Tolog Review: The Glass Castle

The Glass Castle
by Jeannette Walls
reviewed by Catherine Condit

The memoir, The Glass Castle, by Jeannette Walls is the moving recollection of her life as a child into her years as a young adult. Jeannette grew up in a dysfunctional family with three other siblings. Her father, Rex, while sober, was an imaginative and entrepreneurial man who sparked creativity in all his children. Unfortunately, he was an alcoholic and most of what little money their family had was used to pay for his excessive alcohol bills. Her mother, Rose Mary, was an educated woman with a free spirit. She felt burdened by her children, and made it very clear that she would prefer to paint for pleasure than to care for them. The four children had to learn to be self-sufficient at a young age. 

The strong sense of love in this broken family was surprising. Jeannette still held a deep connection with her family. After everything they did to her, she still loved them. The tone throughout the story was ironically light and honest in contrast to what was actually happening. When Jeannette Walls wrote this as an adult, she did not leave out any details. In my opinion, she did this because she did not want to write how horrible her life had been, but instead she wanted to explain to the reader what her life was like. As the narrator, she did not complain about her situation, nor did she say that she wished her life were different. 

The Glass Castle was an amazing book, but I would not recommend it to anyone before high school. There are intense ideas and subjects brought up in the story, which someone younger than high school would not be mature enough to understand. This story caused me to think how fortunate I am in life, and I was amazed how “normal” Jeannette ended up in life after the very difficult life she had growing up. The Glass Castle is one of the best books I have ever read, and I am sure that many people feel the same way as I do.