The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
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Web ID: 14376830Ratings & Reviews
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What a memoir!!!
I have come back to this memoir time and time again (forever grateful for my HS literary teacher!)
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
THIS BOOK WILL TEAR YOU APART IN THE BEST WAY!
“To all families who, despite their scars, still find a way to love.” No family is perfect. My family isn’t perfect. And yet I would live and die for any one of them in a heartbeat. And it is in that spirit that Jeannette Walls shares her story. If you’re like me, The Glass Castle is a memoir that will completely engross and enthrall you. (I read it in two days and very long nights) Jeannette Walls grew up in a deeply dysfunctional and yet equally spirited and loyal family. Her Father struggled with alcoholism and poverty all his life but he was also the Father who gave his children stars for Christmas instead of gifts, instilled in them a deep sense of loyalty and taught them to live with a fearless abandon. This book reads even better than fiction. Jeannette is a gifted storyteller who writes candidly and humorously about her painful past. Her story was such a prime example to me of the human condition outside of Christ, the struggles people endure and the complexity of family relationships. There’s something refreshing about reading the honest account of someone’s family who still loves and values their family despite the mistakes they’ve made and how much they’ve hurt each other. So many of these kinds of books end in broken relationships or betrayal. But not this one- which is what makes it so powerful. I would highly recommend the Glass Castle. After finishing it, my husband and I also watched the movie adaptation and it left me in tears as well.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Ten top ideas in the book
1. Overcoming adversity: The book highlights the power of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity. Despite growing up in poverty and with an alcoholic father, Walls was able to overcome these challenges and achieve success. 2. The impact of childhood experiences: Walls' childhood experiences played a significant role in shaping her worldview and values. The book highlights the importance of childhood experiences and their lasting impact on individuals. 3. The consequences of neglect: The book explores the consequences of neglectful parenting and how it can affect a child's development and future relationships. 4. The importance of forgiveness: Walls was able to forgive her parents for their mistakes and shortcomings, highlighting the importance of forgiveness in healing and moving forward. 5. The power of storytelling: The book emphasizes the power of storytelling in shaping our understanding of the world around us and in connecting with others. 6. The beauty of simplicity: Walls' childhood was characterized by simplicity and minimalism, and the book highlights the beauty in living a simple life. 7. The importance of education: Despite her unconventional upbringing, Walls was able to achieve academic success and highlights the importance of education in achieving one's goals. 8. The impact of class and privilege: The book explores the impact of class and privilege on an individual's life and opportunities. 9. The complexities of family relationships: The book explores the complexities of family relationships and how they can be both challenging and rewarding. 10. The power of self-reliance: The book highlights the power of self-reliance and the importance of taking responsibility for one's own life and decisions.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A Thrilling and Heart-throbbing Story
By picking up a pen and paper, Jeannette Walls transformed her destitute childhood into a career by allowing readers to relive her traumatic childhood. The memoir The Glass Castle, by the author Jeannette Walls, fully encapsulated the life of a frightened girl on the run for her life. This book has won numerous awards such as the Christopher Award, the American Library Association's Alex Award, and the Books for Better Living Award. The book has also been a #1 New York Times Bestseller. Walls has published other books such as Dish, The Silver Star, Half Broke Horse, and Hang the Moon. These books have also won numerous awards. Jeannette Walls wrote The Glass Castle to inform readers about her childhood. The book explains how the Walls family grew up in poverty and lived in many different small towns. Jeannette's father was a drunk and couldn’t hold a job and her mom was devoted to painting. Both parents struggle to give their children the experience of a normal childhood. With no money to afford food or proper living conditions, the Walls kids quickly mature into independent and interesting people, with truly unique personalities. I felt that the book was cleverly written in a way that would draw readers to turn the next page. Walls uses specific descriptions of her memories and leaves the “I feel” or “I felt” words out. This allowed me as a reader to look deeper into the book and understand how the author would feel and how I felt about the information given. I fell into her shoes and walked through her memory thanks to her brilliant style of writing. The beginning of The Glass Castle is a brief description of Walls’s life presently. After, she depicts her very first memory. The story then proceeds on a structured timeline of events and memories until the end. I loved this clever hook. This flashback allowed me to understand some context about the author's life, and left me excited to read and understand the story in its entirety. The book is also given in short manageable chapters that allow an impatient person, like myself, to read the book efficiently. Unlike most readers, I think the inappropriate language and uncomfortable topics that Jeannette Wall brings up in her book, The Glass Castle, are very beneficial to the storyline. Her story is real and inspiring. As a result, the language I feel must match and Walls did a wonderful job of doing that. My only dislike towards the memoir is the way Walls describes her parents. These descriptions cause me twisted discomfort. On one hand, I love that she is able to describe her struggling parents with loving attributes. However, on the other hand, describing her parents with such expressions is frustrating. I know that Jeannette’s parents have caused an unneeded conflict in their children's lives and still the majority of description words given to them are thoughtful and caring. The most engaging part of the book was reading the progression of maturity the author displays throughout the story. The ability to slowly understand this progression allows readers to immerse themselves in her memories. This book is nothing like I have read before. The way this author grasps the reader's attention and influences them to quickly turn page after page is truly remarkable. I would recommend this book to an older audience that enjoys a thrilling and heart-throbbing memory from a truly resilient and astonishing author.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
I was sad to get to the end.
Although the ending itself was abrupt, I loved this novel and was sad when I reached the end. I realize that after she left her childhood home the interesting part of her story was over, but still, I wanted more chapters of this fascinating story.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Tears & laughs
I couldn’t put this book down, both shock and awe. Puts my dysfunctional family to shame.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
good
good
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
A touching memoir
A book of sadness, a book of poverty, a book of happiness, a book of relationships, The Glass Castle, has been a thrilling book to read. This book, a memoir of Jeannette Wall’s life, is told from her perspective. She takes the reader through the struggles in her life including the poverty her family went through because of the debts her father owed. This memoir does not start from the beginning but instead starts from a scene in her adult life. Having the order not be chronological did make it more difficult to understand what time in her life you were reading about. However, the further into the book you got, the more details you read which made it easier to understand her life and what time, place, etc, she was in. This book was filled with very heartfelt writing that could at some points be too mature for me to relate to. I have never gone through a point in my life where I didn’t have everything I needed to live. I have always had food when I need it, clothes, and other daily essentials. Reading this book made me further realize that I have so much to be grateful for. While reading this book, there were many thoughts I had thinking about how could someone go through something like that? Not only did she have to go through this poverty, but she was, in a way, alone. Yes, for parts of her life she had people there, but were they there both physically and mentally? No, Jeannette had to go through many parts of her life by herself because there was no one there for her and no one to support her. I personally could not imagine going through what Jeannette had to go through and reading this book made me realize that there are so many people that are in the world, who need help, but it is so hard for them to get it. The main themes are based on poverty and family. Another realization I had when reading this book is how important family is. Although her parents weren’t there for her, she had the help and support of her siblings. This is something I can very much relate to when reading this memoir. I am personally very close with my siblings and I know that whenever I need them I can trust them even if my parents weren’t there for me. It was so remarkable to see how she was able to escape the dark clouds that covered her life. She lived a life where she was brought through many struggles especially because of her dad and in the end, she gets to live the bright life that she has always dreamed of. Overall, I would rate this book very high because of how many personal connections I was able to make. Even though I am not even close to the tough life she had, I could still relate to her. This book was filled with so much excitement and I am glad I got to go through Jeannette Wall’s life, day by day.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com