Finally! I'm back in the saddle! I actually finished this book like in April but I haven't written it up for two reasons: 1. TIME! 2. I wasn't sure just what to say about it, or how to say it. Well, now that I've got the time I'll just have to stop worrying about getting it right and focus instead on just getting it done!
In short: this is a GREAT book!
"The Glass Castle" is a memoir of the author's childhood, but it is so much more. Her parents are eccentric to say the least...the are artistic, paranoid, possibly mentally ill and quirky to a truly dysfunctional level. Her father, Rex, is a troubled genius of sorts who also battles raging alcoholism. Her mother is a frustrated and bitter individual with dreams of being a famous writer and brilliant artist, but can't seem to make either work out. The childhood of the author and her siblings is one spent in vagabond poverty, moving from apartment to RV to the homes of relatives, and living frequently in the family's parade of battered cars. Her parents, unwilling or unable to keep and hold a job, have a hands-off approach to parenting (the kids cook for themselves from age 3, run wild through whatever town they happen to live in, play freely with guns and local perverts, and are encouraged to run outside and play during lightning storms) that runs the gamut from amusing to neglectful to outright abuse.
The story is told through a rapid-fire series of short (1-4 page) vignettes; its not a style of storytelling I usually like, but it really works in this one. The passages were short and self-contained but still held an overall flow and momentum that kept me turning the pages long after I should have turned out the light (I finished the book, during a busy time in my life, in one day and two nights).
What's so compelling, though, is the balance and perspective the author manages to find in her approach to such a personal and important aspect of her life; her parents are, quite honestly, fairly worthless as parents: the children are often in danger and are almost constantly "neglected" based on contemporary definitions. However, there is never any doubt in the author's or reader's mind that the parents, in their flawed way, love their children incredibly. It is a palpable and sincere feeling that fairly pulses from the page. Likewise, there is never any doubt that children, even when they are grown, love their parents fiercely, no matter the abuse and neglect. The author is honest and unblinking and pulls no punches: she shows with complete frankness the neglect she dealt with and the pain and suffering that her parents mindlessly inflicted on her...but she never drops down into bitterness, or condemnation, or petulant victimhood. She does not let them off the hook, but neither does she demonize them. They were flawed, like we all are, but she loves them in spite of it.
It is a fascinating examination of our understandings of such profound and integral concepts as family, love, neglect, caring and understanding. It is a book which would make any thoughtful reader think, and feel. The characters - real people, all - are round and complex and living, and making up your mind about how you feel about them is one of the toughest and most delicious challenges of this book. Bluntly sensitive and tragically beautiful, "The Glass Castle" is a perfectly written book.
Since reading this book I've pressed it into the hands of four or five people, and all of them loved it - not just liked, but loved. Its a book that sticks with you. I could not recommend this book enough.
