Spare

 

Wrapping up the third biography I've read this year: Spare. This is the autobiography of Prince Harry. 

Like the Depp v. Heard trial, I started out with no interest in this what so ever, but then found myself sucked in after watching an interview with him on Colbert. I thought he came across rather well. Human, British, confident but with humility. 

I am not a monarchist, you can't defend that level of wealth and privilege in a world, and a country, where so many have so little. A country in which food banks outnumber McDonalds, and there is an online map to find your local 'warm room' if you can't afford to heat your home in winter. There is no argument that defends this idea of respecting a person simply because of their family name. We are all individuals and should be judged on our own merit. Harry does make the argument that the royal family contribute to the economy in terms of tourism, but does that wealth go to the common people? Is it feeding people and heating their homes, or is it going into the back pocket of government? 

So, no, I'm not a monarchist, however, given the current abysmal state of British politics, I can't really make the case for a republic either. I don't think it's the monarchy standing in the way of Britain's self-actualisation, government seems to be handling that all by itself. There is the old joke, 'better to have one arsehole in power than a bunch of them.' 

So, I'm fairly ambivalent at the moment. Because of that, and not having a particularly vested interest in the situation one way or another, I don't get angry about it. There isn't an ounce of vitriol in me on the Meghan/Harry issue. I actually really liked her in Suits, and I recognise there's a clash of culture. She admits she didn't go in prepared, didn't do any homework on the royal family, so it's not really a surprise what happened. And, to be honest, I very much believe people have the right to follow their own path. If the situation you find yourself in makes you miserable - change it, in as drastic a way as necessary. I honestly don't see why that makes people so angry. 

As far as the book goes, as a writer I respect anybody who takes the time to put their perspective into words, that others might better understand their point of view and reasoning. I think Harry did that fine. A friend pointed out it was probably ghostwritten, but as someone who has ghostwritten other people's biographies, I know the process, and the words belong to the subject. You spend a lot of time listening to their voice, their stories, recording what they say - a book that is ghostwritten isn't just someone else making stuff up. A good ghostwriter uses the words and nuances of the person speaking. 

Anyway, I thought it was interesting and well written. He had every right to write it, nobody has to read it, but I did and I enjoyed it. He has a good sense of humour, and it came across.

I was studying the art of destruction, and the first thing I learned was that destruction is partially creative. It begins with imagination. Before destroying something, you have to imagine it destroyed, and I was getting very good at imagining the Dales as a smoking hellscape. 

I'm sure many people have had a similar vision.

I'm also sure a lot of people can relate to parts of this. Not the privilege so much, but the sense of being born into a family or situation where you don't quite fit, and however hard you try to mould yourself into what others expect you to be, you never quite achieve it. Happenstance of birth is exactly that, and, as a living, breathing entity upon this planet, you have every right to go in search of your own happiness. No one says you have to stick around and be a spare, whether you're a prince or a pleb. It disturbs me how invested such a large portion of the world is in institutions like the British monarchy and how extremely seriously they take it. I could understand that obsession more if they were invested in the redistribution of wealth, but they're usually more invested in upholding that institution without review or reform.

Enough proselytising. Which ever side of the royal debate you land on, I think this is an interesting biography and easy to read. If it's going to make you mad, don't bother, but if you're curious to hear his side of what happened, go for it. And on we move to another book...