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Old 15-03-2019, 21:46
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raven raven is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2004
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryter Layter View Post
True, but Aunt Mimi raised him so other than a brief period of living with his mum, he grew up in a lower middle class home. Nothing wrong with either men portraying themselves as growing up working class, I just think it’s interesting.
Why wasn't he at home with his mum & dad? I remember him alluding to it once briefly but never really explaining

Why don't I read the damn thing myself? Well, I could say I'm taking the noble stand and going nowhere near it or I could be more truthful and say I literally can't get near a copy. It's either had a very limited distribution or there's still some uncertainty over the pub date as it's only made it to a handful of Waterstones and Amazon saying 1-2 months means they've no copies in stock which is bizarre for the Satan that is Amazon they usually get everything

Quote:
Originally Posted by River Boy View Post
For those interested in weird phenomenon, there is a history of black ghost dog sightings in the British Isles, but in Wales especially.

A friend of mine actually saw one when on holiday in Wales. She didn't know anything about the phenomenon so it was particularly interesting when she claimed to have seen a ghost dog.

Who'd have thought the Richey Edwards mystery would lead us closer to unravelling the Black Dog mysteries also? Perhaps 'Black Dog on My Shoulder' should be reconsidered.

The book sounds brilliant.
I love these kind of myths. There are several places I love to go walking rumoured to have barghests...I've yet to see one never mind be bitten by one but still hoping ha....

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryter Layter View Post
The parts that really pissed me off though and literally made me gasp when I read the passages, is the gross invasion of his privacy relating to his treatment and what caused him to seek treatment in the first place. He never spoke about that publicly even when asked and he maintained, to the press at least, that it wasn't a suicide attempt so I'm struggling to understand how they could violate his privacy like that even if they believe him to be dead. I really think they crossed all kinds of lines by sharing information about his treatment.
Surprised? I'd be more surprised if that wasn't explored. It must have been hard for his sister to make the decision and that's why in part for all the criticism it's impossible to judge her harshly as she's opening her family up, her brother up but there's nothing to be ashamed of in mental illness so it shouldn't be something that needs to be hidden and his previous suicide attempt is of relevance. Of course when Richey was around and in the band it was up to him and why should he bare his soul or sit and invite judgement and opinion, it's a private matter and it can be something that in one moment you're absolutely set on and in another absolutely not. It shouldn't be something that defines you so I can see why he would have liked privacy but now circumstances are different. I believe the police were told at the time? It's relevant is what I'm trying to say. And his treatment is also of relevance. I feel he, like so many, was let down by the hospitals and the professionals, they still let people down now and...a whole other topic...but it's absolutely relevant

Quote:
Originally Posted by Bryter Layter View Post
Ok, this book definitely has some questionable content concerning Jews, but stops just short of blatant antisemitism. She's giving her analysis of the Intense Humming Of Evil and she's colouring it with what reads like statements, but statements I don't remember him ever making in relation to the song or in general. It's not clear if she's referencing his notes or if they're just her interpretations. When did Richey ever argue "against the injustice of certain atrocities being conveniently ignored while other acts of genocide can be referenced when it suits an agenda"? When he and Nicky were being interviewed by Kaitlin Moran in '94, he said the Holocaust was THE most horrific event in world history (I agree and disagree with him on this, but that's beside the point). Those are not the words of someone who believes a certain group (she obviously means Jews) uses their own genocide as a political pawn. It's like this conspiracy theory nutjob has taken lyrics implicitly condemning one of the worst atrocities in history and manipulated their meaning so she can make a statement about the integrity of Jews. She even makes a comparison between Richey's statement about 'Schindler's List' being a dangerous film because it lionizes a war profiteer who exploited Jews, and the completely baseless theory that rich Jews profited from the war while poor Jews went to the gas chambers. This chick is nuts!
This antisemitism thing....again it's not something that should be thrown at anyone without clear evidence it's too important to be used so freely. True, I haven't read the book only your comments but I see no criticism of Jews there. It is true that the holocaust is referenced sometimes too quickly or when it suits an agenda - not by Jews but by governments - to furnish their moral high ground about some conflicts they take a stand against whilst others get ignored because it's not politically convenient. It's always the way. Churchill gets recycled ad nauseum by governments here to 'justify' certain military actions and involvement whilst we turn a blind eye to regimes we consider friends regardless of their appalling disregard of human rights.

I haven't read it though. I do have a suspicion that she can't just let Richey speak but has a need to interpret as if we dear readers may not otherwise understand or may criticise him failing to recognise that her clumsiness is actually resulting in the very thing she wants to avoid.

Personally my own attraction to him and the band was his intellect and his insights. It was all about his lyrics. I'm finding the resulting fallout of this book around antisemitism including the bizarre ideas that Richey donned pyjamas in some crude nod to holocaust victims (not your interpretation Bryter I know I'm just speaking generally now) completely abhorrent and more upsetting than other aspects of this book as it seems to be a complete misreading of all he was and all he believed in.
Sure he was vain, sure in his attitude to relationships he was, well, immature it seems but I don't know if that's quite fair, he was so analytical it seems nothing escaped it not even his relations with others....I can see where the autism ideas may have seeped in to be considered but I'm not sure if that's what lay behind it not really....Sure he had a plan mapped out for the band that...well I've read through interviews with the band could prove a little exasperating...understandably but nothing to justify the denigration they're receiving in this book. His was a rare intellect that could be difficult to put to music but doesn't need the writer of the book to explain nor readers to try and hammer it down ...like a nail...I am sorry....I've had a drink or so on this Friday evening. Stream of consiousness

I should stay away from the book

Which isn't proving hard with its unavailability. Irony

Quote:
Originally Posted by Glass Angel
To be honest, I have always felt Richey would not have been the healthiest person to be around. Reading interviews reminds me of an ex-boyfriend, who was both emotionally abusive and mentally unwell. Alcoholism and self harm are hard to deal with from the outside as well as the inside, and shitty behaviour is shitty behaviour, regardless of the underlying reason. Excusing it as ‘genius’ or ‘a tortured soul’ is to dismiss both the person’s struggles and those affected by them
Agree very much
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"There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more," - Byron

'I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide
Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;
And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,
And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.' (from Sea Fever - John Masefield)


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That perches in the soul
And sings the tune without the words
And never stops at all" - Emily Dickinson

Last edited by raven; 15-03-2019 at 21:51.
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