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Angela Cross's Reviews > The Glass Castle
The Glass Castle
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I guess I have a somewhat different frame of reference than several of the reviewers here. I can relate to many of the lessons she learned, and as such, I never had an issue believing her. These things can and do happen. The system fails children, and addicts (whether they're addicted to alcohol or excitement) will seek their fix above all else. As long as the addiction is in the picture, the person just doesn't exist. Children in alcoholic families eventually become aware of this, and the sooner they "get it" the better for them. In the book, this is nowhere more clearly evidenced than in the case of Walls' youngest sister, who spent the least amount of time in the presence of her parents dysfunction, and yet was finally the most crippled of all the children.
Of course, I admit, I have a firmly-seated belief that the strongest and most creative of personalities are forged in fire; Maureen just didn't get burned enough to see the necessity of making a different life for herself. That, and she was separated from her other siblings by so many years that they took care of her more than they tried to include her in their effort to survive.
I loved this book. Walls' short (but revealing) scenes were detail and character-driven, and there were several times I caught myself chuckling at some absolute absurdity or marveling at an unexpected bit of wisdom from someone who should have been a totally unreliable source.
And I guess that's one of the main things I came away with after reading this book. Wisdom can come from anyone...whether we like them or not. And the trick to surviving is to take those things that make us better and stronger with us, and to leave the rest behind.
Of course, I admit, I have a firmly-seated belief that the strongest and most creative of personalities are forged in fire; Maureen just didn't get burned enough to see the necessity of making a different life for herself. That, and she was separated from her other siblings by so many years that they took care of her more than they tried to include her in their effort to survive.
I loved this book. Walls' short (but revealing) scenes were detail and character-driven, and there were several times I caught myself chuckling at some absolute absurdity or marveling at an unexpected bit of wisdom from someone who should have been a totally unreliable source.
And I guess that's one of the main things I came away with after reading this book. Wisdom can come from anyone...whether we like them or not. And the trick to surviving is to take those things that make us better and stronger with us, and to leave the rest behind.
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Reading Progress
Started Reading
November 1, 2007
–
Finished Reading
November 15, 2007
– Shelved
November 19, 2007
– Shelved as:
bookclub
November 19, 2007
– Shelved as:
memoir
November 19, 2007
– Shelved as:
nonfiction
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Apr 27, 2009 11:34AM
I really think you grasped the most important messages of this book. And love the idea of taking in the good from people in our lives and leaving the bad behind. Accepting them for who they are
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Excellent review. and I completely agree with your analysis of the 4th child, suffering the most when she was sheltered the most. the other 3 children relied on each other to cope, she had no one.
Well, we don't really know what Maureen's experiences were when she was not with the family. She could have been sexually abused by a friends brother, uncle etc. or her personality just couldn't survive the incredible dysfunction caused by the parents. It is amazing to me that only one child brought up in this manner succumbed to mental illness.
I find it interesting that most people assume our environment and relational influences are the strongest predictors of our future. While they are strongly involved in our future, genetics plays a bigger role than we accept. So, if that is true, why aren't the children just like the parents? The mystery of the ages. Think about your own family and what shaped you. Sometimes it's hard to know if everything we do has been learned or if it just comes "naturally".
You explained it perfectly. The braces incident had me crying with a belly ache at 1am alone in bed, desperately wanting to share what I had just read......
I loved this book so much and her other book called half broke horses.
I loved this book and I have read it several times. I have recommended it to family and friends and bought it a couple of times for them. What I love most about this book is her straightforwardness. I watched her in Oprah, the episode was about being true to yourself not about the book but what stuck in my head the most about that interview was that she said that growing up they never watch TV which made them very creative. Then when I purchased the book I realized that I knew who she was.
Maureen has a story many of us would like to hear.
Don’t feel we should judge Maureen, the others were closer in age and this provided some sort of protection, remember the author as a child waking up because someone was molesting her.. Her brother was sleeping close by and both of them chased him off. When the bother was molestered his sisters walked in and stopped it. There are hints in this book that something very dark happened to Maureen while growing up..
I have to disagree with you about Maureen. She was the most damaged by her parents' neglect and abuse because she was the least naturally resilient of all the children. People are just born with different levels of ability to survive trauma and deprivation. She may not have been born with the intellectual gifts her borther and sister had, either. Jeanette is the type of person who likely would have succeeded in life no matter what; if her upbringing hadnt been so messed up she probably would have done even better, possibly a lot better. The value of an abusive and neglectful childhood in forming strong character is, I believe, vastly overrated.
Really don't think you can hold Jeanette and the older siblings as an examples of childhood trauma not having an effect. At the end of the book Jeanette explains how their childhood effected her and her older sister's choice not to become mothers and the break down of her brothers marriage.
Yes! I grew up with a compulsive gambler for a father. I had no doubts that if it ever came to it he would literally lay down his own life for mine, but yet he could not stop gambling even though it was causing me and the rest of my family so much pain and heartache.
Kathy wrote: "I have to disagree with you about Maureen. She was the most damaged by her parents' neglect and abuse because she was the least naturally resilient of all the children. People are just born with di..."I really need to reread this book now that I'm 13 years wiser. I certainly agree that the same trauma can leave different marks on different people. Nevertheless, I'm inclined to stick with my initial assessment until I reread (heavily influenced as it undoubtedly was by my own rather colorful upbringing, and that of my siblings).
Celia wrote: "Really don't think you can hold Jeanette and the older siblings as an examples of childhood trauma not having an effect. At the end of the book Jeanette explains how their childhood effected her an..."I do not believe that childhood trauma occurs without effect; I simply believe that people survive it differently. I like the beginning of that Hemingway quote from A Farewell to Arms: "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." I know a lot of people who are strong at the broken places, myself included, and I have no doubt that their experiences have played a huge part in making them the person they are (as all of our experiences do).
We don't know Maureen's experiences, you don't know what happened to her in other people's homes. It's important not to make assumptions.
Agree about believing the author; I never for a moment doubted that The Glass Castle was true. It absolutely oozed first-hand experience.
