The Glass Castle: A Memoir by Jeannette WallsMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
I love to read books that show strong characters who prevail in the face of adversity--it's even sweeter when the characters are real. THE GLASS CASTLE is a great memoir that is tragic, but at times-funny and jaw-dropping, about the lives of a family of 2 adults and 4 children. The children are herded all over the country by their kooky parents. With no life purpose other than personal enjoyment and pleasure, Rex and Rose Mary Walls lead their children into a very unconventional, nomadic life demonstrating no responsibility or ownership for... well, anything.
Rex and Rose Mary really had no business have one child, much less four. There were so many aspects to the lives of the Walls family that I cannot even fathom--really, I am not exaggerating when I say that the hits just kept on coming. I wanted to scream at the mother: GET. A. GRIP. LADY! Rose Mary is described as eccentric, I would describe her as mentally unstable, selfish, ego-centrical, abusive ...need I continue?
I can't imagine living in such horrendous conditions. How did these children survive, much less prevail under a total lack of responsible adult supervision? How on earth does this woman, Jeannette still speak with such love and adoration about her parents? This book infuriates me, but also warms my heart to realize that such unconditional love really does exist--she is a much better person than I could ever hope to be!
To know that Jeannette Walls overcame the odds, flourished in her life and became a successful writer and journalist with a resume that includes: MSNBC.com, Esquire, USA Today, New York magazine and appeared on The Today Show, CNN, Primetime, and The Colbert Report, makes this story ever-so-sweet! If you are a fan of memoirs that read like fiction, then you gotta grab this one - it will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will make you angry, but best of all, it will make you want to cheer for her to succeed, from beginning to end!
4 comments:
This book is not always comfortable, and there are times I wanted to scream out loud. However, I absolutely agree with the 5 stars you gave it. It's engrossing, well written, and amazing.
Totally agree. And I absolutely wanted to throttle those so called parents
Makes you wonder how no matter what some people can overcome all amazing
Very impressive and inspiring!
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