I found a
review for Jeanette Walls ‘The Glass Castle’ from PrincetonBookReview.com,
written in 2008. The website describes itself as “an online book club designed to make finding great books
easier while enjoying the camaraderie of other book lovers.”
The website describes the book as a “powerful read” and
not only because of the extraordinary ‘rags to riches’ story, but also because
of Jeannette Wall’s clear-cut writing style which allows the audience to
experience her life as though you were entangled in the middle of it. Another
point that the reviewer notes is Wall’s lack of judgment throughout the book;
her father is an alcoholic, her mother is highly irresponsible, and their
lifestyle is wandering and poverty stricken, yet the reader does not necessarily
feel hatred for the parents. We see them through Wall’s eyes, so we instead
pity them and judge them as deeply flawed human beings with bouts of some charm
and appeal.
The review is quite short and gives one
criticism that they felt at times that the book was repetitive with its
constant theme of neglect as the father loses another job, fleeing again in the
middle of the night, and the mother being continually self absorbed. However,
the reviewer then somewhat rescinds this criticism as they state “Then I realise,
someone lived this life and survived; an amazing story”.
Overall, the review is positive towards
‘The Glass Castle’ and summarises it as “a must read to those who enjoy a good
memoir, but will also appeal to those who like character driven novels and a
good story.”
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