The Glass Castle

From the synopsis of Jeannette Walls' 2005 autobiography The Glass Castle you may assume it is simply going to be another whiny, self-involved memoir about how rough her life was and pass by it. However if you read it you will find it is so much more; it is an elegantly written remembrance of a childhood that we the readers may find shocking but Walls writes it such a nostalgic tone of voice that you realize it is just her past.

Walls parents, Rex and Rose Mary are dreamers; that is obvious from the first time we are introduced to them. They don't adhere to traditional parenting technique; in the first part of the second section, Walls is taken to the hospital at the age of three when she suffers burns from cooking her own hot dog. They have so three children when the novel opens (and ultimately end up with four) yet they don't have what you would call a hands on approach to parenting or even living life as a family. Although Rose Mary has a teaching certificate she is content to spend most of her days painting, reading, and day dreaming while Rex can't hold a job down for any long period of time as he personality or truancy from work gets him fired.

You read this novel and see how the children live; how they are bounced from one run down house to the next when they can't afford rent, tasks that take them to both of their grandparents at some point in their life since they have no where else to go and you are shocked that people could do this to their children. But Walls recalls this moments fondly as her parents made it seem like a great big adventure and they were constantly on search for the next one. For most of her childhood, Walls seems to enjoy this type of lifestyle as it is adventurous and her father keeps promising them things will get better when he creates his machine that will be able to mine gold. Once that happens, he promises them he will build them a glass castle that they can all live in and have their own rooms.

The novel seems to be a search for this glass castle and a life where they are not living hand to mouth every day and not going without food. While her parents are dreamers they are also proud so they refuse any type of help. Walls is the only one who keeps believing in her father that he will one day make that machine and be able to make the glass castle (although she does encourage her mom at some points to get a job herself and even leave her father at one point so she will be eligible for government assistance). But even she ultimately gives up on her father and decides that if she wants life to be easier for her she is going to have do something about it herself and starts working and saving up money to get out from there and try to succeed on her own.

It is sometimes hard to read this novel, especially if you're a parent. Rex and Rose Mary appear to be very selfish people who tended to live their lives without regard or concern about how their children were going to survive. Rex would spend money on beer and cigarettes not caring that the children only had popcorn to heat while Rose Mary would lament how she could have been a great painter but gave it up when she had children. But what is amazing about the way Walls writes is that there is no trace of bitterness in her tone; she recalls her memories from early childhood with fondness and when she begins to realize that they way they live is not right, while she is angry there is never resentment towards her parents. She just accepts that as the way that they are and they are content to live the way they do; she knows however that it is not for her.

This is a somewhat hard book to read. You read it wondering how these children managed to stay with their parents and not get taken away. You wonder how it is Walls doesn't resent her parents for the selfish way they lived their live and as such had their children live. But it is a beautifully written book and I would recommend it at the end of the day whether or not you agree with how Rex and Rose Mary raised their children it is Walls' actual childhood and it is bittersweet beautiful story.