Jan 07 2009
“The Glass Castle” by Jeannette Walls
I had heard about The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls from SmallWorld Reads (another book blog), who highly recommended it. It turns out that Glass Castle was on the New York Times bestseller list for two years, and yet I had never heard of it until SmallWorld mentioned it. Don’t ask me where I’ve been.
Now that I’ve finally read it, I can see why SmallWorld (and the rest of the world, incidentally) loved it so much. This autobiography reminded me in some ways of Three Weeks with my Brother by Nicholas Sparks. Both sets of parents had an “interesting” outlook on parenting (basically, let the kids do whatever they wanted, as long as it didn’t actually kill anyone else) and they were both raised in extreme poverty. But while Nicholas’ parents at least tried to feed and clothe their children, Jeannette’s parents didn’t always even do that.
This is an honest and open memoir - the some of the things that Jeannette went through as a child makes your heart hurt. Her parents, at many points during her childhood, did not provide even the most basic of necessities - food, clothing, and at some points, shelter. Yet unlike A Child Called It, where this is because the parent is trying to torture the child, in Glass Castle it is more simply because the parents are free-spirits, with a distinct lack of planning skills. Oh, and the father is an alcoholic who drinks most of their money away.
At one point, a family member dies, leaving the parents with a house and quite a bit of money. I was cheering for the family at this point - surely they would use this money to actually get ahead in life, right? But even as I was cheering for them, I knew it wouldn’t happen. The parents are beyond irresponsible, and sure enough, the money soon disappeared. The house fell into major disrepair, and they eventually left and moved back East, leaving the house empty behind them.
The most mind-boggling part of the book is that Jeannette clearly loves her parents. Even though they leave her and her siblings nothing to eat at various times (forcing Jeannette to eat butter for dinner at one point) and even though their parenting style is far beyond neglectful, into the realm of outright child abuse, Jeannette seems to have been able to look back on her life and appreciate the good parts about her parents, and the things they tried to do for their children.
I think this is what makes this memoir so wonderful - it is not bitter or hateful in any way. She loves her parents, warts and all. It is a testament to the human spirit that she could endure something like this, and still look back on it all with love for her parents.
Despite this upbringing (or perhaps in some ways, because of it) Jeannette became quite successful in the news world, eventually becoming a columnist for MSNBC.com, until she decided to take a break and just write books for a while. If you’re interested in more information about Glass Castle, then you’ll definitely want to check out this interview done with Jeannette Walls (warning: It’s long!) where she talks about her parents, the book, and the impact it’s had on her life.
Glass Castle was a terrific memoir - one of the best I’ve read. I give it 4.75 out of 5 stars. If you’re one of the few people left who haven’t read this book, go check it out. You won’t regret it.
Hava
Hi,
I read the Glass Castle about 2 years ago, and it was great! I read such books with caution because I cannot read books with abuse, especially of children, in them, it is way too disturbing. This book cleared the mark, though some might place the parent’s parenting style pretty close to abuse or neglect. Actually, their parenting style was quite freeing, allowing the children to learn, yet giving them enough knowledge and support to keep from harm. It was a great book, but I wouldn’t want to see my own kids raised this way!
Ann
PS Thanks for the linking advice in the Forum. AnnieZS
www.godfamilycrafts.today.com
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Lidian >> Wasn’t it a wonderful book? That’s great that your family enjoyed it also. I didn’t used to read nonfiction, so perhaps that’s how I missed this book the first time around. ::shrug::
AnnieZS >> Yeah, the parenting style in this book was definitely very “freeing.” As Jeannette said in the interview I linked to, it was basically that her parents treated them as adults, even at a very young age. “I gave birth to you; now it’s time for you to take care of yourself,” was their philosophy. Some of things they lived through…Jeannette’s just lucky that she actually did live.
And you’re welcome! I love helping people out.
Hava
Karen >> I completely understand what you mean. Although my parents emphasized self-reliance with us children, it was certainly not to the point that these parents did. My parents took very good care of us, and we always had a stable home life, something that Jeannette’s parents never provided.
I was frustrated with the father, that he kept going back to drinking, even after working so hard to quit. That was difficult for me to read. The education point was a good one - both of her parents were very smart, and could have done so much more with their lives. At least they did push education with their children, which was Jeannette’s saving grace.
In the interview I linked to, Jeannette talks about how there is lost potential there - that you will never know what her parents could have done if they had actually wanted to (ie, stopped drinking and started living productive lives).
One thing she didn’t mention in her interview that I’m curious about is what happened to the younger sister. Jeannette ends the book with the younger sister not doing well, and I’m must wondering what happened to her. I suppose I could do a Google search and find out…
Ker >> I went to your site and looked at the post that I commented on before, and couldn’t see a response from you. So then I went to your most recent posts and read through them to see if you had responded there, and again didn’t see anything. So I missed your response - sorry about that. :-}
As for Glass Castle, I felt the same way. I would alternate between loving her parents (when they did something good, like emphasize education, etc) and hating them when they did something stupid (like drink the money way). By the end, it was mostly hate, because the parents had long stopped taking care of their children, and it was making me a little crazy. I think it shows true strength of character that the author was able to pull herself up by her bootstraps and do so well out in the news world. She is an inspiration.
Hava
That’s sad, I hate it when parents are neglectful or lazy…in my opinion, it’s only a fraction of a millimeter above abuse.