A Critical Analysis and Review of Withdrawn Traces

[pocketcat]

Hi all,

I posted not so long ago asking if anyone knew any of the people who were interviewed for Withdrawn Traces, as I was writing a takedown of the book. If you're in Manics fan circles or communities on other social media like Twitter or Facebook, you might have seen my project mentioned there as well.

I finally finished it. It is a full critical review of the book, summarising each chapter and documenting inaccuracies, problematic theories, weird portrayals of Richey and the rest of the band, poor journalism and the like. I started it in March 2022 and finished it last Friday. As irritating as the book's content was, I had a lot of fun writing this whole piece. Hopefully you all will like it or at least get something out of it.

I've posted it in in 6 parts on WordPress, for anyone who might be interested in reading it. It can be found here: https://jesuisgourde.wordpress.com/2...traces-part-1/



(Again, for transparency's sake, this is not my FDF account. I am borrowing a friend's login because new account registration here has been closed for a very long time. You can find me on most social media sites with the username 'jesuisgourde'.)

[Glyn]

Am still working my way through this sorry (as it's very comprehensive!) but just wanted to quickly say thanks for sharing. You've already nailed the issue about inconsistencies and shoehorning evidence into existing biases, but I'm looking forward to reading the rest very soon.

[Tish]

I've finished reading it now and its really good, very detailed and clearly well researched (unlike WT!) I had no idea just how many people have said they were misquoted or had random things made up about them.

It was particularly good to see someone pick apart all that random theorising on conspiracy theories and the new world order which the writers seemed desperate to convince us that Richey had believed in and had dropped mysterious oblique references to in his lyrics. One of the things I've found most annoying about this book is that people who previously knew nothing about Richey or the band have had it as their introduction to them, and therefore have just taken that as legit. Now at least there is somewhere to point them to see how ridiculous so much of it is.

Thanks for taking the trouble to write it.

[Routine Builder]

I also read this and quite enjoyed the meticulousness of it. You can see that jesuisgourde spent time tracking down and sourcing quotes to their original publication. It's tidyi and refreshing. As said by Nicky around the release of Richard I think a cottage industry has been built around Richey's disappearance and it's nice to see one of these works being thoroughly (and painstakingly?) taken to task. At the end of the day, this was a personal tragedy where a young man fell apart so badly that he could not fathom living anymore and left being family and friends without a conclusion. The older I get the more disgruntled I get about author's trying make a name for themselves by retrodding tired tropes, rumours and intrigue. Jesuisgourde's work here is academic and in a sense captures more of Richey than those trying to hinge off the trauma and aesthetics.

[Son of Stopped]

Originally Posted by Routine Builder

As said by Nicky around the release of Richard I think a cottage industry has been built around Richey's disappearance

I can't remember the name of the author or the title. But on a Suede Facebook group months ago, there was a post from someone who had created a graphic novel about Richey.
"Great! Manic Street Preachers as told in comic book form!" I thought...
And the first picture is of Richey by his car at the bridge.
"Riiiight....". And as he flicked through it on the video, one picture was of Richey in this hospital cinema (?) looking at the front cover of EMG!
*Insert Dragon's Den gifs here

See, the artist could have made an interesting story going hogwild with a different character based on but not Richey. People would still think "Yeah, this is Richey though, isn't it?". But he'd have some cover by changing lots of details. Make it a female character. Get more distance by taking away the music and having them as a sports athlete who disappeared.
"But then that wouldn't be a story inspired by Richey?".
Yes, but it would at least have been more cleaner. Probably would have been more successful. "But it wouldn't have been about Richey?".
Yes, but from the rest of the pages this is not the story of Richey!
I at least told him (without swearing) on the post he should have made a different story instead.
But Richey! Ka-ching!! Didn't get any response back. If RJE was my friend or family I'd be well pissed off over it. Instead I'm just "Yeah... It's a no from me. Bit distasteful".
Mentioning it because urgh! At least WT is based more in fact than the graphic novel!
He was 27. He wasn't a boy! The image of Richey carrying a younger Richey in his arms.
See, I couldn't read the text. Was just going by the pictures. Richey left his car then ended up in a Prisoner style hospital. Something like that.
Saw it months ago! Didn't feel the need to bring attention to it. Would have preferred to let it die. Can't remember the name of the book. I like to think there's boxes of unsold copies stacked in his back room. And every date he has sees him get slapped in the face whenever he mentions it! See, I'd be happy reading that as a graphic novel. Someone "inspired" by Richey creating some bullshit that sees the artist get attacked whenever they mention it to people.

And the blog is incredible. Took a few reads. You can't get anything over a Manics fan

[Tish]

Originally Posted by Son of Stopped

I can't remember the name of the author or the title. But on a Suede Facebook group months ago, there was a post from someone who had created a graphic novel about Richey.

I saw that as well and initially thought it looked interesting, because the art work was great. But the more he posted the more I thought WTF is this, its clearly nothing to do with Richey, you're just using him as a character in a story you've already written to garner a bit of publicity and maybe sell a few extra copies to his fans. So I passed, as I suspect most of us did.

[gabo86]

I haven't read the book, is the blog enjoyable anyway?

[Routine Builder]

Originally Posted by gabo86

I haven't read the book, is the blog enjoyable anyway?

I would say so definitely if you've been paying attention to the drama around this book since its release. The blog writer makes very clear what the author of WT is stating and why it is either wrong or completely bats**t insane. There's a rabbit hole about references to 'London tapes' (obscure paedophilac video tape from the 90's)which the blog writer goes into some depth to research and debunk.