The Glass Castle: A Memoir (book)

I saw 20 minutes of the movie on TV one afternoon that was based upon this book and was intrigued by the subject matter. I knew I had to read the memoir, which sounded both unbelievable and profound.

I read the book in one sitting; I didn't want to break my concentration. So many of the experiences of the family seemed both familiar yet foreign. While my upbringing was wildly different from that of the author, the core emotions felt at once relatable and unsettling. This book made me look at my own turbulent childhood with a new sensitivity and compassion.

I highly recommend this book to all; those who have a similar lived experience that want to understand how others have come to terms with it, as well as those who are looking from the outside, in.

Plot/Storyline: 5 Stars

Jeannette Walls' story of childhood abuse is an original one in that, while disturbing, it was not as horrific as some I have read. For this reason, it was a more enjoyable read than I expected, although still very interesting.

Ms. Walls manages to tell of her childhood in a way that is casual about the neglect, much as she seemed to have felt when she was a child. Amazingly, there were very few moments of self-pity. Unlike a lot of memoirs depicting bad childhoods, this one did not appear to be trying to constantly shock the reader. Instead, it just told the story honestly and completely.

The reader is left with many questions regarding her parents' motives. This is not a bad aspect of the book, as it is a reality that she probably cannot fathom their reasoning for most things. My biggest wonder was how her mother was able to obtain a teaching degree, yet seemed to be unable or unwilling to hold a job for more than a few months at a time. Her father was not such an enigma as he was merely an alcoholic.

This was a memoir well worth reading. I had trouble putting it down as I wanted to find out how Ms. Walls managed to rise above such a quagmire of a childhood.

Character Development: 5 Stars

As I stated above, there were very few instances of Ms. Walls delving into self-pity. She did manage, however, to convey her thoughts and feelings on her upbringing. Moreover, she told the story in a progressive manner that made the reader feel similar to how she must have felt at different ages. For instance, as a very young girl, the times of hunger, almost starvation, did not seem to bother her as much as when she was older. The antics of her parents were a source of humor rather than embarrassment, until she was old enough to notice the differences between her family and others.

Her brother, the sibling she was closest to, was the most well developed, but her older sister was well done, also. Her parents were as much of an enigma to the reader as they were to her. Her younger sister did not seem to play much of a role in her life, and, therefore, was only peripherally in the book.

Writing Style: 5 Stars

In a word: Excellent. The story flowed very evenly. The viewpoint matured as little Jeannette matured in the book. The dialogue, while I cannot vouch for it being verbatim, very well could have been, as I could hear her family talking as I read.

Her descriptions were those of an adult, but this was not offputting in the earlier chapters. It merely made for a better read.

Formatting/Editing: 5 Stars

Both were of professional quality.

Rating: PG-13 for hints of Child Molestation, Light Language, Alcoholism

"The Glass Castle: A Memoir" by Jeannette Walls is an unforgettable journey through a life marked by hardship, resilience, and the enduring bonds of family, for better or for worse. This poignant memoir offers readers a captivating glimpse into the tumultuous world of a family struggling with poverty, neglect, and unconventional parenting. I wasn't sure when I first picked up the book, but after only a few pages in, I could not put it down. At its core, this is a coming-of-age story that revolves around Jeannette's unconventional upbringing by her free-spirited, often neglectful, parents. The Walls family lives a nomadic life, constantly on the run from debt, the law, and assumed societal conventions. Jeannette's vivid and candid writing style draws readers deep into her world, painting a vivid picture of their struggles and her complex feelings toward her parents. What sets this memoir apart is its ability to evoke a wide range of emotions. I found myself rooting for her (naturally), then rooting for her mom, and then oscillating wildly to a deep resentment for her parents neglect and frustration at their failures. The author's storytelling is both heart-wrenching and uplifting, leaving you with a profound sense of empathy for her and her siblings. If you've dealt with absentee or neglectful parents, you'll appreciate Jeanette's portrayal of the complicated love she holds for her own parents. Her ability to convey the inner conflict and the enduring bond she shares with her family is a testament to her writing prowess. It's a good book, though be prepared to feel incredibly frustrated at times, and incredibly melancholic at others. Honestly, I'd say this is a must-read for anyone that can relate to the complexities of having absentee or neglectful parents.

Hannah Bauman Dr Vogel English 340 May 7th 2014 The Glass Castle In the memoir, “The Glass Castle”, written by Jeannette Walls. She writes about her childhood, growing up with unorthodox and irresponsible, yet intelligent and talented parents. Moving from one city to another, living in a variety of environments, from a mobile home, to a motel at one point, to an abandon train depot, and then to a rundown miner’s house until her and her siblings moved to New York on their own finally. Their father, a man, who in some aspects could be mistaken for brilliant, is a belligerent drunk, can’t keep a job, and steals his children’s hard earned money, that they are saving to finance a new life in New York City and then spends it on booze. Then a mother who is an artist with a college degree, but refuses to act like an adult and get a job in order to take care of her children. Jeannette and her siblings have no choice, but to fend for themselves and find a way to get themselves out of this terrible dysfunctional environment. For the children of this story growing up was full of unexpected adventures and struggles with consistent poor living conditions. The children would routinely go for days without eating anything, or when they did eat the meals consisted of very poor nutritional value. At one point Jeannette and her brother have to dig through the school garbage container for leftover food. This often led to the kids being bullied and/or ridiculed by their peers because of their social status and unkempt appearance. However, even with these misfortunes the children managed to excel in school. Despite their unfavorable situation, they were extremely resilient and somehow managed to find humor in their unfortunate predicament. An example of the children’s resiliency is…one day, Jeannette being the resourceful girl she was, after a visit from a Child Protective Services, she went to the library and researched their options to get themselves out of this predicament. After many hours of research Jeannette came up with a solution. She ended up giving her mother an ultimatum; to leave her father or she needed to find a job and improve their living conditions. Jeannette stressed to her mother that they cannot keep on living like the way they had been. Although hesitantly, their mother decided to get a job as a teacher. However, it was short lived due to the mother being a terrible teacher and having childlike tendencies. The children often had to assist their mother with her duties as a teacher, grading school work and organizing papers. Additionally, to make matters worse, she even at times refused to get out of bed to go to work. This eventually led to the kids having to drag her out of bed in order to get her to work. Jeannette and Lori, the older sister, finally got fed up with their mother’s behavior. They eventually made plans to go to New York, Lori planned to go first, following high school graduation, then, Jeannette would follow next when she finished High School. From this point on they both saved their hard earned money and put it into their piggy bank. Shortly before Lori graduated High School as they count the days until they could move out on their own and fend for themselves, Jeannette came home to find the piggy bank torn apart and all the money gone. They immediately confronted their father and of course he denied it. They were both devastated, but they stayed positive, put their heads together, and found another way to get to New York. I enjoyed reading this book and it reminded me to be appreciative and be thankful for my upbringing and supportive family. I found it to be a page turner, very inspiring, couldn’t put it down. The children’s difficult childhood story is a true testament to resiliency. I would recommend this book to anyone in search of inspiration. This book included drama, adventure, humor, and redemption and kept me interested and attentive throughout. In the end…the children triumph over the struggles they encounter due to their irresponsible parents. However, in the end, their upbringing made them, but it didn’t break them. Their shared hardships only made their bonds stronger and together, they prospered with each other’s support.

Dickensian world of poverty is so abominably tenebrous that we tend to think of it simply as an anachronistic, if not antediluvian, work of fiction apropos of a bygone Victorian era, without translating its elemental essence of nobleness of human spirit that arises from predicaments into our own zeitgeist. The fictitious characters of Oliver Twist, David Copperfield, and Pip are the embodiment of such resilience, phoenix-like spirits enduring sordid conditions that life could impose upon us to the extent possible. Spinoza, the Dutch thinker and watchmaker, once said that it is Amor fati, love of fate, by which man’s inner strength could raise him above his outward fate. In fact, Nietzsche centuries after corroborated by saying: “That which does not kill me only makes me stronger.” Given the above axioms, what if someone in our contemporary time a fortiori lives to tell such victory of human spirit? That was the reason that I chose The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. All of the aforesaid noble triumph of human spirit over existential horrors of life is substantively and stoically recorded in this compelling living memoir with all her spirit, with all her intelligence, and with all her heart.

The story starts as Walls invites us to board her memory train and travel back in times until we return to where we depart along the long and winding railroads of her windy but beloved past. We meet her charismatic, intelligent father whose engineering feats are passed in smolder by his ever independent, anti-establishment, recalcitrant spirit a fortiori emboldened by a spirit of Dionysian portion. The artistically inclined mother is all liberality: She is a devout Catholic - although far from being sanctimonious - and has a heart of gold, save a practical sense of the world. Then there are one brother and two sisters, all of whom are highly intelligent and well-behaved thanks to the moral upbringing by their parents. The parents do not have the gumption to support their children, let alone themselves in terms of economic security, which was the cause of the existential ills of the family, pushing Walls into a position of  a de facto breadwinner of the family.

What is most profoundly august about Walls through living amid the straits of constant economic insecurity, frequent threats of family separation by social agencies, and dangers of physical harassments was her strong sense of responsibility for her life and for her family that enabled her to endure the existential predicaments. Many people mired in such situations might have develop disputatious streaks of rebellion against everything ascribed to them. However, Walls and her siblings took different attitudinal values to their existential dilemmas: they held on to a sense of purpose and a tenacious grasp on togetherness nurtured by their yearning to achieve a higher aim in life. In fact, such attitude toward life corresponds to one of the tenets of Logotheraphy: in order to find a meaning of life however trivial or nihilistic it many seem, taking a different, constructive stance on what is ascribed helps us to rise above biological, social, and cultural inhibitions during a difficult times because we give our suffering meaning by the way in which we respond to. Which also brings us back to Spinoza’s Amor fati axiom: a different approach to our suffering is sublimated into supremeaning of life in travails by believing in its meaning to every situation with will to live a meaningful life, which then ceases to be a suffering itself.

The literary merit of this memoir lies in its absence of unbridled namby-pamby outpourings of emotions in the narrative with a certain air of stoicism. Ironically, Walls’s frank, touchy-willy, matter-of-fact manner of discoursing her story belies her overwhelmingly heartrending heartaches, disappointments, and dismay smothered under factual descriptions of her past that renders the authority of truth and the power of reality without hindrance of prohibitive emotions that often results in fabrication. In her literary confession, Wall achieves catharsis by putting what was in her mind on pages after pages, pushing her pen through in expense of her will to come to terms with her parents, let alone herself, producing forgiveness of her parents’ wrongdoings and acceptance of their frailties in a package of love and tenderness.

All in all, Walls’ s message to her reader is clear: you can’t choose your fate, such as a family, but you can choose what to make out of what you are given. In one way or another, the story itself chimes the bells of emotions and thoughts of many of us: the problems and issues that the Walls had and the ones we have or had may have are not oranges and apples through our voyages of life. Walls shows us that notwithstanding all the vicissitudes of life, self-reliance, resilience, and determination helps us to sail through with cheerfulness and humor as handmaids to courage. This honest-to-goodness tale of a woman rising above the planes of her inhibitions speaks straightly to our hearts. This book is a one-of-kind testament to its veracity and quality that upon reading this book, you will feel as if you knew Walls telling a story with a sense of elemental kinship which you can relate to. Moreover, this bona fide memori gives us a sense of relief that no family is perfectly blissful, which resonates with Tolstoy’s view of families as inscribed on the first page of Anna Karenina: “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”

This book was so hard to read. You hated it. It was a true story. Hard to believe. Hard to put down. How parents can do what was done is incredible. You just have to read to believe. One of the best books I have ever read and I will not forget it. If you are a teacher, Preacher or neighbor, you can help these situations. Get involved. Just read it, your emotions will be put on trial.

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls, an emotionally gripping story of the major events and day-to-day struggles of the narrator, is a stunning read. It has earned both a Christopher Award and a New York Times Notable Book award and was the #1 New York Times Bestseller for 3 years. The author has also written titles such as Half Broke Horses and The Silver Star. Jeannette Walls is the second-oldest child of 4, with the oldest being a girl named Lori, the youngest below Jeannette a boy named Brian, and the absolute youngest a girl named Maureen. Her mother’s name is Rose Mary Walls and her fathers’ was Rex Walls. The memoir begins not with the start of her life, but with a memory of her mother and her sitting and eating in a restaurant when she was an adult. It establishes an important baseline for her relationship with her mother throughout the book, and also sets up what kind of person her mother is for the reader. From there, the book continues on about her life as a young girl and the various different places she and her family travel to as she grows older. It features such sites as Battle Mountain, Phoenix, and other locations, and all throughout this bout of traveling, the interactions between the characters establish their various personalities and ideals. Her father is an intelligent, ambitious man with eccentric tendencies and grand plans for continuing their adventures. He teaches her much about math, science, the stars, and all the while still fulfilling the role of a caring father. Her mother is an aspiring artist and writer, and wherever they travel, whole rooms and a multitude of materials are dedicated to her mother practicing her craft. Brian is an athletic boy, always out playing and roughing it up in all the new places they frequently travel to. Lori is the typical intelligent bookworm, only occasionally venturing outside to play and normally stuck reading a book inside on a comfortable perch. Maureen is only a young baby for most of the book, and so I’ll not go into detail about her. It quickly becomes apparent to the reader, though, that her family is, to put it simply, heavily dysfunctional. For all her father’s brilliance, grand plans of adventure for the family, and everything he taught Jeannette, he was a severe drinker, and it wasn't uncommon for him to be gone for hours at a time, getting absolutely pickled and only stumbling home when he was retrieved by his family or managed the walk there. Her mother, in spite of loving her children, tended to place her own wants and desires above theirs were her art or literary career concerned, like the time she kept refusing to go to her job at their local school unless forced to by her kids. She also held out of the ordinary beliefs, and this governed the way she raised her kids. The chief example of this is when, as a very young child, she was being treated at a hospital for severe burns after spilling boiling water over herself at home. After a few weeks spent at the hospital, getting her burn wounds healed, her family broke her out of the hospital, with her mother herself suggesting that they should’ve just taken her to a local Native American witch doctor.

I was glad to get to the end of this book, which was chosen for our book club book of the month. I didn’t enjoy reading it to be honest, and found myself feeling angry a lot of the time, but I didn’t hate it. What this book did was remind me of my own poor upbringing, but the difference was that even though we were poor, my mom kept our hand-me-down clothes clean and made meals with cheap ingredients, so we had food to eat, not a lot, but enough. After reading The Glass Castle, I found myself wondering why the siblings bothered with their mother after the neglect they endured at her hands. I understand that their mother was married to an alcoholic, and she didn’t want to be burdened by children, but the kids didn’t ask to be born and a mother should take care of her kids. Both Jeannette’s parents were irresponsible, delusional, selfish, ignorant, sorry excuses for human beings, who behaved as if the world owed them. I could go on, but I’m exhausted by this book. Jeannette did a good job of getting her story across and is a talented writer.

Update: I’ve been thinking about this book since I finished it and have come to the realization that Jeannette’s mother may have had bipolar disorder or some other mental illness. It’s doesn’t excuse the neglect of her children, but it may explain why she was so detached. At my book club meeting it seemed that those of us that grew up poor or had experience with alcoholism in the family, were angry and frustrated reading the book. Others, who had a happy childhood and upbringing, thought the book was great and didn’t have the same emotional reaction. It was the best book club discussion we’ve had to date.

I read this book when I was in high school. I don't normally like memoirs. I don't like them because I'd rather read fiction because I think memoirs/biographies are boring. But this one is not boring. Jeannette Walls life was very interesting, suspenseful and very sad. But overall it was inspiring. I think it is inspiring to think that a person who grew up with awful parents, sexual abuse, alcoholic father, an emotionally unstable mother and not having basic necessities was able to triumph in life and make something of herself. It fills people with confidence and hope. This book is about resilience and strength to face adversity and come out on top. I love it ! Jeannette is a very interesting person. You really like her and get to understand her way of thinking and how they way she was raised influenced her thoughts. This was a life story worth telling. It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you angry the most important thing is it will make you feel something other than boredom. They story is emotionally investing. I recomend everyone to read this book even If you don't like memoirs or biographies and books based on the author's life or someone else's this book reads like a novel so It's not some wierd format and the chapters are very short so you can probably read 4 chapters in under an hour. Now some negatives. I think that the story is a bit rushed. Jeannette speeds through the events in her life pretty quickly and some parts are over too soon. I feel like on some chapters Jeannette doesn't spend alot of time talking about an event that happened to her and she goes through it too quickly like the part where they are with the grandmother or the Billy Deel incident and she doesn't go in depth into what happened. Other than that this book is amazing and I highly recommend it as long as you don't mind reading depressing books. I rate it a 8/10 as for the copy I got I bought it new and the book was very clean and without damage only complait I have is that others have mentioned that the front cover doesn't reach the end of the pages for some reason. I don't know if it's only the paperback that has this issue or what but it looks really wierd because it's the only book I have that is like this.