Author: Jeannette Walls
Genre: Nonfiction
“A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.”
Frankly, I don’t know if I would call The Glass Castle a good book. I don’t think I enjoyed reading it, but I don’t regret it either. I’m not sure I would recommend it, but I wouldn’t tell anyone not to read it either. It was an interesting book about an interesting subject that kept me reading.
The writing was touch and go. In some parts of the book, it was detailed and fleshed out but in other parts of the book, it felt kind of flat. But it’s not something I cared about too heavily.
The story was captivating because I couldn’t stop being disgusted by her parents. They were both probably mentally ill in some way but I couldn’t have sympathy for them. The trauma and abuse Jeannette and her siblings went through were so avoidable and easily fixable but her parents were just somewhere else. Her parents were just too selfish to have custody of multiple children.
Though, I was surprised by how “well-adjusted” most of the Walls children ended up being. I’m going to chalk that one up to luck. Kids who grow up the way they did, usually end up dead or on drugs or exactly like their parents.
After finishing the book, which I did in about 2 or 3 hours, I’m still left wondering, why. I’m just want to know why her parents did this. How could not feel any remorse for the way their children suffered? Did they not care? Did they think what they were doing was right? I mean, the way they reacted to Jeannette getting her shit together and living well in NYC was negative, like they couldn’t believe they had raised to her live like that.
Again, I’m not sure about the position this book left me in, but I can commend this novel for giving me a lot feelings. I enjoy feeling sometimes.
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