I am going to read a Cathy glass book by the end of the year I think.
I received one as a present and it disturbed me far more than the Dave Pelzer books. Glass is actually making money by selling the stories of abused and neglected children whom she has fostered, sometimes only for a few months. It's different to somebody profiting (either financially or emotionally) from writing about their own experiences.
I think what she does is exploitative and immoral.
I received one as a present and it disturbed me far more than the Dave Pelzer books. Glass is actually making money by selling the stories of abused and neglected children whom she has fostered, sometimes only for a few months. It's different to somebody profiting (either financially or emotionally) from writing about their own experiences.
I think what she does is exploitative and immoral.
I havent at 1 time there was a glut of these books on all the bookshelves at the supermarkets, now since 50 shades its all those sort of books, seems to be fads to me but no i am not interested, Last year on holiday I was talking to a woman older than me by the pool and she was reading a book called Click,Click I think about a father abusing his daughters, he used a clicker hence the title anyway she said I wont finish before I go so I cant pass it on to you, I was thats ok, as I didnt want it, thats the last thing I want to read sat around a pool, I had my stash of Jackie Collins in our room.
No interest in these sort of stories at all.
It is a bit odd for me.I don't enjoy reading books which include child abuse. I find it disturbing.
Me too, although I have read a few biographies,I generally read books for escapism and to be entertained I have no desire to immerse myself in that kind of misery. Saying that I did read the majority of the first one of the David Pelzer books, a friend was insistent that it was amazing, but it really wan't for me and left me feeling quite disturbed.
Absolutely! It's become a whole genre now 'misery memoirs' and if I'm not mistaken haven't one or two of the authors turned out to be complete liars?? Dreadful.
I hate the new fad for 'misery lit'. One or two well written books which educate people about what goes on and how it affects a child afterwards are probably a good thing. But bookshops with shelves filled with these stories and memoirs, with dramatic titles and covers, is really distasteful. While I'm sure many of the stories are true, I am also sure that some are made up or completely exagerated by cynical writers and publishers.
The only one I've ever read was Unbroken by Kim Woodburn from How Clean Is Your House. I don't understand how anyone can get any pleasure from reading about the abuse of children, whether the books are written by the abused person or by others.
I have read some of these books. I also read books about children/youngsters who have been badly affected by crimes against members of their family and the burden this brings to them. I do not get any satisfaction from reading them, nor do I 'enjoy' them. I read to learn about the human spirit and to learn more about what is sadly reality for some. I read to educate myself about what happens in society - and issues I relate to in some way.
I have a difficult history, events in childhood and teen years that I've had to deal with, and circumstances to come to terms with.
I therefore read about how children/young people deal with their abuse. How do they find the strength to endure, the logic to explain abuse away, how do they create coping mechanisms? What are the reasons for the abuse and why does the abuse take the form it does?
Then I would like to know how it finishes, when does it stop and does anyone help? Do they go on to form healthy relationships and have children afterwards? Are they basically happy now or does the spectre of the past haunt them?
I always hope for resolution for these people, whatever form it takes. I admire their bravery, and their fortitude, their determination when they pursue justice and how they can go on to be functioning adults with their own families.
I also know someone with a troubled background who reads them sometimes in order to make sense of her mothers past behaviour and understand what happened within their family and why.
Unfortunately for every one who has a 'good' outcome, there are many who have to live with the fact they have fractured lives and families and cannot fully 'recover', but can also find hope deep within the pages of some autobiographies.
PS. I don't think I am 'odd', nor would my family and friends say I am. Just a mum of 2, grandma of 3 who reads all sorts of books, many subjects.
Absolutely! It's become a whole genre now 'misery memoirs' and if I'm not mistaken haven't one or two of the authors turned out to be complete liars?? Dreadful.
Really can't stand people who lie about things like abuse, it's sick.
I don't consider myself 'odd' - I'm just a normal working mum with an ordinary life but I find these books strangely interesting and compelling. I read one recently by Robbie Fowler called Nobody Came about how he and his 2 brothers were placed in the notorious Haut de la Garenne school in Jersey during the 50's. This was the school that was featured in the news a few years ago when they found human remains in the cellars. His story of the abuse the boys suffered there makes the Dave Pelzar books seem tame in comparison - it was truly appalling that the men, the 'wardens' who worked there, were all involved in this collective abuse of the boys they were supposed to be looking after. It makes you feel angry that they all got away with it, as so many abusers seem to.
I read one, it was by Cathy Glass. My friend gave me a bunch of books and that was in there. At the time I had not long come out about my own abuse as a child. So reading the back of this book I thought I might be able to relate. But I didn't enjoy reading it and I didn't get pleasure out of it! There are definitely parts that were too graphic for me and as a survivor myself, rather than comfort and help me in any way, it brought some of my own painful memories to the front of my mind again and made me feel very ill after reading it.
I don't intend on reading something like that again.
Comments
I received one as a present and it disturbed me far more than the Dave Pelzer books. Glass is actually making money by selling the stories of abused and neglected children whom she has fostered, sometimes only for a few months. It's different to somebody profiting (either financially or emotionally) from writing about their own experiences.
I think what she does is exploitative and immoral.
Is it her experiences she is writing about?
No interest in these sort of stories at all.
I suppose if it was the only type of book a person read it might raise more than an eyebrow.
Me too, although I have read a few biographies,I generally read books for escapism and to be entertained I have no desire to immerse myself in that kind of misery. Saying that I did read the majority of the first one of the David Pelzer books, a friend was insistent that it was amazing, but it really wan't for me and left me feeling quite disturbed.
To engage in the zeitgiest?
Personally, I blame Anne Frank.
Still, each to their own I suppose.
I have a difficult history, events in childhood and teen years that I've had to deal with, and circumstances to come to terms with.
I therefore read about how children/young people deal with their abuse. How do they find the strength to endure, the logic to explain abuse away, how do they create coping mechanisms? What are the reasons for the abuse and why does the abuse take the form it does?
Then I would like to know how it finishes, when does it stop and does anyone help? Do they go on to form healthy relationships and have children afterwards? Are they basically happy now or does the spectre of the past haunt them?
I always hope for resolution for these people, whatever form it takes. I admire their bravery, and their fortitude, their determination when they pursue justice and how they can go on to be functioning adults with their own families.
I also know someone with a troubled background who reads them sometimes in order to make sense of her mothers past behaviour and understand what happened within their family and why.
Unfortunately for every one who has a 'good' outcome, there are many who have to live with the fact they have fractured lives and families and cannot fully 'recover', but can also find hope deep within the pages of some autobiographies.
PS. I don't think I am 'odd', nor would my family and friends say I am. Just a mum of 2, grandma of 3 who reads all sorts of books, many subjects.
Really can't stand people who lie about things like abuse, it's sick.
I don't intend on reading something like that again.