The Glass Castle

Jeannette Walls schreibt faszinierend über ihre Kindheit in großer Armut mit völlig unangepassten, unkonventionellen Eltern, deren Traum vom Glass Castle immer wieder zerbricht und die an der Überwindung ihrer eigenen Dämonen immer wieder scheitern. Das Verhältnis der Autorin und ihrer Geschwister zu ihren Eltern ist sowohl von Liebe als auch immer wieder von Verzweiflung und Hassgefühlen geprägt. Dennoch gelingt es den Eltern, ihren Kindern humane Werte zu vermitteln und sie letztendlich zu Kämpfern zu erziehen, die ihren Weg finden und das Leben meistern. Die Kapitel sind kurz, der Stil schnörkellos und direkt, es lässt sich spanend hintereinander weg oder in kleinen "Häppchen" abends vor dem Einschlafen lesen – tolles Buch, super erzählt.

Rlly good

Fantastic book

valió la pena

It's a fine line that separates a free-spirited nomadic lifestyle from abject neglect in this unputdownable memoir by Jeannette Walls which so gripping I read it in two great greedy gulps late into the night right up till dawn. Despite the most dire of indigent circumstances this family display a remarkable degree of resilience (and charm) forged at the coalface of having to contend with each other during a steady descent into stigmatized poverty and starvation. Initially easy to empathize with a mother who 'Treats the Ten Commandments more like the Ten Suggestions' and prefers creating lasting art to cooking an ephemeral meal, surreptitiously sucking on a chocolate bar while leaving only margarine out for her children contributes to a catalogue of abuse caused by inattentive ambivalence that no amount of imaginative Christmas gifts comprised of planets and stars can cure. It's precisely the lack of sustenance that prompts substantive observations concerning the fact that 'Too much hard luck can create a permanent meanness in any creature' which also serves as a reminder of just how steely this clan really are to have survived in relatively unscathed fashion. When reduced to living rough on the streets her parents refuse offers of financial assistance in favor of a request for electrolysis treatments and boast of their ability to conduct daily ablutions at public library bathrooms where, 'We wash as far down as possible and as far up as possible, but we don't wash possible.' This compassionately related narrative of strength and character is one of the most compelling I've ever encountered and my hats off to Walls for having the courage to share it.