Well read // The Glass Castle

I’ve been in a bit of a reading frenzy the last couple of weeks and I don’t mind it. I used to be an incredibly avid reader, especially in college, zipping through multiple books a week on top of the piles of political science essays I’d have to read and write about.  However, over the course of the last three years, I’ve seen this reading habit slow down and almost disappear. I primarily blame my disillusionment on the advent of both my iPhone and Netflix. I admit this ashamedly, but it’s true. I could try to sugar coat this but I believe these two inventions are slowly making me stupider. So here I am, resolved to get back into reading, and with a desire to share my thoughts on this blog as well. I’m thinking doing this will keep me accountable to finishing books I start, while also giving me a place for some reflection, considering I usually have lots of thoughts after finishing a piece of literature, but zero desire to join a book club.

Lastly, my hope is that you can find some great book recommendations from this new blog series :)

To kick things off, I’m starting with the Glass Castle, by Jeanette Walls. I’m a biography/ memoir junkie. I’m honestly just obsessed with people’s stories, and I firmly believe that everyone has a story worth writing about. But, when you have a remarkable story, and the ability to tell it well from first hand experience, that is something special.

Jeanette writes about her unique upbringing, which was mostly nomadic with stints of homelessness alongside her parents and three siblings. They ventured through a myriad of small towns within the southwest and western United States, and her parents always had a mysterious way of cutting their settlements short, eager to discover the next “home” for themselves. They camped out under the stars, lived in abandoned trailers, motels, and even their car for various periods of time. She chronicles her childhood full of mishaps and adventures leading all the way to the her settling in New York City, with an apartment on Park Avenue (no I am not giving anything away, because she actually begins with the ending so you know this happens).

I’m not sure if this story is one of resilience or just plain determination, or both, because while some of her childhood experiences are appalling, she never  gives you the impression that she had any actual set backs in life. Walls just continued on with life as she knew it, and eventually, she knew she wanted more. What kept me turning the page was not only that her story was remarkably compelling, but that I really wanted to know the ending. I absolutely had to know how the child of  literal vagabond/ drifter parents found herself in a Park Avenue apartment, attending operas and fancy dinners, while her parents were still dumpster diving and living as squatters.

I highly recommend this book. I feel like I should come up with a points system, but for now I’ll say, just read it, you’ll be glad you did.