Reviews tagging 'Religious bigotry'

Schloss aus Glas by Ulrike Wasel, Klaus Timmermann, Jeannette Walls

7 reviews

elledanie's review against another edition

emotional inspiring reflective fast-paced

5.0

Shares such an interesting family’s life story and horrible abuse in such a matter-of-fact even “lighthearted” way. Well-written—expresses the love and loyalty the family had despite their blatant lack of basic care/needs.  

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Sexual assault, Body shaming, Child abuse, Classism, and Alcoholism

Minor: Abandonment, Gaslighting, Infidelity, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual harassment, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Pedophilia, Religious bigotry, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Cursing, and Emotional abuse

erica_reads_things's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring reflective sad slow-paced

5.0

"...dancing along the boarder between turbulence and order."

The parental subject matters of this memoir are unlike anything I have ever read. The only way I can possibly describe Rose Mary and Rex are a cross between granola hippies and conservative hillbillies. This book had my emotions constantly at war - one second this family would be resilient and heartfelt, the next selfish and damaging. What a true, raw look at the complexities of humans, love, family, and growth. I highly recommend listening to Jeannette read this book as well. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Bullying, Alcoholism, Abandonment, Addiction, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Trafficking, Classism, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Sexual assault, and Gun violence

Minor: Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Body shaming, and Terminal illness

shieldbearer's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

I know my own history affects how i feel about this book, but it's such a good read. Highly recommended. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Ableism, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Violence, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Classism, Fire/Fire injury, Racism, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Bullying, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Incest, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Pregnancy, Pedophilia, Grief, Cultural appropriation, Death of parent, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Transphobia, Homophobia, Infidelity, and Excrement

mandi4886's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Infidelity, Medical content, Medical trauma, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Racism, Racial slurs, Body shaming, Bullying, Grief, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Pedophilia, Rape, Trafficking, Drug use, Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Hate crime, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Religious bigotry, Toxic friendship, Vomit, and Violence

sophicat's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad fast-paced

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Classism, Excrement, Alcohol, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Racial slurs, Addiction, Child abuse, and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Violence, Blood, Grief, Rape, Abandonment, and Religious bigotry

Minor: Pregnancy and Gun violence

butterfliesonmybookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pregnancy

sherbertwells's review

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.0

I would like to thank both Professor Demleiter, who was generous enough to give me this copy of Schloss aus Glas, and the North Shore Public Library, who have temporarily supplied me with its original English version. Your generosity helps expose people like me to new things, and we don’t acknowledge that nearly enough!

I’m grateful for Prof. Demleitner especially, since Schloss aus Glas was a very appropriate gift: although she (probably) didn’t know it, I had read and loved The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls’ memoir about growing up with eccentric, neglectful parents, in its original English. The Glass Castle is neat. It’s sad, but it’s full of wonder too. Even when it’s clear Walls is being led astray, there’s no emotional barrier between her and the reader.

Schloss aus Glas was the first adult book I read in German, so I checked the original English version out of the library again. Since I want to be a translator, I also thought it would be interesting to observe the differences between the book in both languages.

Usually when I read translated fiction, I like to comment on the beauty (or awkwardness) of the prose. But since Schloss aus Glas, translated by Ulrike Wasel and Klaus Timmerman, isn’t in my native language, I have no idea whether they’ve done a good job or not.

They’ve certainly made it longer. I heard from Books by Leynes, a German Booktuber I follow, that translating a work from English into German means multiplying its original page count by 5/4. Although The Glass Castle and Schloss aus Glas have the same font size, the original English version has 290 pages and its translation has 382, so that maxim holds up. But that’s just the grammar. What about the words themselves?

Wasel and Timmerman prefer to translate for emotional resonance than literal meaning, which suits Schloss aus Glas’ story just fine. It also makes the American slang much less awkward—in the Glass Castle, Jeannette’s mother refers to a nearby brothel as a “cathouse” and the young Jeannette is confused by the absence of cats. Frau Walls, meanwhile, calls it a “Freudenhaus,” and Jeanette remarks instead that it doesn’t look very fun. The insults hurled by the adults around her are also translated liberally, substituting in local (albeit accurate) vocabulary.

Proper nouns don’t get the same treatment. Part of The Glass Castle’s charm is its archipelago of mid-century American brand and place names, which usually retain their English titles. Sometimes Wasel and Timmerman include short explanations of specific terms like “Tumbleweed,” which weren’t necessary in the English version. Near the end of the story, they even insert a sentence about Jeanette learning Yiddish words from her New York editor. It’s plausible that Wasel and Timmerman could have found another source and corroborated it—that detail makes sense for Jeannette’s fish-out-of-water story—but there’s no basis for it in The Glass Castle.

More puzzling is what Wasel and Timmerman leave out. The story of one of Walls’ friends ends on an ominous note in The Glass Castle, but Wasel and Timmerman omit its devastating final line. I don’t know why they did so; the rest of the narrative isn’t afraid of dark topics at all. And since I didn’t read both books simultaneously, I probably ignored lots of little “translators’ omissions.” Maybe this is a common practice. I’m not sure I like it. But I didn’t miss the things I didn’t notice.

Aside from being a fine book in both languages, Schloss aus Glas was a good education. Reading a book alongside its translation taught me a about how translators think, and what I should keep in mind as I continue to develop my craft.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racial slurs, and Violence

Minor: Racism and Religious bigotry