The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls. Scribner New York 2005. Genre: Memoir
The glass castle is a heartwarming memoir that tells the story of the life of a dysfunctional family, and the importance of love and respect. The Walls are not an average family. They are a nomadic family that moves from place to place throughout the western U.S., in search for gold to fund the family’s dream of building a glass castle. Jeanette’s mother and father were definitely different than most parents. The main things that they taught to their children were to live life to the fullest, and have no fears. The pursuit of these things resulted in the dysfunctional childhood of their children, and their fast transformation into adults. When time got to tough, money was getting to tight, and their parents were getting to crazy, the Walls children had to venture out into the real world, and work for their own survival without the protection of their parents, but they brought the values that they learned from their parents with them to wherever life and the world took them.
“Some people are born storytellers. Some lives are worth telling. The best memoirs happen when these two conditions converge. In The Glass Castle, they have,” reads the book jacket.
The story is told in a way that shows the adolescence that Jeanette had when she was a child growing up the way she did, and how she was naïve in certain situations that she faced in her adventures with her family. As the story progresses, Jeanette starts to show the maturity she had, and that deeper understanding of the circumstances that she was facing in her survival with her irresponsible parents.
The writing style of this book reminded me of the writing style that Harper Lee used in her book To Kill a Mockingbird because she also made maturity and understanding a big part of the her book and her writing style. She really shows the intellectual growth that the children go through throughout the book, and their deeper understanding of important social issues (especially Jem), and that resembles the writing style of Jeanette Walls in this book.
"A lot of our neighbors on North Third Street were weird. A clan of Gypsies lived down the block in a big, falling-apart house with plywood nailed over the porch to create more indoor space" (page 102) This is when Jeanette is still young, and this quote shows how the author shows her age in the way she writes.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought every detail in it was important to the story, and the story had a huge amount of life. When I began reading it I could not stop turning the pages, because every memory that Jeanette put in her book was more exciting than the last. I also had a personal connection to the book, because it made me appreciate my childhood, and the guidance my parents have provided for me, and everything they do that isn’t always in their best interest, they do it because they care about me. These are some of the things that the Walls children never had growing up, and that was what made the story so powerful.
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I. Brett's overall impression of the book was that she really enjoyed it and liked the way the author wrote. Also, it made her appreciate her childhood.
ReplyDeleteII. Brett noticed that the author wrote similar to Harper Lee. She noticed that the author used maturity and understanding to guide writing this book.
III. I think that Brett picked a good passage to explain because it gives a sense of how the author writes. It shows how the author made the character sound their age.
IV. Brett's book review is not similar to the others I've read. Her review sounds like she really thought about what she was saying and took the time to write a good review.
V. I would consider reading this book because Brett was very persuasive with why she enjoyed the book. She says that that book "had a huge amount of life" and that makes any book sound interesting.
1. Brett's Overall impression of the book was that the book was really heartfelt and enjoyable. The connection Brett made with the Characters seemed to draw her in more to the book.
ReplyDelete2.Brett notice that Jeanette Walls writes similar to Harper Lee. The book seemed to have alot about growing up and maturity.
3.The Piece Brett choice was interesting and show you some more detail. in the piece there seemed to be some diversity in the neighborhood.
4.The Review is not like others in the way of description and how real the things Brett were saying sound as if she meant it.
5.I would consider reading this book. It seems interesting and full of detail.
1) Brett overall impression was that the book was a powerful story about a child growing up. She liked it because it showed that you should be thankful for having parents that do things to help their children instead of themselves.
ReplyDelete2) She noticed that the author's writing style changed as the author matured. So when the author was talking about a time when she was a child, she wrote like one, and as she matured, she wrote more maturely.
3) I thought the passage she chose was interesting because it shows the author's writing style. It also makes the book seem interesting because not many people have gypsies as their neighbors.
4) I thought this review was similar to others but only because everyone follows the same format. I thought it had very good vocabulary.
5) I would consider reading this book because there are not a lot of memoirs that interest me, but this one does.
1)Brett's overall impression of the book was it was very enjoyable because of the heartfelt and maturing writing style.
ReplyDelete2)Brett noticed that the authors writing style was similar to Harper Lee's by the way they show the maturing of the characters.
3)I think that Brett chose an interesting quote to show about the family and also show how she matures through out the book.
4)I think this essay compares to most of the other essays, however it is more detailed and uses a wider variety of vocabulary.
5)I might consider reading this book, I think it's always interesting to learn about other poeple's childhoods, especially ones much different than mine.
1. Brett's overall impression of this book is that it has a lot of meaning in it and is a lot about growing up and dealing with tough situations.
ReplyDelete2. She noticed that the author's writing style is similar to Harper Lee's in To Kill a Mockingbird. The maturity changes as the story goes on.
3. I thought that the passage was interesting because it showed the writing style well and it also showed what some of their situations during their childhood were like.
4. Her format is similar to others I have read, but Brett's is very detailed, and gives you a good idea of what the story is about.
5. I would consider reading this beacues I like most memoirs and it seems very real and easy to connect to.
1.Brett's impression of the book was that it was strong and made her appreciate her own life. She liked it and thought that it was a really good book.
ReplyDelete2.Brett noticed that the writing style was similar to "To Kill a Mockingbird." She said it was written from a young perspective and shows how that young person grows and matures.
3.I thought the passage from he book was good.It gave a good sense of the book and it was interesting. It definitely made me interested in reading it.
4.I thought this was a good book review. It gave a lot of information about the book and made it sound interesting.
5.I would consider reading this book because it sounds interesting and like a good book.