Review: The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

Book: The Glass Castle

Author: Jeanette Walls

Pages: 288

How Long it Took Me to Read: 7 hours

Plot Summary:  Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity were both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen minutes had no appeal when she could make a painting that might last forever.

Later, when the money ran out, or the romance of the wandering life faded, the Walls retreated to the dismal West Virginia mining town—and the family—Rex Walls had done everything he could to escape. He drank. He stole the grocery money and disappeared for days. As the dysfunction of the family escalated, Jeannette and her brother and sisters had to fend for themselves, supporting one another as they weathered their parents’ betrayals and, finally, found the resources and will to leave home.

What is so astonishing about Jeannette Walls is not just that she had the guts and tenacity and intelligence to get out, but that she describes her parents with such deep affection and generosity. Hers is a story of triumph against all odds, but also a tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that despite its profound flaws gave her the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.

For two decades, Jeannette Walls hid her roots. Now she tells her own story.

General Thoughts and Review: This is quite possibly the best book I’ve read this year. This book blew my mind. I cannot recommend it enough. Even though this is non-fiction book, a memoir, it reads just as beautifully as a work of literature.

I am a huge fan of family stories. I love reading about how people live and how family members interact with each other. I love normal families and I absolutely love reading about dysfunctional families.  The Walls family is as chaotic as families can get. I loved reading about them and I loved their journey in life. The kids were my favourite. I loved the author- Jeanette and her little brother Brian. They were such good kids who didn’t deserve the family they found themselves in. I loved how they accepted their lot in life and did all that they could to survive and make the best of a bad situation. Another thing I really liked was the tone of the book and the way in which the story was told, it wasn’t a whiny nor an anguished tone. The author in no way wants sympathy or a pity party. Her life was hard. They were poor and miserable but she tells her story with such dignity that you just root for these siblings.

Even when talking of her parents, who were definitely negligent and abusive (not feeding your kids for days on end and not providing for warmth in the cold America winters is abusive), Walls does not villainize them. She speaks of them with such warmth and love that you can almost hear the child in her. Not just Jeannette but her elder sister- Lori- and her brother- Brian- seemed to have made peace, very early on in their lives, about the kind of parents they had. There were no illusions in the kids’ minds regarding their parents. They just made the best out of a bad situation every time and, eventually, started planning to leave the miserable town of Welch, WV and head out to New York to start new lives.

The book was, in equal measures, heart breaking and uplifting. Heart breaking because as kids you want to be taken care of and not be the ones taking care of your parents; uplifting because of the sheer spirit of these children in dealing with all their adversity and the deprivations that they suffered.

One also feels awful for Rex and Rose Mary and one wonders what happened in their past that led them to live a life like the one they chose. There are hints dropped here and there but nothing is clearly spelled out that explains the responsibility-free life that the two of them want to live.

I cannot recommend this book enough! It is a brilliant book and you simply have to read it!

Rating: 5/5