Jeffery Archer has died

[ImarriedTravis]

I love his books, so quite sad he has passed
RIP Jeffery

The judges comments were appalling about Monica.

I used to love reading his books but not read any since his prison sentence. That's when I was educated on the kind of man he really was so didn't want to give him anymore of my hard earned money 😂I'm sure he missed it!! 😏

Not a fan of perjury myself. I guess we all have different standards.

If this thread was full only of people lauding him for being a best-selling author then that would be ignoring the shades of grey would it not?

It's right that we temper the adulation with a reminder that as well as his popular writing and charity work, he was also a convicted perjurer, exploiter of women etc. As you say, it's important that we appreciate the good and the bad.

Why?

Pretty safe to say what you feel now surely. Not like anyone is gonna hurt his feelings.

If people want balance, I was impressed with his writings from jail. Not quite Oscar Wilde, but his shock and realisation that his political approach to crime and punishment was ideological rather than practical was quite an admission.

If it had actually led to anything, he could have been remembered as an Elizabeth Fry des nos jours Maybe even gracing a banknote ?

Sadly for him, he chose to be a Conservative, so that was never going to happen.

Also, being fair, it's not like people have waited till he passed away to point out his shortcomings.

Yes! His son was in my theology lectures ✝️

Lol. There is no adulation on this thread. There’s nothing to temper. On the other hand, many mild expressions of interest or any admission to enjoying his books has been shot down by people unwilling to contemplate that he wasn’t entirely bad.

I think you’re talking about Johnathan Aitkin…….

I admit God was telling us something, when She treated us to two Tory grandees who ended up jailed for their rather idiosyncratic approach to justice having the initials "JA".

However, in this case I have the right JA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Prison_Diary

I suggest you look at the posts the OP has made.

Most of them don't commit perjury and fabricate evidence to obtain a libel payment of an amount of money worth nearly a million today from a National newspaper, which also involved denying his use of prostitutes.

He was sentenced to 4 years, it wasn't a slap on the wrist.

In my first job as a lowly junior receptionist he came for lunch with a stockbroker in the building. He was very rude. I took great pleasure in calling the secretary and saying ”a Mr Arch” is in reception for X, even though I recognised him, jumped up twat.

She called him a brilliant author and said she’d enjoyed his books. It’s a comment on something he produced rather than adulating him as a person. It’s not the equal and opposite of the multiple character assassinations upthread.

It is so limiting when debate and discussion has to be so polarised.

For what it’s worth, I’ve never read any of his books but admire his ability to produce something which many millions of people enjoyed. I think he must have been quite charismatic and fun to be around when he was in the right mood. I think he had enormous resilience and the ability to pick himself up. He was not a whiner. He probably had some kind of personality disorder which gave him a god complex. He was deeply untrustworthy - a compulsive liar - and hurt many people along the way. I imagine he was a bully. He shouldn’t have been allowed in public office, let alone for as long as he was there.

We should take the good with the bad.

I enjoyed his books, I also watched the mini series of Kane and Abel on telly with Sam Neill in it.

Like the 'respect' he showed to women and law courts when he was alive? Why should anyone respect a lying narcissist alive or dead? He wrote books that some people enjoy reading, that is it.

I don’t have much sympathy for Coghlin. She offered her services consensually, and Jeffrey Archer paid for what was being offered. (I don’t see any point in getting into the argument that using a prostitute is somehow rape — that’s just goady, and I find that position completely incoherent.)

The important point is what happened afterwards. She subsequently tried to blackmail him, and that was what ultimately led to her losing out when he denied knowing her. So, as far as I’m concerned, she behaved shittily and brought the consequences on herself.

Oh, whatever luv.
I liked his books. I'm just talking about his skill as a writer that's all.

You do you. No adulation, just a love of his books. People like the paedophile Michael Jackson music, so whatever luv

(Her son) Robin was at their home on Thursday evening when two uniformed police officers knocked at the door to tell him she was lying critically ill in hospital. Neighbours heard him sobbing a short time later, as the teenager, now 17, prepared to set off to be at her bedside.

It is now less than two years since his mother told a newspaper: "Jeffrey Archer took everything away from me. I lost my home, my dignity, my self-respect, and any hope of a future.

"While I was scrimping and scraping, he was clawing his way back to power and lording it up in his manor house. It just wasn't fair, simple as that. I have never denied what I was. I was a prostitute."

…. "We were very close once," said her sister-in-law, Cath Coghlan. "But since the Archer business it's all gone, really." Mrs Coghlan added: "At the time it was very upsetting. She knew we loved her and we gave her all our support, but she thought she'd let us down and things have never been the same. It's really sad."

How sanctimonious of Saint Moros.

Done the crime.
Served the time.

People change.
He did.
R.I.P. Jeffrey

Well no, he didn't change. Witness actions like insider share trading and similar.

I have no strong feelings either way but I remember his campaign to be London mayor getting destroyed when footage of him threatening someone was released.

He lived his life. By any criteria he lived a self centered life that was about him and his wants and needs and to obtain them other people were abused and disadvantaged. He had no problem with meeting his aims by being deceitful to a level that broke the law and seriously impacted others that were honest.
He was good at writing fiction. If you enjoyed reading it, then fine. But don't eulogise a dishonest abuser who was prepared to be dishonest at the highest level and sacrifice anyone to meet his objectives.

Who is eulogising him?