Paul Johnston answers “Has anyone read this yet, & if they have,...”

beverlea ventress asked this question about Spare:

Has anyone read this yet, & if they have, what would their review be ? It’s not the sort of book I would normally buy so a review, or a few reviews, would be helpful. Diolch yn Fawr. Thank you.

Paul Johnston I've just finished it. The writing style of the ghostwriter sounds nothing like Harry, except perhaps the copious swearing. If you've heard Harry spea…moreI've just finished it. The writing style of the ghostwriter sounds nothing like Harry, except perhaps the copious swearing. If you've heard Harry speak, like the recent interviews, you'll already know he's incapable of waxing lyrical at all. He also admits he's not academic, not a 'book reader', so I laughed at his description of a situation being 'Freudian or Jungian'. Unfortunately there's a lot of this nonsense - flowery writing that just isn't Harry at all.... more like Meghan.

Several things are prominent:

1. Harry doesn't take responsibility for anything;
2. Harry has been using all manner of drugs since his days as a schoolchild at Eton and apparently continues to do so;
3. Harry thinks a coterie of Close Protection Officers somehow makes him more important and it's obvious he misses the status now he has to pay for them himself.
4. Harry spares no-one in his immediate family from attack and few of his extended family relatives. Even the acknowledgements page is memorable with not a single shred of recognition to anyone in his family at all.
5. Despite it being 27 years since his mother's sad death, Harry has no compunction about bringing her name into nearly every chapter, no matter how spurious a link he can think up.
6. The acknowledgements page praises someone "for her superb fact-checking". This is amusing in light of the anomalies that have already been brought to light in the press in just the last two days. For example, Harry's flowery description of learning of the Queen Mother's death whilst in his room at Eton when, in fact, he was skiing in Klosters with his brother and father at the time (as the photos prove).
7. There's stuff missing and stuff carefully fudged, i.e. deliberately obtuse and devoid of fact. For example, he mentions 2 tours of Afghanistan but doesn't make it clear how little of each tour he completed. He talks of piloting a helicopter but not once clarifies whether he ever qualified as pilot in the Apache helicopter. My info is that he didn't, and remained co-pilot/gunner until he left. It's deliberately fuzzy to paint him in a better light. It's 'his truth', not 'the truth'.

All in all, I was hoping for a sensible, balanced and factual account from his perspective but, instead, found just a very long whinge, interspersed with many, many tales of privileged tomfoolery including lots of drinking and drug-taking. To be frank, he comes across as deeply troubled - despite therapy - and selfishly unpleasant.(less)

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