Book Review - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

This book was in my TBR shelf for a long time before I finally picked it up. This was the second autobiography that I have read. The reason I picked this book was because it was tagged in 'Travel' and 'Adventure' categories on Goodreads. But after reading the first few pages I understood that this was going to be something I hadn't expected. I was so intrigued right from the beginning. 

The author with the Book Cover

Ever since the author was a child she was responsible for tending to herself. Her parents were neglectful and believed that children should be able to take care of themselves. The parents were kind of Nomads, Excitement Addicts, Hippies and had misplaced priorities. For them life was a big adventure and material things didn't matter much. Her mom was an artist. She had a weak will and didn't want to work for a living even after having a teaching degree because that was boring. She was kind of self-centered to be honest and also dint stood up to her husband's wrongdoings. The Dad had a drinking problem, he was like an unhinged genius and made big plans, but his alcoholism never let these plans work. These people were preferred to be vagabonds and had a non-standard set of morals and ideals. 

As the story progresses and the author grows up she and her siblings start understanding that their family is not normal. A series of bad incident's squashes the author's hopes of ever having a normal parents. Eventually she and her siblings hatch out an escape plan to leave their parents and make a new life in NYC. They each find their own callings and become successful. They get married and start their own families. But they also start accepting the way their parents are. Because they have understood the fact that the only person you can change in this world is your own self, and you have to love and accept others just as they are. 

 

The authors style of writing and narration of events is very catchy. The book is devoid of chapters but rather divided into the four phases of the author's life, which helps with the flow of the book. Overall I'll give it a 4.9/5 as I never once got bored while reading it and was satisfied by the end conclusion.