Kelly's Review: THE GLASS CASTLE

THE GLASS CASTLE

By Jeannette Walls

Published by: Scribner, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020

First Printing: 2005

ISBN-13: 978-0-7432-4753-5

ISBN-10: 0-7432-4753-1

Amazon; Barnes and Noble; Goodreads

Concept: “The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette’s brilliant and charismatic father captured his children’s imagination, teaching then physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn’t want the responsibility of raising a family.
The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.”
Review: This story follows the upbringing of Jeannette Walls from Arizona to California, Nevada, Texas, West Virginia and New York. Truly, if everything happened as this book details its an incredible story. Sometimes you find yourself shaking your head at the amazing things that these kids go through and the even more incredulous parents. I remember seeing Ms. Walls on The Today Show many years ago after this book first came out and she struck me as being honest and just wanting to tell the story. I’ve wanted to read the book since then. I read Half Broke Horses, which is the story of the author’s grandmother. The grandmother was a super pioneer type woman and she withstood things that I can’t begin to imagine. In this story, her grandchildren go through their own trials and hell and come out on the other end as people that you can’t help but admire.
If you are ever feeling whiney and sorry for yourself because you can’t buy an iPad or a car like your neighbor has, read this book. It really makes you extremely thankful for what you have.

What I liked: Ms. Walls’ writing style is very quick and in your face. There’s no nice flowery type verbage, it’s plain and simple and lets you come the conclusions the author leads you to. It’s a quick read. If it carried on much more, I don’t know if anyone would be able to take it.

What I disliked: Truly the only thing I found myself critiquing about the book was that I wanted to see more photos as in the author’s grandmother’s book. I’m assuming though, given the circumstances surrounding the children, there isn’t photographs to be had.

My rating: 4 Solid Stars

Kelly

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