Bookclub for Spare

[BornBlonde]

I know there are loads of threads, but thought it may be useful to set up a bookclub thread ahead of the release date fir those interested. I've ordered the audiobook as struggling to find time to read at the moment but love I can listen to an Audiobook while cooking etc

I'm not sure why you are on THIS bookclub thread when the fanclub one you were looking forward to joining hasn't been set up yet.

Interesting extract in chapter 2 (sorry for any inaccuracies, I’m transcribing from audio)

”My memory is my memory…and there is just as much truth in what I remember and how I remember it than in so called objective facts” and “things like chronology and cause and effect are just fables we tell ourselves about the past”

Wow, that really is complete nut job territory. I honestly don't see how one could have any hope of having a sensible discussion or resolving conflict with someone this deluded.

It's not a fanclub, it's for discussing the book as we read it. Hth.

I spotted this too and thought 'oh dear...' Of course he's right that memory is a very subjective thing and we tend to put things together to form a narrative, but that's not quite what he seems to be saying.

Diana’s death.

He was convinced she wasn’t dead. Had internal mental battle, flip flopping between ‘she’s hiding/she’s dead’, ‘she dead, wouldn’t purposely do this to us/she’s alive, she’s doing this FOR us’,’she’s gone into hiding to protect herself/no, mummy is a fighter she wouldn’t go into hiding’

Very sad to hear, he seems to have not been able to grieve properly because of this belief.

Sounds like a poshed up version of trump's alternative truth stuff

Listening to the audio out loud.

Just listened to the story about his first birthday after Diana’s death, where he says Aunt Sarah produced Diana’s gift, an xbox. He says he doesn’t remember if this story is true or not. “That's the story, anyway. It's appeared in many accounts of my life, as gospel, and I have no idea if it's true. Pa said Mummy hurt her head, but perhaps I was the one with brain damage?"

Husband quipped that the xbox wasn’t released until early 2000s.

Can anyone help clarify?

About Diana hiding etc - my immediate reaction on this was of course he's trying to make sense of it/hope there's been a terrible mistake.

But also how he seems to equate that with hiding from the RF or press is sad because of course it doesn't address the elephant in the room - realisation that if she had faked it etc that she had sacrificed him, run away from him.

I'd really be interested to know what chelsey, Cressida and friends have to say about this. Of course it's hurt him of course it's shaped him - not denying that, but how much has what's happened now caused this narrative to explain his choices etc and how much his therapy has suggested it to him?

Blokes mum died, frankly I am willing to defer a lot to that but generally asking how much can be explained about our behaviour from an experience even as awful as this?

If you read just before this extract, he talks about how his memory seems to be better for places, rooms, landscapes etc than other things. He questions why his memory works like that, why it organises his experiences like that. And then goes on to say similar to what the pp said. He links it to a famous saying about the past never being dead which is at the start of his book. When read in context it doesn’t read as ‘nut job territory’.

Also joining as I started on the Kindle version today. The Prologue shows why he wanted to do the book in the first place.

It also has intimate details of royal palaces and members of the RF. Never before have we known about the internal decor of Balmoral and how KC likes to do his headstands in his boxers. And the private conversation he had with PW and KC after PP's funeral. He's never going to have a private conversation with them ever again.

The original xbox was released on 15th November 2001.

I roll my eyes at most of what Harry said, but to be fair on him here - he does seem like he wasn't sure if this story is true or not, as he can't remember the exact details - I take from what he said here that the story has been told so often (in the media?) that all the memories, true or not, have blended into one over time. Grief does strange things to people (and he would have been grieving at the time), so this does make sense in this scenario.

My main issue with this, however, is that it doesn't bode too well on how reliable his other memories are.

Joining for a hopefully balanced discussion. I am not able to buy the book but would be interested in hearing about the English translation, hoping it will all sound more reasonable than the Spanish comedy extracts. Meghan is a powerhouse and could achieve so much but I think she is focusing on the wrong thing. With PH's fame capital she could channel her energies into doing some good humanitarian work. But she needs to learn to be forgiving and focus on love and empathy. Going after Kate and William as they seem to have done does not embellish their brand. They need to make a choice and quick.

@CoCoMist are you aware that Meghan didn't write this book? Why is she still getting the blame?

Just lurking as this thread saves me the effort of reading it myself. Can I ask a question?

Slightly off topic but obviously all these TV interviews are standard publicity, selling a book tour (not that this one really needs the extra publicity). Would he be paid for these interviews or is it part of the deal that you make yourself available to promote the book you have written? (Obviously most authors who haven't written a best seller need the publicity and would be keen to promote their book anyway).

Awaiting my copy which will be read, then given to my mum, the neighbours, the charity shop...

I found that quite hard to read. If it happened as Harry said, it really is heartbreaking to think that their mum died and they were expected to just carry on, cope at boarding school, not talk about her or what had happened with family or counsellors.

It’s unimaginable that you wouldn’t realise the importance of them talking to someone to process it and try to come to terms with what happened. I’m sure Charles must regret not getting professional help for his children. I’m not sure of what to make of Harry the adult, but thinking of a child going through that does make me feel very sad.

He claims that at boarding school, he and some other used sneak out to wander the corridors after lights out (late into the night) and if one particular teacher used to catch him he would give him a “tremendous clout” with a hard backed copy of the New English Bible.

Absolutely barbaric that teachers were still doing this in the 90s/00s 😡

Mhm, interesting question.

I suppose subconsciously, I see Meghan as the stronger one out of the two, with potential and genuine drive. And subconsciously, because Harry has written some poignant things about Meghan and Kate/Wills, it feels this books carries both their voices. They seem really rather symbiotic as a couple. They are very much a team and together, they need to decide where they go from here. I agree, it's not just Meghan but I do sense it her whose got the get-up-and-go, if you will.

I'd imagine standard publicity. You've got to go all out.

I’ve just had my copy through from Amazon, even though they sent me one a few days ago? I think they must have sent a batch out early on error, no idea how it could have happened. Anyone else with an early copy also received one today?

That sounds a bit 'Trumpish' tbh.

@vera99

😎