The Opposition…

The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls

Discussion: 2007-Apr-May-Jun

Why we're reading this: April 10, 2007
[close] April 10, 2007

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2007-Apr-May-Jun

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* June 2007
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 4 views

last updated Nov 25, 2010 10:22PM

* May 2007
By Tiffany , WristStrong · 1 post · 4 views

last updated Nov 25, 2010 12:52AM

What Members Thought

May 22, 2012 Judy rated it really liked it

Just when I had myself convinced that my childhood was seriously unconventional, I picked up a copy of The Glass Castle and I realized that I had no idea what unconventional was. Apparently children can survive unbelievable conditions--eating out of trash cans at school because there was no food in their house, painting their skin to try to hide the fact that there were holes in their clothing, having the money they saved stolen by their father so that he could enjoy a massive drinking binge and ...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Pang rated it it was amazing

Shelves: book-club

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I was reading the story. In the end I laughed a little and cried a little, too.

Jeannette Walls told a story of her childhood, growing up with a dad (Rex), a mom (Rose Mary), an older sister (Lori), a younger brother (Brian) and a younger sister (Maureen). They lived pretty much like gypsies, roaming from one place to another if they weren't living in their car. When she was younger, life was one adventure after another. Dad was described as an entrepreneu I didn't know whether to laugh or cry as I was reading the story. In the end I laughed a little and cried a little, too.

Jeannette Walls told a story of her childhood, growing up with a dad (Rex), a mom (Rose Mary), an older sister (Lori), a younger brother (Brian) and a younger sister (Maureen). They lived pretty much like gypsies, roaming from one place to another if they weren't living in their car. When she was younger, life was one adventure after another. Dad was described as an entrepreneur, when in fact he was (in my eye) just full of ideas, but couldn't make them more than just ideas. Mom was a free-spirit woman who just wanted to paint and believe that she was an artist. Their lives started falling apart in Phoenix when Dad was becoming a raging alcoholic. They moved to Welch, WV, where Dad family was. Things got worse there. They were living in a shack with no working toilet. The kids bathed once a week, may be, and didn't get regular meals. Dad disappeared days at a time on his drinking binges. Mom refused to leave Dad, yet refused to take on a full-time job when she was clearly able to in order to feed her family. And when she did she became so unhappy that she expressed how unfair it was that she had to take care of four kids. They lived with garbage in their backyard, leaky ceilings, rotted floor, etc.

When Lori graduated from high school, she left Welch for NYC. Jeannette followed soon after. Then Brian and Maureen. Years later, Mom and Dad also made the move to NYC "to be family" again. They still insisted on living in the same manner as they did in Welch. Getting behind on bills and getting evicted. They were living on the streets for a long while until Dad found an abandoned building for them and a bunch of squatters to live in. The kids, on the other hand, were getting their lives together with exception to Maureen, who ended up leaving the family to be on her on in CA.

It just made me so angry reading about the living conditions they were growing up in. I was disgusted with the parents. How Dad refused to stop drinking and find a job to support his family, yet he got angry if someone would make him feel less than the head of the household. How Mom kept that two-carat diamond ring for herself instead of selling it to buy food for the family. And on and on. One thing was I didn't know who I was mad at more: the mom or the dad. Mom for her weakness to leave Dad and make things right for her kids. Or Dad's irresponsible as a parent. People tell me that having a child is a life-changing experience, that you would want to do everything in your power to keep that child safe and healthy. These people didn't do that. They kept right on living the way they wanted to live with no regards to how it might affect their children. Kids were forced to eat out from garbage, which the parents deemed to be acceptable. However, I also know, as Jeannette realized when her dad was dying that he loved her. "...[D]espite all the hell-raising and destruction and chaos he had created in our lives, I could not imagined what my life would be like--what the world would be like--without him in it. As awful as he could be, I always knew he loved me in a way no one else ever had (p. 279)."

I became very emotionally invested in her story... the story of the Walls. I couldn't help but think how wrong everything was going in her childhood. I know that people have their baggages and issues. Even as parents you certainly couldn't be perfect. Her story made me question my values and outlooks. Can their way be that bad? After all the kids turned out all right. What's more, they ended up with great stories to tell! ...more

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Oct 23, 2013 Eileen rated it liked it

Shelves: book-group, non-fiction

Memoir of a ridiculously tough childhood. Determination and resilience get the author through, somehow. Not sure I could have remotely handled all she did. Writing was a bit choppy at times.

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May 27, 2007 Celeste rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2007

I saw so much of my life in her memoir that I cried and gasped all the way through it. Her account is clear and resonant. I think this book is especially touching to those of us who have had to live with someone who has a mental illness or alcoholism (or both). This is a must read.

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