The Glass Castle

Out of all of Jeannette Walls books The Glass Castle is my favorite.  Jeannette Walls has written many different books such as Half Broke Horses and her newest book The SilverStar. Glass Castle and Half Broke Horses are both memoirs that are about or relate to Jeannette life and The Silver Star is a novel with some of the same situations that are represented in The Glass Castle. The Glass Castle is a memoir that focuses mostly on Jeannette’s childhood. As a child Jeannette and her family were constantly moving from place to place never staying in the same place for more than a few weeks. Jeannette was constantly told that things were going to get better and she was promised things that were never going to happen. As she got older she started to realize that relying on her parents to change anything was not a realistic thing to do. With her dad constantly drinking and her mom so consumed in her own life she might as well not even have kids, Jeannette and her siblings pave their way to a new life.

This book tells the story of the struggle Jeannette faced throughout her childhood. From a young age Jeannette was taught to take care of herself, her parents were strong supporters of what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Most of Jeannette’s life her and her family survived on the bare minimum, and not because her parents couldn’t provide but because they chose not to, always striving to achieve their own dreams instead of focusing on what was in front of them especially her mom who wanted to be an artist. Throughout the book Jeannette’s dad had a dream of building a glass castle they spent hours working on the blue prints every time Jeannette’s anticipation growing as her dad filled her head with a better life only to be let down when the reality of the situation brought her back to the real world. Her older sister Lori and younger brother Brian latched on to the real world tighter than Jeannette did but never blamed her and were always by her side no matter what, they always had each others backs. Out of all of the kid Jeannette and her dad had the closest bond. Jeannette had a weak spot for her dad. “‘Hon, I need some money.’ he said ‘for what?’ ‘Beer and cigarettes.’ ‘I’ve got sort of a tight budget, dad.’ ‘I don’t need much. Just five dollars.’ That was two days’ worth of food. A half-gallon of milk, a loaf of bread, a dozen eggs, two cans of jack mackerel, a small bag of apples, and some popcorn. And Dad wasn’t even going me the honor of pretending he needed the money for something useful”(Walls 209). And her dad had a sort of weak spot for her too. “Four days later, he still hadn’t come home, Mom sent me to go find him. ‘Why do I always have to get Dad?’ I asked. ‘Because he likes you best,’ she said. ‘And he’ll come home if you tell him to’”(Walls 181).

The Glass Castle is one of the best books I have ever read and is my favorite book. I think that everyone should read it I think that most people that read it will enjoy it as much as I did. Despite being a little hard to believe at times and sad the book was wonderfully crafted, Jeannette Walls has a way of writing in a very personal way that makes you feel with the character. It makes me feel lucky for what i have and for having people in my life that care as much as they do.    

Book Review by Hanna W.