The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

My friend Amberly loves books like I do, and loves to learn from them and talk about them. When she talked to me about this one, I determined to read it. But somehow it didn't happen. Then my friend Jack, who retired last year, took a "Write Your Memoirs" class and started sending me his chapters. When he called me to find out what I thought about them, he asked me if I had read The Glass Castle. He told me it was an amazing book and gave him a model for what he was after. He said it was funny and tragic and hit just the right notes of resonance with him. Okay, if two people are so enthused about a book, then I decided I had to read it. It was good to be back in our city library where I hadn't been for awhile. Used paperbacks on Amazon are so convenient that I had not been into our library for maybe two years! I found it in the biography section and started in.

It grabbed me from the first chapter. They are short chapters and they can't be done one at a time. You have to take on at least eight or ten. Very hard to put down. Jeannette's story is so incredible and her life so unbelievable that I was riveted and horrified. The story of these neglectful, selfish parents and their children is such a personal look inside a dysfunctional family that it was hard to take, yet I couldn't stop. Another reason I couldn't stop was that the first chapter is told in retrospective so you know she's going to end up in a Park Avenue in New York City. So, you keep reading to find out how on earth she got THERE from what she describes as her life.

I may try reading it again to try to see the humor that Jack saw. I was so distraught over the parents' behavior that I couldn't see the humor in it. What I'm curious about is if Jeannette intended the humor and maybe that will become clearer to me on a second reading. I'm not sure I can take it on again, though. As I read this book, I would occasionally ask myself if I was feeling uncomfortable because I had always feared this kind of life. When we were growing up, we were pretty poor too. I feared that I was "white trash" sometimes. I remember when people would drive up to our house that I knew we were dirty and scraggly and wanted to tell people that even though we looked bad, we were pretty happy. And we were. And then I asked myself what made my childhood so unlike the one described in this book. Was it my parents' education? Was it their basic goodness?

But since I finished it, what I've been wondering about is what made these parents tick. I believe in the basic goodness of people. These people were not evil in the normal sense I use it. But they perhaps they were... And is the father excused because of his alcoholism? I am amazed at the mother's total lack of caring and protection. Was it laziness or something else? I think mothers and fathers love their children and want to protect them. What does it mean when they don't? I'm baffled. Who are these people and how could they desire what they chose?

Jeannette's resilience or somehow figuring out that there was a better life outside of her family is an amazing aspect of this story. How she did that eluded me, or was too subtle for me to catch. How did she become aware of her talents? She mentions some teachers, but it's not really clear to me what saved her. Maybe the books she read? And it's amazing that three of her siblings fought their way clear. It breaks my heart that the fourth one didn't...I wonder what the difference was between the three who succeeded and the one who did not.

One thing that is a definite advantage of this book is that I do have some insight now into the whole world of homelessness and poverty that I didn't have before. It's good to know there is great intelligence and resourcefulness in that world as well as other things...But it's such a waste, such a loss. I guess I always thought that people's intelligence would help them grow. In this case, the parents' never grow or learn or improve. So tragic, and such a loss!