It had been a while since I picked up memoirs and I am so glad that I decided to read this book.
The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir by Jeannette Walls.It is a simply narrated story about the unconventional upbringing of Walls and her siblings by their bohemian-minded dyfunctional parents.
My Views:
This was a very well-crafted and astonishing memoir!It left me shaking my head in disbelief at many parts.However I was very curious about the author and saw her interviews on YouTube,which made me correct my skepticism about her.
Despite being part of a dysfunctional family with bohemian-minded parents (an alcoholic father and a manic-depressive mother) and living in abject poverty, it is astounding to see not an ounce of self-pity in what Jeannette Walls writes.It requires guts of steel to revisit a dark past.
One cannot run away from ones past and the way she has bravely confronted hers is laudable.This book is very engaging and is an easy read.
She had her wits about her and worked her way up.Her life view is very positive even in bleak times and that to me was remarkable.
The family was nomadic and moved from place to place to evade the law sometimes and sometimes when they ran out of money or simply in search of greener pastures.Despite all that they go through ,Jeannette still loves her parents.She remembers her father as an intelligent man full of fantastic stories.Someone who gifts her a planet on her birthday!and her mother as a spirited artist.
I was however shocked by the parents selfish and neglectful behaviour.I just couldnt understand it.But then,it takes all kinds to make a world.
How the siblings take care of each other and eventually find their way to New York and prosper gives a very hopeful message.
It just goes to show that a persons messed up childhood need not translate into him/her being a damaged individual as an adult.
This book somehow reminded me of Frank McCourts 'Angela's Ashes'.
It has sold 2.7 million copies worldwide besides being on the New York Times Bestseller list for a total of 261 weeks.It is also being adapted into a movie.
A must-read.Highly recommended.
Its been as unusually long time since I visited this corner of my world. I had been neglecting it for much too long so decided to come back here and realised that the joy this space gives me remains undiminished.This is beginning to feel more like meeting an old friend who is there for you whenever you wish to just come by and spend some quiet time.My safety net.
The good news is that I havent given up on reading.I've just not been making time to write about the fantastic books I've read.I intend to rectify that immediately.
I've had this book with me since 2012 but somehow it kept finding its way in my TBR pile (to be read) and I didnt get about reading it.It kept hovering somewhere at the back of my mind and when I recently got to know about the movie release,I decided that it was time to pick it up.
The story in brief:
This story takes place in the town of Point Partageuse in Australia during the 1920's.Tom Sherbourne returns home after fighting in WW1 in Europe and takes up the job of a lighthouse keeper on an isolated island.He soon marries Isabel and they move to this secluded island.Time passes by and years later, after two miscarriages and one still birth , the grieving Isabel hears a baby's cries on the wind.A boat has washed up onshore carrying a dead man and a live baby.Tom a principled man with meticulous record-keeping wants to report the incident immediately but reluctantly gives in to Isabels entreaties to let her keep the baby and decides to raise the child as their own.
Time passes by and when they return to the mainland , they find that the choices made by them will have consequences and that it could devastate many people.
My Views:
What an incredibly poignant and emotional story! and it totally succeeds in manipulating the reader.I knew the choices taken were morally questionable but I completely sympathized with Isabel.I could just feel her pain.
I got so utterly involved in this story that it moved me to tears and I was deeply disturbed by it.This book just managed to do that to me.I surprised myself.
The story moves rather quickly and the writing is masterful with many passages that just hit home and make you rethink about the way you've been living life.The characters have distinct personalities and voices.
I could see Tom's struggle to run away from a past of chaos and find some peace on a secluded island and a routine and ordered way of living.How he proves to be such a woderful husband through it all,never once leaving his wifes side.It was a really tender portrayal of a marriage.Isabel's miscarriages and the grief she goes through was heartbreaking.I could understand Hannah's pain as well but somehow it was just Isabel who managed to move me more.The side characters and their grey shades.Human nature at its worst and best.
It still makes me wonder about the right and wrong of the decisons taken.This is such a complex story that it does make you think long after youve finished reading the book.It is so difficult to judge and yet take a stand and still it leaves you with all these feelings.It was heart-wrenching.
And of course it was also about forgiveness but is there really anything to forgive when 'bad' choices are made by 'good' people!?
This novel is made into a movie starring Michael Fassbender,Alicia Vikander and Rachel Weisz.
I rate this book a 5 out of 5.
