I started writing this review a long time ago and didn't take the time to finish the review until just recently. I'm still not sure if I will continue with book club reviews, but since this review was mostly complete, I decided to post it.
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The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls was the June 2013 book club choice we reviewed and it was a good discussion that was facilitated with questions I found online. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to review book club books and/or if I will write the reviews before or afterwards. It could be an interesting comparison to write my review before and see what I think of it after the discussion with the club. Food for thought for now, but for the time being an FYI for this blog.
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| Image from amazon.com |
The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls was the June 2013 book club choice we reviewed and it was a good discussion that was facilitated with questions I found online. I’m not sure if I’ll continue to review book club books and/or if I will write the reviews before or afterwards. It could be an interesting comparison to write my review before and see what I think of it after the discussion with the club. Food for thought for now, but for the time being an FYI for this blog.
SPOILER ALERT - Note, there is some discussion of some of the stories in this review that you may want to experience raw, hence I am labeling this a spoiler alert!
Synopsis - click here
This book was heartbreaking, but the entire time I was
rooting for Jeanette Walls. Curiosity
got the best of me and within the first story (a 3 year old cooking hot-dogs and
setting her polyester dress on fire), I looked up Jeanette Walls and the
creation of this book and quickly learned that Jeanette Walls was a successful
journalist and now writes full time.
Despite this information, I found these stories unbelievably
difficult to imagine, heartbreaking to read, but yet very brave for writing them and telling the world her story.
Ms. Walls opens with a story of watching her mother and father sorting through trash bins in New York City from afar (I believe it was a taxi
cab), ashamed of what she is observing. Ms.
Walls opens the novel with this story, but it’s not the shock value alone that
gets you. The story also serves to
intrigue the reader to understand why her parents choose a lifestyle of
homelessness and most importantly, why Ms. Walls appears to be living in
drastically better circumstances than her own parents. This stark contrast sucked me into this
novel, that’s for sure.
Throughout the memoir, there are many difficult stories. Eating out of
the trash at school and dumpsters, a mother hiding and stealing food from her
children, dire living conditions including no running water or electricity,
coaxing your own mother to go to work so there’s enough money for the family,
and so on. But despite the desperate-ness
of these stories, Jeanette Walls shows deep love and admiration (especially in
her younger years) for her parents, especially her father. The relationship Ms. Walls has with her
father, being his favorite child, is the hardest thing to wrap your head around. How can Ms. Walls love her father so much,
but not have her most basic needs provided for?
Is it because she doesn't know any better, this is the hand life has
dealt? After thinking and discussing with my book club, I think that Jeanette
Walls’ father intended to be a good father, but he didn't have the knowledge. Mr. Walls' upbringing was arguably worse
than the one he provided for his own family.
Another interesting point of discussion at book club was Jeanette's mother, Mary and whether she fulfilled her role as a mother. We debated quite a bit in the group if she could be called a mother, some were on the fence while others were positive she had not fulfilled her duties as a mother. I landed on the fence. On one hand, her children's basic needs were clearly not taken care of and she let her children (especially Jeanette Walls) be in the middle of her messy relationship with her husband, Rex. On the other hand, she was the one who was able to provide when Rex was drinking and gambling, albeit the children themselves had to convince her to go to work! Mary also had a heavy hand in their love for reading (their father did too) and art, and I believe her children's success was heavily influenced by this environment she encouraged and provided.
I highly recommend reading this book, it's well written and it's such an interesting story that while I can't relate to it directly, provides another perspective on how life may be lived. I also think this is a great selection for a book club as there are so many topics and stories to discuss and the interpretation of them is bound to be different from person to person, thus generating interesting discussion and a fun book club event!
Another interesting point of discussion at book club was Jeanette's mother, Mary and whether she fulfilled her role as a mother. We debated quite a bit in the group if she could be called a mother, some were on the fence while others were positive she had not fulfilled her duties as a mother. I landed on the fence. On one hand, her children's basic needs were clearly not taken care of and she let her children (especially Jeanette Walls) be in the middle of her messy relationship with her husband, Rex. On the other hand, she was the one who was able to provide when Rex was drinking and gambling, albeit the children themselves had to convince her to go to work! Mary also had a heavy hand in their love for reading (their father did too) and art, and I believe her children's success was heavily influenced by this environment she encouraged and provided.
I highly recommend reading this book, it's well written and it's such an interesting story that while I can't relate to it directly, provides another perspective on how life may be lived. I also think this is a great selection for a book club as there are so many topics and stories to discuss and the interpretation of them is bound to be different from person to person, thus generating interesting discussion and a fun book club event!
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