The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls Book Review

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Plot Summary of The Glass Castle

"Jeannette Walls tells her unforgettable story of growing up in a dysfunctional family with two eccentric, irresponsible, nomadic parents. Rex, the father, is uneducated but brillian, self-taught inventor who could have done well and achieved something had he not been an alcoholic. Rose Mary, the mother, is an artist to whom art comes first, before anything else - including her four children.

The children are not being raised, they are raising themselves. Constantly moving about, they live in the degrading poverty. Jeannette recalls, among other things, using markers to color her skin in order to conseal holes in her clothes. The treatment of the children is shocking, and the saddest thing is that Jeannette, her brother, and sisters still desperately love their neglectful parents. They take the hardships as adventure, and savor every tiny bit of care their parents occasionally give them. I saw some reviewers say that the parents love the children as well, in their own way; I say baloney. If you love your kids, you don't let them starve and wear rags, and you don't steal their tiny savings like their father once did. The children eventually escape this life by running to New York, but it is a long way for their troubles to be over.

The most amazing thing is the way Jeannette tells her life story. She does not judge or complain, she is not angry - although she has all the right to be. She just re-tells the adventures she's been through, introducing all the interesting people she met, starting with the parents."
Laura Southcombe, Resident Scholar

Review Analysis of The Glass Castle

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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Kids growing up/acting up? Yes
Kids: - parental abuse - Fighting with Dad - Fighting with Mom

Subject of Biography
Gender - Female
Age: - a kid
How sensitive is this person? - sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor - Strong but gentle sense of humor

Setting
United States Yes

Style
Book makes you feel? - encouraged
Is book humorous? Yes
If humorous, kind of humor - eccentric personalities
Sex in book? Yes
Story of entire life, or part? - story of set of events during life
If this is a kid's book: - Age 16-Adult
Autobiography? Yes
How much dialogue in bio? - significantly more descript than dialog
A LOT of info about personal vices? Yes

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The Privilege of Youth: A Teenager's Story of Longing for Acceptance and Friendship by Dave Pelzer

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Jeannette Walls Resident Scholar Profiles

TOP SCHOLAR:

Laura Southcombe

SCHOLARS:

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Jeannette Walls

Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s).

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Jeannette Walls Book Review