The Glass Castle: A Memoir

Read this for a book club and really enjoyed it. I wonder how she turned out somewhat normal. ( )

This is a really good book. It's a memoir about a family of six who lived in extreme poverty by choice. (At least, by the parents' choice. The four children, one of whom being the author, got out of the house and earned their own living as soon as they were old enough.) The parents were intelligent, charismatic, but extremely irresponsible regarding the care of their children and their financial situation. The dad was an alcoholic. The mom was an artist who just....didn't want the discipline and responsibility that comes with a job. The couple had some unique parenting philosophy about not protecting children too much and let them fend for themselves. So they REALLY didn't take measures to protect their children from harm :P There were vignettes in the book that seemed like borderline child abuse. But there were also moments where the dad's knowledge and imagination inspired the children so much, or where the mom's love for books and distain of materialism shaped the children's intellectual development and values.

My favorite part of the book is after the dad passed away, the author wrote about her grief and loss in a "show, don't tell" way. It was really good. She writes well.

Another thing about the book that left lasting impression was how the parents voluntarily chose to be homeless in New York City for years. The mom told the author, "It's sort of the city's fault. They make it too easy to be homeless. If it was really unbearable, we'd do something different." LOL! They ate at various soup kitchens or churches that passed out sandwiches. They washed and read books at public libraries. They fished newspapers from trash cans and looked up free events to attend-- plays, operas, concerts in parks, performance in office building lobbies, movie screenings, museums. They slept in homeless shelters, pews of churches that opened their doors to the homeless, bushes that lined park paths, on park benches. ( )

This was an unsettling and upsetting book to read. I am glad to say it is difficult for me to identify with parents who were so selfish, and with the people who enable them (my fortune at birth). I am not saying I would have acted in any other way with the upbringing the author was given, as, thank goodness, I had a much better one. I am just VERY thankful that I wasn't put to that kind of test. We were poor, but well cared for. I am just glad for the author that she was strong enough to be able to make better choices and a better life for herself. I am not making judgments (please don't read that into this review - no child should ever have had to do what was required of her); it was just very trying for me to read. ( )

This is my favorite book to quote from when I teach memoir writing to adults. An amazing story, very well-told. A must read for characterization. ( )

i absolutely loved this book.
with a rare and remarkable lack of self-pity, ms walls writes of her unforgettable childhood.
through all of it i felt, and despite all their flaws, the love this family had for each other....

i absolutely f***ing loved this book. ( )