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mini_margaritta's review against another edition
4.0
I can’t help but a write a review and not compare it to Educated. Mostly since I heard so many people say they were similar. Although similar in crazy extreme upbringings I found them different. This one being more poverish and homeless while the other different in extremes. I am amazed at the selfishishness of the parents especially after reading to the end. This breaks my heart and makes you think you never know what someone else has gone through. You never know what crazy circumstances others have survived. Very good. Enjoyed the audio on this.
kealajaye's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
When this movie was in theatres I remember my mom balling her eyes out when it ended. Finally got around to reading it and I think it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. Would love to read it again one day.
shailydc's review against another edition
4.0
It's truly scary that people like Rex and Rose Mary Walls are allowed to have children and then treat them so horribly. Listening to some of the stories of their neglect made me so angry and frustrated.
The silver lining was the insane amount of resiliency Lori, Jeannette, and Brian have. I loved that the siblings always looked out for one another and did everything they could to keep themselves safe when their parents were too busy being addicts.
The silver lining was the insane amount of resiliency Lori, Jeannette, and Brian have. I loved that the siblings always looked out for one another and did everything they could to keep themselves safe when their parents were too busy being addicts.
alicegns's review against another edition
3.0
There are books that hold you captive because you want to know what happens in the end. And then there are those that keep you prisoner because you can’t escape the feeling it’s all about you or someone you know. “The Glass Castle” is the latter, and is a book that made me angry in more than one way. Then I saw the movie and got even angrier.
But let’s start with the book.
This is the Goodreads synopsis: “A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.”
This would be my synopsis: “A grueling story of child abuse by narcissistic parents that made the author a flawed individual who can’t seem to be able to detangle herself from the diabolic family dynamics that were imposed on her all her life.”
Quite a difference, I’d say.
First of all, I have all the sympathy for Jeannette Wells, because I know first-hand how much damage a narcissistic family can do to someone. Getting out from abuse when that is all you’ve known since you were a toddler is extremely difficult. It sometimes takes decades only to recognise abuse, and even then, you may live in a sort of Stockholm-syndrome situation, so escaping looks unattainable.
The book is the memoir of Jeannette Wells, one of the four children of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, two hippies with intellectual inclinations who lead a semi-nomad life to escape debt collectors and all the responsibilities that come with taking care of a family. The kids, three girls and a boy, grow up without proper food, shelter, healthcare, all while being silent witnesses to their parents’ incessant fighting and making up, sometimes getting caught in the slapping and their mom and dad’s machinations.
Rex, the father, is an incurable dreamer who has an organic fear of work because he’s terrified he is going to become a cog in the machine. When he’s sober, he dreams about building a glass castle for the family to live in and works odd jobs or does all kinds of shenanigans to put something on the table. When he’s not, he’s drinking the grocery money, disappears for days, and tries to sell his daughter to strangers for sex.
Rose Mary, the mother, is a wannabe painter who can’t cope with the responsibility of taking care of children, yet somehow ends up with four of them. She doesn’t see the point in cooking a meal that’s going to be eaten in fifteen minutes when she could paint something that will last forever. She lets 3-year old Jeannette cook hot-dogs for herself when she’s hungry, and when the little girl burns herself badly requiring weeks of hospitalization, no one seems to make a big deal out of it. The parents always manage to escape the inquiries of Child Services, often by running away.
As the children grow, they become aware of the level of dysfunctionality in their family and do their best to escape their parents, which takes them years. They all manage to escape and build lives for themselves in New York. But in an unbelievable turn of events, they become entangled with their parents again when Rex and Rose Mary decide to move to New York and live there as homeless and later squatters, just to be “close to the children.” Growing older doesn’t make them more normal – in fact, they continue with their manipulation and gaslighting, traumatizing their adult children just like they did when they were little. Only the smallest of them, Maureen, manages to move to California and escape the craziness, not before spending a year in a mental health institution.
After her father’s death, Jeannnette takes her mother in to live with her. This is after she allowed her manipulative parents to destroy her marriage with a perfectly normal, successful man whom she loved and who loved her back. The book ends with a nostalgic tone, with Jeannette romanticising her father’s dream of building a glass castle and actually missing him and the ramblings that destroyed any sense of normalcy their family could have.
“The Glass Castle” could have been so much more, but the author decided to turn it into one of those “family is everything” syrupy novels that do more harm than good. It basically tells millions of people that it’s just fine to be abused by those close to you because they are family. Somehow that makes it all ok. Well, it doesn’t, and I cannot feel but pity for those who, like Jeannette, decide to forgive years of neglect, emotional abuse, and broken dreams just because the abusers are called Mom and Dad.
The title of the book is very inspired, with the glass castle being a symbol of all the broken promises that destroy hopes and dreams, and mental health in the process. It’s a pity the book and real-life Jeannette weren’t able to transform the story into one that abuse victims could relate to. It’s a rare occurrence to manage to reach millions of people with a story, but it’s rather tragic to use that platform to condone domestic abuse.
I watched the movie the same night I finished the book, with just a little bit of hope Hollywood did everyone a solid and changed the ending, as they do. Disappointment is too soft a word though, as the movie made Rex (Woody Harrelson) and Rose Mary (Naomi Watts) look like villains even less than they do the book. The acting is great though, especially from Brie Larson as Jeannette and Woody Harrelson as her father, so at least there’s that. Both the book and the movie are packed-full with triggers for people who have ever been in close contact with narcissists so those who want to avoid that should steer clear.
But let’s start with the book.
This is the Goodreads synopsis: “A tender, moving tale of unconditional love in a family that, despite its profound flaws, gave the author the fiery determination to carve out a successful life on her own terms.”
This would be my synopsis: “A grueling story of child abuse by narcissistic parents that made the author a flawed individual who can’t seem to be able to detangle herself from the diabolic family dynamics that were imposed on her all her life.”
Quite a difference, I’d say.
First of all, I have all the sympathy for Jeannette Wells, because I know first-hand how much damage a narcissistic family can do to someone. Getting out from abuse when that is all you’ve known since you were a toddler is extremely difficult. It sometimes takes decades only to recognise abuse, and even then, you may live in a sort of Stockholm-syndrome situation, so escaping looks unattainable.
The book is the memoir of Jeannette Wells, one of the four children of Rex and Rose Mary Walls, two hippies with intellectual inclinations who lead a semi-nomad life to escape debt collectors and all the responsibilities that come with taking care of a family. The kids, three girls and a boy, grow up without proper food, shelter, healthcare, all while being silent witnesses to their parents’ incessant fighting and making up, sometimes getting caught in the slapping and their mom and dad’s machinations.
Rex, the father, is an incurable dreamer who has an organic fear of work because he’s terrified he is going to become a cog in the machine. When he’s sober, he dreams about building a glass castle for the family to live in and works odd jobs or does all kinds of shenanigans to put something on the table. When he’s not, he’s drinking the grocery money, disappears for days, and tries to sell his daughter to strangers for sex.
Rose Mary, the mother, is a wannabe painter who can’t cope with the responsibility of taking care of children, yet somehow ends up with four of them. She doesn’t see the point in cooking a meal that’s going to be eaten in fifteen minutes when she could paint something that will last forever. She lets 3-year old Jeannette cook hot-dogs for herself when she’s hungry, and when the little girl burns herself badly requiring weeks of hospitalization, no one seems to make a big deal out of it. The parents always manage to escape the inquiries of Child Services, often by running away.
As the children grow, they become aware of the level of dysfunctionality in their family and do their best to escape their parents, which takes them years. They all manage to escape and build lives for themselves in New York. But in an unbelievable turn of events, they become entangled with their parents again when Rex and Rose Mary decide to move to New York and live there as homeless and later squatters, just to be “close to the children.” Growing older doesn’t make them more normal – in fact, they continue with their manipulation and gaslighting, traumatizing their adult children just like they did when they were little. Only the smallest of them, Maureen, manages to move to California and escape the craziness, not before spending a year in a mental health institution.
After her father’s death, Jeannnette takes her mother in to live with her. This is after she allowed her manipulative parents to destroy her marriage with a perfectly normal, successful man whom she loved and who loved her back. The book ends with a nostalgic tone, with Jeannette romanticising her father’s dream of building a glass castle and actually missing him and the ramblings that destroyed any sense of normalcy their family could have.
“The Glass Castle” could have been so much more, but the author decided to turn it into one of those “family is everything” syrupy novels that do more harm than good. It basically tells millions of people that it’s just fine to be abused by those close to you because they are family. Somehow that makes it all ok. Well, it doesn’t, and I cannot feel but pity for those who, like Jeannette, decide to forgive years of neglect, emotional abuse, and broken dreams just because the abusers are called Mom and Dad.
The title of the book is very inspired, with the glass castle being a symbol of all the broken promises that destroy hopes and dreams, and mental health in the process. It’s a pity the book and real-life Jeannette weren’t able to transform the story into one that abuse victims could relate to. It’s a rare occurrence to manage to reach millions of people with a story, but it’s rather tragic to use that platform to condone domestic abuse.
I watched the movie the same night I finished the book, with just a little bit of hope Hollywood did everyone a solid and changed the ending, as they do. Disappointment is too soft a word though, as the movie made Rex (Woody Harrelson) and Rose Mary (Naomi Watts) look like villains even less than they do the book. The acting is great though, especially from Brie Larson as Jeannette and Woody Harrelson as her father, so at least there’s that. Both the book and the movie are packed-full with triggers for people who have ever been in close contact with narcissists so those who want to avoid that should steer clear.
rachelfayreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
medium-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, and Toxic relationship
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Classism