Sunday, April 1, 2012

Glass Castle

The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls, I feel was a very entertaining book. What I like about the book is that it allow the father to be himself.  Although he was very educated, he was not politically correct and a lot of people may have looked at him as a bad father.  The book shows him as a very unstable man and willing to uproot his family at any given time, no matter the time of night but I look at those situations much differently.  When he ran into difficult situations, he could have abandoned his family but he didn't.  He found more creative ways to deal with his hardship.

There were situations in the book about "Jeanette" asking her sisters and brother did they miss her while she was in the hospital and they let her know that she was not missed but her father made it his business to let her know that he missed her.  The Christmas situation was also very creative cause although the family didn't have much, the father chose to take each individual child outside on Christmas night and let them pick a star out of the sky.  Some people might say this was an easy way out but others (like myself) will call this a very creative act and not only is it creative but it will be a lifetime memorable moment for the kids.

If I had to suggest this book to anyone, I would ask that they go into the book with an open mind and erase any expectations.  Allow yourself to go into the book with a "Blank Canvas" mentality and let the book and its experiences fill that canvas with the colorful walks of life with no judgment.  Yes we all have our dysfunctions in life but I think the book expressed a very creative timeline and journey that the family should be proud about.

As City Slickers or small town folks, we all tend to stay in our little area and not explore to much out of our norm.  This family did a lot of moving around but in the process help the kids learn a lot about life and gave the kids an opportunity to choose different things in life by subjecting them to so much.

All and all, I really like the book and I would suggest it to anyone with an open mind and willing to give thinking outside of the "Box" a chance!

1 comment:

  1. I plan to get this book and read it.... Sometimes in life I agree we are afraid to step out of the box which we often THINK is our comfort zone... from what I have read from you the Dad did what he felt was best for his family at that time. And since children do not come with a manual we use the trial and error method. I LOVE how he picked each child individually because material things are just that.... but that is a memory that will last forever!!!

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