Submitted by TellerKind t3_120hsbi in books
Comments
North_Yam_6423 t1_jdhwxh7 wrote
lol, the shade!
Quasipooch t1_jdh9bma wrote
No kidding. ENOUGH with the entire "royal" family! They bleed red like the rest of us. Why so many Americans are fascinated with them blows my mind.
1945BestYear t1_jdhjugx wrote
Americans need to get interested in Byzantine history. There's a thousand years of intrafamilial infighting to learn about there, and they go one better over modern royals because they usually end with somebody's eyes getting gouged out or their balls cut off or something.
elizabeth-cooper t1_jdhqxwk wrote
Because royalty is romantic, like something out of a fairy tale.
I read Spare, and assuming it wasn't a lie from beginning to end, I did gain sympathy for Harry that I didn't have before. He lost his mother when he was 12, he grew up in the public eye, his family is dysfunctional, he was having trouble coping but nobody suggested that he get therapy until he was 30.
When he talks about wanting privacy, he means from the paparazzi and I think that's fair enough.
compassionisthekey t1_jdhs3ci wrote
I think the South Park episode about them wanting "privacy" pretty much nails it. Most of us here are normal people who appreciate our privacy. We're not going out of our way to achieve that privacy because it's actually pretty normal and natural to do. The once-famous actors and other celebrities that I don't hear about anymore and one day I wonder "oh yeah, I wonder what happened to them?" They actually achieved privacy because it actually takes a bit of work to be ever-present in the public sphere. Harry can actually be that "oh yeah, whatever happened to him" person if he wants to be. No, it wasn't fair or easy what happened to him as a child, but given what we know goes on in the world, he's had a decent life.
1945BestYear t1_jdiy7mk wrote
I can appreciate that there is no winning move in his situation against the British news media. He and Meghan could've gone into the Himalayas to live as goatherds, and the press would still have gone years and years about how terrible, awful people they are. Publishing a book at least pushes out your side of the story, and stops the conversation from getting monopolised.
elizabeth-cooper t1_jdhtwc2 wrote
The paparazzi hound them when they're just trying to live their lives. Having you seen the way the paps treated Britney Spears? It should be illegal. Watch the way they surrounded her car:
saga_of_a_star_world t1_jdks4em wrote
I watched that documentary about Britney Spears, and it shocked me how little agency she had in her life. And how can anyone stay sane with that level of stalking behavior from the paparazzi?
eschuylerhamilton t1_jdjddu2 wrote
This! They bitch and moan about how they just want a quiet life while simultaneously releasing books and doing documentaries. You can’t have it both ways.
hydrogenitis t1_jdj36df wrote
Spare? C'mon...can you spare a square?
e_crabapple t1_jdijspu wrote
His family once subjugated 1/4 of the whole world -- how dreamy!
This country's founding documents specifically mention them as examples of what not to do -- oh to live such a life...
elizabeth-cooper t1_jdilayw wrote
Okay? Nothing to do with him. There's almost nobody in the northern hemisphere who isn't currently benefiting from their [literal or political] ancestors' colonialism and there's not a whole lot any of us can do about it.
OneGoodRib t1_jdk3jw9 wrote
Yes clearly it's ridiculous to fantasize about being rich enough that you can only get gag gifts for Christmas because you buy whatever expensive things you want whenever you want, and to live in beautiful palaces where you never have to clean or cook for yourself but you still could if you wanted to.
How utterly ridiculous to be fascinated by these real people whose every waking personal moments are on display for the entire world to analyze.
Because some people who aren't even alive anymore did bad things that directly or indirectly benefited most of us.
spotted-cat t1_jdk1our wrote
Tbh, as an American I’m most interested in how his father’s affair with Camilla and losing his mother impacted his life and relationships with his family. Mainly because his brother seems much more emotionally stable(?) than Harry does despite all of this if that makes sense.
fellationelsen t1_jdidset wrote
I'm British and I fucking hate them. That said, this book was actually fascinating and entertaining. Had more fun reading that than half of the actual novels I've read. Harry is definitely my favourite royal now, and the amount of stupid criticism, from everyone from South Park to the rest of the royal family just proves how essential of a read it is.
Affectionate_Noise36 t1_jdhidhw wrote
Harry is not royalty anymore
Radagon_Gold t1_jdij3jk wrote
The Duke of Sussex retains his royal status and his place in the order of precedence. Just four individuals have to die before Prince Harry would become His Majesty Henry the Ninth, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and of His other Realms and Territories King, Head of the Commonwealth, Defender of the Faith.
Affectionate_Noise36 t1_jdijq2u wrote
Tbh it was a joke. And my god doesn't know him as I remember
[deleted] t1_jdim4j1 wrote
[deleted]
Psortho t1_jdjz3de wrote
Ok, so it seems like the idea here is to point up the irony of Prince Harry blasting out a book (i.e. publicity) in which he claims to not want publicity. Sure, this is understandable. On the other hand, it's also ironic for the "ugh we're sick of hearing about Harry" people to put this much time and energy into telling us all about how sick they are of hearing about Harry.
I'm kind of sick of hearing about hearing about Harry so I'll stop here before I disappear in a puff of logic.
mikelnomics t1_jdhtuum wrote
Don't really get the hate. Haven't read it myself, but it seems like an absolute rollercoaster of a book. Did anyone really expect the tell-all memoir of an ex-royal to break new ground in literature?
If you're reading for anything other than gossip, cringe etc., the fault lies with you, not the book.
Laura9624 t1_jdj400d wrote
Yeah, nobody made anybody read it. What is wrong with people.
Prothean_Beacon t1_jdk0jgb wrote
It's like when people complain that there are too many sequels, marvel movies and remakes while simultaneously going to see each and every one of them.
Or my favorite clicking and commenting on Reddit posts about how much they don't care about whatever the post is about.
Mr_Potato_Head1 t1_jdioeyn wrote
From excerpts I've read (not going to subject myself to the full thing), it's an odd book in that it wants to be a profound look at one man escaping a powerful system which has been dragging him down, but the sheer amount of gossip and the dreadful way it's written for the most part means it ends up being really comical in ways that were probably unintentional. Most people will be reading it for the gossip but I don't think he necessarily wanted it to be that when he wrote it.
hookahsmokingladybug t1_jdj0vaf wrote
Everybody feels sorry for him because he lost his mother at a young age and didn't get therapy until he was 30-wtf?? There are millions of us in the same position (i lost both parents) who don't have the means to even afford the needed therapy. Like we are supposed to feel sorry for him as he partied his way through his 20s like only rich people can do? Just comes off as whiny and entitled-he needs to live life for a week like real people with real world problems and then maybe he would be more grateful for what he actually has.
spotted-cat t1_jdk35u3 wrote
There’s a lot more to it than that. Diana also had an eating disorder and attempted suicide multiple times because of her husband’s affair with Camilla, and she also hated being royal. Harry’s father even went on to say that he only married Diana because he felt pressure to marry quickly, and then there’s the theory that Diana was murdered by the royals following her divorce from Charles.
Harry was exposed to all of that and let’s be honest, if this was a fiction novel people probably wouldn’t think its boring at all. It would a contemporary familial drama with a love story and a romance. Like, yeah, Harry is out of touch with reality but that’s not 100% his fault — being royal is the only life he knows.
To not be sorry for him is classist and indicates a lack of empathy.
PumpkinPieIsGreat t1_jdlqm20 wrote
Isn't this always the way? If a celebrity dies to drugs people call it tragic, your average Joe would be called a junkie. There's many double standards like this.
eschuylerhamilton t1_jdjd4ry wrote
I don’t feel sorry for him. I feel nothing for him. Not all of us care about royalty/famous people.
OneGoodRib t1_jdk3sub wrote
You don't have to care about royalty/famous people, but it's concerning to not feel bad for someone whose mother died in a public tragedy and he wasn't allowed to talk about it and didn't get therapy to deal with it for 20 years. They're still people with feelings like most of us, apparently not YOU, even if you aren't interested in the royalty aspect of it.
eschuylerhamilton t1_jdk5a5t wrote
Well, no, not really. I can feel sympathy for him in a “yeah that’s terrible” kind of way but beyond that? Nah. Also, it’s adorable that because I’m not overly emotionally invested in Harry, that must mean I’m a cold, emotionless robot.
pohovanatikvica t1_jdj925t wrote
I would never read that book.
e_crabapple t1_jdij12k wrote
A memoir from a generally idle offspring of a super old-money but irrelevant family, about how mean they are -- DROP EVERYTHING BREAKING NEWS
A quick "parody" cash-grab of same -- OMG MOAR PLEASE
Prothean_Beacon t1_jdk12i2 wrote
I mean the royal family is the head of like a dozen countries and a decent amount of them are wealthy and have a large presence in world issues. It's kinda hard to say that family is irrelevant. Like they clearly shouldn't be relevant cause having a monarchy attached to otherwise democratic nations is outdated, but as long as they are still in power they will be relevant
OneGoodRib t1_jdk3yp3 wrote
You people are genuinely concerning. OMg who cares if some rich guy has feelings and wants to let people know about it reeeeeeeee
InvisibleSpaceVamp t1_jdhmzpb wrote
I don't know. The excerpts I read from the book are quite comedic already, I'm not sure if a parody book could do it better.