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Old 13-03-2019, 16:15
sofarsideways's Avatar
sofarsideways sofarsideways is offline
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Age: 34
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For everyone asking about the anti-semitic stuff - Finn's summary is pretty much it:

Quote:
Originally Posted by Finn View Post
In reference to the book, it says that Rob Stringer had words with Richey during their last stint in the studio. It talks about concerns about the bands next step and financial losses. It adds that part of the problem/discussion might have been Richey's shaved head and striped PJ's look- 'the elephant in the room' that seemed to suggest 'a concentration camp vibe' (the books descriptions, not mine.) It specifically states that this might of offended Stringer because of Jewish family members. It's that mix of comments about money, control, holocaust imagery and Jewish family members that some readers have found dogwhistley. Others haven't.
If it was an isolated case of 'oh dang you could potentially read that a certain way' then it wouldn't be so much of an issue, but more than once becomes... a question. People aren't just Making A Thing out of it for no reason. It's come up and been talked about because the book provoked that. The same goes for a lot of things being discussed in this thread. For instance:

Quote:
Originally Posted by rosetree View Post
I have seen some vile comments on the thread about the authors and Rachel and suggesting manipulations, though I think it's just a good idea to keep an open mind about opinions and suggestions of what happened.
These 'vile comments' haven't been made apropos of nothing - people aren't just out for the authors and/or Rachel. Open minds were kept until we knew what was going on - we're now going off SHR and very probably Rachel's past behaviour on this forum and elsewhere online, interviews given, comments made, and the content of the book itself. That's quite a lot of evidence. I don't know how, considering everything we now know, any other conclusions could be drawn than the ones that have been. I'm not sure what you want us to hold out for exactly?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Velocitygirl View Post
But, since this discussion began, I've found myself wondering more and more about the two weeks he seemed to have spent just driving around and living in his car. You could say he was just revisiting old haunts he loved. But two weeks for that? In a country the size of Wales? It'd take a day or two, at most. As someone said earlier, it seems like he was waiting for something. A one-year passport could well have been it.
My best theory on this is that Richey didn't account for the withdrawal of coming off anti-depressants cold-turkey. Whatever he'd intended to do immediately after leaving, he had to put on hold to deal with that. Hence the living hin his car, etc. I think then, when he was feeling 'better' enough, he continued with whatever his plan had been originally.

Quote:
Originally Posted by vaiden View Post
What does the book say regarding his mental health?? or that it was worse then we thought? I honestly believe he was very very sick. Things like beating his head against wall of hotel saying he wanted to go home or breaking his guitar and hitting himself with it at the Astoria has led me to believe that. More evidence to his state of mind is his obsession with Apocalypse Now, late night calls to nicky asking about the time, buying a meat cleaver. Someone on this forum I believe Bornagirl 76 told me the change his mental health it wasn't insidious or building up but was pretty dramatic and you could tell. IDK he was made to go to health farms after every tour, and was crying all the time so I think it was there and then he reached some breaking point. His last interview was sometimes incoherent and contradicting himself and the interview with MTV prior to the hospital and a couple of months after Philip's death seems to me immediate red flags. Again all of this is speculation. It was also reported as I said above that he was drinking, self harming and not eating sometime after he left hospital.
Can only be of limited use here as I'm still struggling to face the hospital pages and the gross, gross invasion of privacy that is publishing some of his notes made there and interviewing people who were in hospital with him. I remain astounded by these decisions. With the fellow patients, not only astounded that they were chased up, but that they agreed to speak. How would they feel if it were Richey talking about them?

Anyway, from an overview/reading around standpoint, I felt like Richey's mental health was one of the main things that the book contorted itself around. It does this a lot, throughout: presents information that you think leads to an obvious conclusion - in this case 'God, Richey was really incredibly mentally unwell' - then says the opposite as its conclusion. We all knew Richey was ill, but it's really starkly drawn and fleshed out in WT - then used to suggest Aspergers, creative genius, ill treatment by someone else, basically just anything other than undeniable serious mental illness. It's maddening (excuse the really-not-intended pun, can't think of a better word).
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Last edited by sofarsideways; 13-03-2019 at 16:20.
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