What can I say about The Glass Castle? I was telling my mom a little bit about it and when I told her it started from when the girl was 3 years old, my mom did not believe it could truly be a memoir. "Who remembers when they're three?" Well, perhaps a little girl who caught fire would have some pretty clear memories from when she was three.
From the beginning to the end, I was in shock, and yet not. Jeannette Walls told her story in such an off-hand way that it did not seem to matter that her life wasn't what people would expect. Don't we all expect people to have "normal" lives? We want children to have a solid home, toys, a father who is not an alcoholic and a mother who willingly works if she has to. But not all children have lives like this. Jeannette or "Mountain Goat" had what most people would consider a rough life, but she was clearly loved, which is more than what some children receive.
I moved around a lot when I was growing up, but it was nothing compared to the life Jeannette Walls lived. I had a sturdy home to live in each time we moved, and for us, it was never to do "the skiddadle" as Jeannette and her family had to do several times. And "several times" is an understatement.
I literally could not put the book down. Every spare second I had, I was reading this book. I finished more than half of it in one sitting. It was one of those books you can get so lost in that you don't hear the clock chiming in the background even though it rings every fifteen minutes.
To Jeannette Walls: I'm glad you found a place to call home. I am still searching, though my life has not quite been the adventure yours has been.
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