Blog written by Meredith
The Glass Castle from Jeannette Walls has proven to be another popular book club choice.
The 'almost unbelievable' true story of a white American family living in poverty bears witness to the fact that homelessness can sometimes be a choice. Of course, the children didn't choose to be forever hungry, homeless and vulnerable to the world, but the parents did. In fact, the mother felt no shame in her life, advising her daughter to just tell the truth about her childhood.
So that is exactly what Jeannette has done.
Her memoir opens with her earliest memory at the age of 3, a shocking event where she has cooked herself some hotdogs in the trailer, setting herself alight in the process. She ends up in hospital for 6 weeks with severe burns, only leaving when her father breaks her out saying "you don¹t have to worry anymore baby, you're safe now".
This clearly sets the stage for a life on the run with totally dysfunctional and irresponsible parents, proven time again with each incredible story in the book.
A number of moments in the book stood out, for example, when Jeannette
decided she didn't like her teeth and tried to make her own braces. The
time when the father stole the money from the children, their hard earned
savings drained away at the pub. The time when Jeannette's mother and
sister went away and at the age of 12 she had to try and manage the
budget, her younger siblings and hardest of all, keep her Dad away from
the money. The times when Jeannette was at risk of sexual attack, in
particular from her uncle.
The stories are endless, and all add up to a very different childhood than
the rest of us. What is particularly interesting is the way in which the author narrates
the story. It is a very detached voice, neither appearing to judge or
ask for pity. She could almost be accused of sugar sweetening the
stories, it was almost unbelievable, and therefore, even questionable as a
memoir.
In fact, when viewing a You Tube video of her and her mum, she almost
seems like she is a presenter of some TV show, it is a little divorced
from reality.
There is no question, that The Glass Castle was a gripping and powerful
read.
It received a high rating, averaging 8 all round.
Our next book is The Forgiven by Lawrence Osbourne and it will be at Sarah's on Thursday July 21st.
Sharon's thoughts :
ReplyDeleteThis is a non fiction which doesn't read like one !
The author tells her amazing story with an almost third person voice.
What a messed up and loyal family ! You don't know whether to admire the grit of the parents or the irresponsibility of their parenting. It's a wonder the 3 older kids turned out the way they did - Lori an artist, Jeannette a journalist and Brian a policeman.
I found very memorable the chapter on how Jeannette was in charge of the money and wanted to stand up to her dad the way she felt her mom should have stood up to her husband and not give in to funding his drinking habit. I felt that the relationship between the Rex and Jeannette was very special.
In fact, Rex appears to be the most intriguing character. He must be very intelligent and yet is a dreamer - i.e. the Glass Castle plans. He must love Jeannette and yet he used her to get money from his poker playing friend and put her in a dangerous situation.
What do you think of the parents' pride not to accept help/welfare/gifts ?
I rate this book 9/10.