The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls on October 6, 2009
Genres: Biography & Autobiography / General, Biography & Autobiography / Literary Figures, Biography & Autobiography / Personal Memoirs, Biography & Autobiography / Women, Family & Relationships / Dysfunctional Families, Family & Relationships / General, Self-Help / Adult Children of Substance Abusers, Social Science / Poverty & Homelessness
Pages: 288
Format: Paperback
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If you are looking for a memoir that reads like a fiction this is the one! This one is just so unique and raw so be ready for moments of WHAT THE HECK AM I READING. We read this for one of my book clubs and what an eye opening story!
Jeannette Walls tells a raw, hard story about her life and how she was raised and how she overcame her dysfunctional family. She and her three siblings grew up with parents who lived like nomads, never really settling down. Her mom, who loved art, reading, and painting and even had a teaching degree, mostly refused to work, believing it was a waste of time. Her dad was smart and did work occasionally, but his struggles with alcoholism held him back. He dreamed big, always talking about striking it rich and building the family a “glass castle,” but those dreams never came to be. He kept jumping from one job to the next.
Despite their unstable living conditions—often lacking food, clothes, or even basic safety—Jeannette’s parents seemed unfazed, expecting their kids to fend for themselves. From a young age, Jeannette found herself taking on responsibilities beyond her years, like when she was just three years old and got severely burned while trying to cook hotdogs. This moment was just the start of her challenging childhood. This was the part of the book that set the tone for how things were going to progress.
I can’t imagine a child under 10 having to parent their own parent! It’s clear her parents had significant mental health issues. I suspect that her father dealt with some abuse growing up and was dealing with unresolved trauma. Jeannette, surprisingly, showed remarkable forgiveness towards her parents. Even though you can sense her anger at times, especially as she gets older, she rarely breaks down. Her strength and resilience are inspiring, and despite everything, she never stops loving her parents. Still, she and her siblings eventually realize they need to find a way out. I can’t believe how their terrible experiences made them so strong and resilient. I was constantly surprised how they could roll with the punches on SO many things.
Being a parent is no easy thing, but Jeannette’s parents were very selfish and should NOT have had children! I had a really hard time understanding some of the choices they made, especially when they put their kids in dangerous situations on purpose. That was hard to read and not want to scream at them. They tried to have values but any values that they tried to instill seemed like nothing after the dangerous stunts they pulled with their children. I was just amazed that Jeannette could have such a relationship with her parents and not hate them. I have some great respect for the author. I haven’t seen the movie so that is next on my watch list.