On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
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On a hot summer night would you offer your throat to the wolf with the red roses?
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http://www.talkf reebies.com/?referer=babajane 32
Member since:10.08.2004
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Back in the early 1970’s In California the third worst case of child abuse ever in that State was recorded. The child involved was David Pelzer.
From David’s harrowing experiences he created a trilogy of books, the first being “A Child Called It”
I came across the title many times and read a great many reviews before ever considering reading the book One of the reasons I resisted the temptation to read was that I felt it may be simply one of those things that I would be better off not knowing about. Child abuse despite being common place and far more widely acknowledged than in the past, is still one of tenuous subjects that is often easier to ignore as a subject in general.
The first impression of the book was it’s seaming lack of content, after all it was a mere 148 pages long and in a format that dedicated half the words per page compared to my usual literary material.How wrong could I be.
In a slightly unusual way the book is broken into several parts, with dedications, acknowledgements and notes preceding the main story and ending with sections from relevant teacher encountered in his life and a section as David’s after views from the angle of being a survivor. The latter are really only understandable or relevant in context having read the main part of the book.
Quite obviously when writing a true story of this nature the Author has changed some of the real names and locations, but they seam an irrelevance anyway compared to the content of the story.
The main story is written in a way that is supposed to reflect the thoughts., language and understanding of child in the age range of 4 yrs to 12 yrs of age. I felt quite
shortly into the book that these were definitely not the thoughts, language or understanding of any child I knew in that age range, even taking into account the era, but then this was not a typical boy from a typical childhood.
Reflectively remembering the early parts of his childhood, David paints a rosy and fond memory of his early years, surrounded by a loving caring family whom are almost picture perfect. The subtle indications of change and important landmarks that denoted a turning point in that loving structure are not pointed out nor highlighted in his writing in any way, yet I found almost subliminally they were detectable in his writing.
From the word go I was unable to put this book down, even when it became almost morose in it content. I found myself riveted and in a state of disbelief at many points, yet it was blatant in extreme that it was all totally true.
This boy, a small child had been thrust from the loving bosom of his family into an outcast “thing” and the focus of unbelievable hatred, fear and abuse. Everyone he loved abandoned him in one way or another, and the whole core of the child’s beliefs were shattered by the single most trustable person in his whole world.
Unable to fight, leave or escape his torment he went through many fazes of hope, despair, faith and utter void. Starved half to death, neglected and deprived of any potential help this reads as a roller coaster of depraved actions and consequences.
From the initial isolating of this boy from his siblings and father by pure negotiation and tyrannical rule, right through to the systematic encouragement of their own evolvement in the abuse, this is by far the most harrowing thing I have ever read. However, at no point did I feel it harrowing in the sense that it left me feeling rent of those emotions. For every harrowing action I read, I felt a positive feeling that some how this was the bravest little boy I would ever hear of and one that must have survived in a positive way to retell this nightmare.
This boy experienced torment that would be impossible to fully imagine even having been graphically told the events. Picturing a mother stabbing, gassing and nearly drowning her own small child seams against the laws of nature. A mother doing that whilst still embodying the love and care of her other children, makes it even harder to grasp. Add to that the manipulative techniques and calculated ways in which she avoids detection, justifies her actions and keeps those around her silent and you are left with a deep hatred of the woman and an inability to reconcile her nature with anything you have ever thought about.
From a woman’s viewpoint there was one highly disturbing pattern in this book, something I am quite sure other mothers will feel upon reading it. On so many occasions I found a raw nerve twang as I read on. Every one has their breaking point. Every most loving parent a period in time of little patience, so many times as David relived his experiences on paper, I felt a faint uncomfortable recognition to the events. The week of PMT where I snap at my child for pestering me, the day I am so tired I just want to sleep, when I refuse to take the time to listen to my son. Even the day when I’m running so late getting dinner on I don’t have time to look properly at the picture my little girl has done for me at school. Small actions that I’m quite sure every parent has done at lest once in their time. Yet each one of those has left a look in my child’s eyes. A look I previously have thought little about, but now I think hard about them. Magnify that look by a thousand, million fold and they might be somewhere near what David must have felt, yet it’s still there in the back of my mind. In no way do I identify with the Mother and her actions, yet there seams to drift a frightening though that somewhere at sometime that’s how it must have begun. just a step further each time.
Quite apart from the miracle of this child ever surviving his mother’s care, another miraculous thing emerges. This baby, boy and on to man has not only survived. He also survived to flourish into a man that is incredible in his perceptions and actions. Simply the writing of this books has instilled me with an understanding I would otherwise have never known. This book will have touched thousand or more and given hope and constructive knowledge to others that have endured maybe only a fraction of his torment, yet are likely to have been tainted by it for life.
Reading on to the end sections where the writing format takes a different tone and touches upon the struggle David had to get this story told and published and his ability to put this behind him and enjoy his life. Something different hit me here. Yes, another tribute to his braveness, but also more disbelief. Without pulling the author down at all I found myself pondering the “putting it all behind me” section and felt that he hadn’t at all. He has quite obviously learned to make sure his experiences have not ruined his entire life, he has probably too, learned to reconcile the conflicts and effects, yet here is still a child that didn’t deserve the hell he received and will never quite be able to stop it affecting his life.
The story is not all doom and gloom, as there is indication that things end taking a turn for the better. I can’t wait to encounter the next book, The lost Boy, which covers his life fro 12yrs up to 18 yrs of age..
In conclusion I would have to say that you owe it to yourself to read this book. Regardless of your usual tastes in reading, take time and make the effort to get hold of a copy. Easily readable in half a day or less, you will definitely be enriched by the experience.
Available at all main book specialist stores along with suppliers such as Amazon. You’ll get hold of a used copy from 99p to a hardback new copy for around the £7 mark.
* ** Thankyou for reading * * *
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: The book is excellent - although the story being told of systematic physical and mental child abuse is hardly advantageous Disadvantages: 8 years of tourture
Advantages: The way this young boy copes with the abuse is inspiring Disadvantages: To find out the extent to which an innocent young child can be abused
Jan 22nd, 2005
(Jan 23rd, 2005)
exceptional by (8%):
very helpful by (92%):
