Una notable memoria de fortaleza y redencio n, y una mirada reveladora a una familia que es a la vez profundamente disfuncional y tremendamente viva, vibrante. El padre, Rex es un hombre carisma tico y entusiasta, que logra transmitir a sus hijos la pasio n por vivir. Les ensen a fi sica, geologi a, les cuenta historias. Pero Rex es alcoho lico, y cuando esta ebrio se convierte en una persona destructiva y poco de fiar. La madre es un espi ritu libre, una pintora muy orgullosa de su arte que aborrece la idea de una vida convencional y que no esta dispuesta a asumir la responsabilidad de criar a sus hijos. Los Walls son una familia errante. Viven aqui y alla y sobreviven co mo pueden. Los nin os aprenden a cuidar de si mismos, se protegen unos a otros, y finalmente consiguen salir del ci rculo infernal en …
Una notable memoria de fortaleza y redencio n, y una mirada reveladora a una familia que es a la vez profundamente disfuncional y tremendamente viva, vibrante. El padre, Rex es un hombre carisma tico y entusiasta, que logra transmitir a sus hijos la pasio n por vivir. Les ensen a fi sica, geologi a, les cuenta historias. Pero Rex es alcoho lico, y cuando esta ebrio se convierte en una persona destructiva y poco de fiar. La madre es un espi ritu libre, una pintora muy orgullosa de su arte que aborrece la idea de una vida convencional y que no esta dispuesta a asumir la responsabilidad de criar a sus hijos. Los Walls son una familia errante. Viven aqui y alla y sobreviven co mo pueden. Los nin os aprenden a cuidar de si mismos, se protegen unos a otros, y finalmente consiguen salir del ci rculo infernal en que se convierte la familia.--Desde la descripcio n de la editorial.
A memoir about growing up with irresponsible parents. Things don't seem so crazy when you've never known anything different. But even so, your circumstances don't have to be your results.
Best memoir I’ve ever read. I actually listened to this on audible and I was really sucked into the story the whole time. It is a sad book but it has beautiful moments and memories. Loved it!
The Glass Castle is an entertaining and somewhat disturbing memoir about really bad parenting. What's interesting is that while the parents are objectively terrible, Walls portrays her childhood as a rather heroic and engaging adventure. It's not that she doesn't acknowledge that parents that barely feed their children are bad parents, but the book still shows the ways in which she had freedom and learned remarkable self reliance. I was far more coddled as a child, and I'd say I am far more fearful as an adult. (May or may not indicate causality.)
Should the kids all have been taken away by social workers? Probably. And yet, they seem to have turned out pretty well, at least according to the book.
Anyway, if you ever complain about your childhood this is a handy reality check. If it's worse than Walls' was, you've definitely got the right to complain!
Very entertaining …
The Glass Castle is an entertaining and somewhat disturbing memoir about really bad parenting. What's interesting is that while the parents are objectively terrible, Walls portrays her childhood as a rather heroic and engaging adventure. It's not that she doesn't acknowledge that parents that barely feed their children are bad parents, but the book still shows the ways in which she had freedom and learned remarkable self reliance. I was far more coddled as a child, and I'd say I am far more fearful as an adult. (May or may not indicate causality.)
Should the kids all have been taken away by social workers? Probably. And yet, they seem to have turned out pretty well, at least according to the book.
Anyway, if you ever complain about your childhood this is a handy reality check. If it's worse than Walls' was, you've definitely got the right to complain!
Nature vs. nurture. It's a long-standing debate. I personally think nurture has a more to do with how you turn out as a person, but Jeannette Walls might have just proved me wrong.
This is the story of growing up with two parents who, to put it nicely, both have issues. My armchair psychiatrist degree says they both just might be mentally ill. Definitely co-dependent. And really bad parents. Jeannette and her siblings grow up roaming from place to place as her parents run from people of the real and imaginary sort. They are poor, and hungry, and really don't seem to realize how crazy their upbringing truly is. I can't believe no one stepped in and helped these kids, but I'm sure there are families right now who have it just as bad or worse and are under the radar like them.
This book made me mad. And sad. …
Nature vs. nurture. It's a long-standing debate. I personally think nurture has a more to do with how you turn out as a person, but Jeannette Walls might have just proved me wrong.
This is the story of growing up with two parents who, to put it nicely, both have issues. My armchair psychiatrist degree says they both just might be mentally ill. Definitely co-dependent. And really bad parents. Jeannette and her siblings grow up roaming from place to place as her parents run from people of the real and imaginary sort. They are poor, and hungry, and really don't seem to realize how crazy their upbringing truly is. I can't believe no one stepped in and helped these kids, but I'm sure there are families right now who have it just as bad or worse and are under the radar like them.
This book made me mad. And sad. I realize it could have been worse for the Walls children. But what was there was bad enough. Now get off the computer, go hug a loved one, and be grateful for all that you have. It's a miracle Jeannette Walls grew up to make something of herself, so her nature won out over the terrible nurture she received. 4 stars for Jeannette and a virtual high five from me.
I had problems with this book, as I kept wanting to throttle the parents. But after I decided to view it as fiction I was able to appreciate the writing. I liked that her descriptions of her memories as a small child actually were child-like, and not colored by her later feelings as she grew disenchanted with her parents.
It's a well written story, and the memoir of an often appalling childhood. I recommend it. And I desperately want to know if her mother really owned real estate worth a million dollars while her children were hungry.