like YA. And (well written) fanfic. Partly because after decades of reading obsessively as a child and young adult, I'm now to the point where reading isn't my primary thing anymore. I still love it, but my focus is less, especially if I feel like there's other stuff I should be doing (which is always). So most of my intense reading is vacation reading. If I'm on the beach I have no pressing "to do" list distracting me. 

1 hour ago, QuiverFullofBooks said:

I love Digested Read! (If FJers aren’t familiar with it, it’s satire.) The “Digested Read, Digested” at the end is “I want my mummy.” 

That's exactly what I'm getting so far in my reading of it.

1 minute ago, prayawaythefundie said:

William did have special meetings over tea with the Queen when he was a teenager and Harry was not invited. It‘s one of the things he is complaining about. 

Awww. Sounds like a certain expert on all things Harry hasn't read the book yet! 

William most definitely did have special lessons with the Queen throughout his time at Eton and likely beyond.

[Coconut Flan]

54 minutes ago, Alisamer said:

I found it to be well written to me, in the sense that the writing stayed out of the way. Like, there wasn't any point where I particularly noticed the writing - no point so far where it's knocked me out of the story in any way - which is a sure way to get me to quit reading the book. It also seemed appropriate for what it is, since it is written as Harry's thoughts, and he clearly considers himself the less smart sporty one. It would have been kind of strange if it had read like high literature, you know? Coming from someone who talks about not really "getting" Shakespeare and who thinks Charles has difficulty relating to him because Charles is "bookish" and he's not. To me, despite knowing full well it was ghostwritten, it felt like Harry's words, IMO. 

The writing constantly knocks me out of the story.  The sentence fragments!  The needless sentence fragments! So far for the vast majority of the sentence fragments, they are needless.  I get it that it's a technique, but it's also improper grammar and makes it a tough go for me.  I could never tolerate Hemingway either.  The author seems to me to actually upgrade Harry's thought processes.  In many places this is more erudite than anything I've ever heard Harry say live.   If Harry can manage the introspection, he'll probably view this as a mistake before the end of his life.  Reducing it to I want my Mummy is not off the mark.  He has had some remarkably childish and fanciful reactions to life.  

[Jackie3]

6 hours ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

Here is a summary of the book by the guardian 

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2023/jan/12/i-was-alone-abandoned-with-only-a-hundred-million-in-the-bank-spare-digested-by-john-crace

How funny! The Guardian makes fun of the book, then urges you to buy it off their website!  Harry is right about them making money off his life. Even his grief brings them cash. 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Jackie3

[hoipolloi]

27 minutes ago, Coconut Flan said:

I could never tolerate Hemingway either. 

Same here. To me, it's an incredibly annoying & distracting writing style. 

[viii]

2 hours ago, Alisamer said:

William most definitely did have special lessons with the Queen throughout his time at Eton and likely beyond.

Little proof of it, but that was a rumor why William moved his family to Adelaide Cottage, so he could be closer to Windsor and meet regularly with the Queen regarding his future. 

55 minutes ago, hoipolloi said:

Same here. To me, it's an incredibly annoying & distracting writing style. 

There's a member in my writers' group that writes this way and tries to insist that it's short and punchy, which is appealing to YA. True as that may be, it drives me bonkers. I just find it so choppy. 

[Alisamer]

1 hour ago, hoipolloi said:

Same here. To me, it's an incredibly annoying & distracting writing style. 

Now when I go back to reading Spare I'm going to notice the writing and be distracted, LOL!

I'm... not sure if I've read any Hemingway. I feel like I should have. That said I don't remember a ton of the stuff I read in school. I read everything assigned and then some (excepting Pride and Prejudice, just couldn't finish that one) but I feel like the stuff I read because it was assigned just left my head after the last test on it. 

[Coconut Flan]

I agree with a lot of this opinion piece:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/01/13/prince-harry-spare-royal-family-memoirs-regret/

[treehugger]

I actually loved Hemingway as a teenager. I think I would need to reread some of his work to see if that holds true 20 years later… 

that being said, from the excerpts I’ve read from Spare, I don’t know if I’d like it. I do need to find a copy for sure, but probably at the library. I don’t think it’s a book I want to spend money on, especially because it’s so pricey in Canada. 

[DalmatianCat]

3 minutes ago, treehugger said:

I actually loved Hemingway as a teenager. I think I would need to reread some of his work to see if that holds true 20 years later… 

that being said, from the excerpts I’ve read from Spare, I don’t know if I’d like it. I do need to find a copy for sure, but probably at the library. I don’t think it’s a book I want to spend money on, especially because it’s so pricey in Canada. 

I finally decided to sign up with my online library and listen to more audiobooks this year in order to get through more books. I put the audiobook for Spare on hold yesterday and was 611th in line and a day later have moved up to 600th, so it seems as if people are going through it quickly and returning it immediately. I think it will take less than the initial several months predicted for more to get my turn.

[Coconut Flan]

4 hours ago, treehugger said:

I actually loved Hemingway as a teenager. I think I would need to reread some of his work to see if that holds true 20 years later… 

that being said, from the excerpts I’ve read from Spare, I don’t know if I’d like it. I do need to find a copy for sure, but probably at the library. I don’t think it’s a book I want to spend money on, especially because it’s so pricey in Canada. 

Amazon has had it on half-price since before the release, but for me it isn't worth anywhere near that.  Free it's OK.  I rate it's value to my life on about the same plane as something Teri Maxwell wrote.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by Coconut Flan

[SoSoNosy]

That Washington Post article is behind a paywall; I'll have to think about how much I would read if I subscribed.

 

[Coconut Flan]

You can read via a web archive.

[nelliebelle1197]

More fun from the Daily Beast.

Read This: "Prince Harry: Think the Memoir’s Bad? You Should See What I Left Out"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-harry-think-the-memoirs-bad-you-should-see-what-i-left-out?via=ios

 

[Coconut Flan]

26 minutes ago, nelliebelle1197 said:

More fun from the Daily Beast.

Read This: "Prince Harry: Think the Memoir’s Bad? You Should See What I Left Out"

https://www.thedailybeast.com/prince-harry-think-the-memoirs-bad-you-should-see-what-i-left-out?via=ios

Quote

In another aggressive interview, Harry says William has “shut down” and their relationship “couldn’t be worse.”

Well, what did the poor deluded child expect?  Did he and Meghan not cut Thomas from their lives when he did even less?  They're guilty of absolutely deluded thinking.

Quote

“Now you could argue that some of the stuff I’ve put in there, well, they will never forgive me anyway,” he said. “But the way I see it is, I’m willing to forgive you for everything you’ve done, and I wish you’d actually sat down with me, properly, and instead of saying I’m delusional and paranoid, actually sit down and have a proper conversation about this, because what I’d really like is some accountability. And an apology to my wife.”

So if your whole family thinks you're delusional and paranoid, you don't think perhaps you should give it a think before publishing a book that makes you look delusional and paranoid to a large part of the population?  

I thought he had plenty of issues already.  I've always thought he has issues ever since I first heard of him.  All he has done now is put it into permanent print.  I do know a family who has a similar situation although on a much smaller scale and they have had difficulty with it over the years.  They've had to have plenty of family meetings minus the delusional member as to how to handle family gatherings and what can be said or not said around the member with issues.  That's even without any threat of the family member doing more than gossip about them.  Which the member has done regularly.  Yeah, that person thinks the entire family is off base not them, too.  

Edited January 13, 2023 by Coconut Flan