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Non-Fiction | A child called 'it' (Dave Pelzer)(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)
Posted by: Kingtut
*Recommendation*
Someone at work recommended Dave Pelzers' books regarding his upbringing. I purchased, and just started reading 'A child called 'it' - the first in the trilogy (followed by 'The lost boy' & ' A man named Dave')
From the back cover -
quote:
As a child, Dave Pelzer was brutally beaten and starved by his emotionally unstable, alcoholic mother, a mother who played tortuous, unpredictable games that left one of her sons nearly dead. She no longer considered him a son, but a slave; no longer a boy, but an 'it'. His bed was an old army cot in the basement, his clothes were torn and smelly, and when he was allowed the luxury of food, it was scraps from the dog bowl. The outside world knew nothing of the nightmare played out behind closed doors.
"A child called 'it' " covers the early years of his life and is an effecting and inspirational memoir of one childs determination to survive.
Even though I'm only 3 chapters in, it's pretty compelling reading already, made all the more horrific when I remind myself that it's a true story.
I will definitely be reading the follow-up books in this series.
Posted by: Khiori
I've heard about this book / account. I don't think I could read it - because like you said, the fact that it's real just makes it all the more horrifying. 
Posted by: BattleAxe Nancy
Sounds interesting... in an unfortunate way.
Posted by: Kingtut
quote:
Originally posted by Khiori
I've heard about this book / account. I don't think I could read it - because like you said, the fact that it's real just makes it all the more horrifying.
It's pretty difficult to read actually. Not in a literary way, but because of the content. The subject matter is pretty horriffic.
I'm about half-way through now. I think I'll probably finish it today.
If you can deal with the subject matter - I'd highly recommend it. Ultimately, it's an uplifting story since everthing turns out well in the end (so I'm told), but at the moment, I can't help thinking - how can anyone suffer this amount of of physical and mental abuse and not turn out a complete wreck of a person. Looks like I'll be buying the follow up books sooner than I had planned 
Posted by: xoshade
Pelzer does appear to be an extraordinary man. All his works have been described as "uplifting" and I don't doubt that some constructive use can be made in grafting his understanding, tolerance and forgiveness into my own life, but all the same... there's some nasty business being described. I don't know that I'd be able to take that on board.
How much of the book is devoted to describing the abuse and how much is spent on the social structure that allowed this to happen, if I might ask?
Posted by: Kingtut
So far, in the first book, it's basically just a description of what happened to him, with no account of social structure or environment etc. I'm not sure how these aspects are dealt with (if at all) in future books. At the moment, it's all autobiographical, with just the facts and no analysis of the events behind them. I hope this is addressed at some point in the future books.
For an example of the things he had to endure, I'll put this in Spoilers. DO NOT read if you think it may upset you. It's pretty harrowing.
Spoiler:
Since he was not allowed to eat, he resorted to stealing food from other kids and wherever he could find it. His mother used to push her fingers down his throat to make him sick every day after school - just to check that he hadn't eaten anything that day. On one occasion, he stole some frozen hot dogs from the school canteen and ate them. His mother made him sick that afternoon, made him pick the pieces out of the toilet and later, made him eat the regurgitated food in front of the family.
One of his mothers favourite tricks was the 'Gas Chamber' trick. She'd mix a bucket of Chlorox and Ammonia and seal him in the bathroom with it, ordering him to clean the bathroom. He'd be choking and coughing up blood for hours afterwards. |
Posted by: xoshade
It's unbelievable that a person could suffer all that, through their childhood, at the hands of someone who is supposedly their greatest ally against evil, and still be a human being afterwards.
I guess it would be worth reading in order to find out why he isn't completely, utterly and irrevocably fucked up. Although, it doesn't look like you get an insight into that until the third book. 
Posted by: P@nd0ra
A lot of people I knew at college read this for their English A-levels, they all found it interesting.
Posted by: Kingtut
Have just borrowed the second and third books and will read them in due course. The Edition of the first book that I had, had a preview chapter from each of the next 2 books - kind of a trailer if you like - good idea 
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