The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls was a masterfully written memoir, and I usually don’t read memoirs. It was so captivating that once I started reading I couldn’t put it down. In short, there is a certain complexity to dysfunctional families that this book elegantly captures. The feeling that resonated with me the most is that there is no good “short” answer when someone asks about your family and all you want to say is that they are batshit crazy.
I find it infuriating when people try to tell me that their family is “fucked up” and then proceed to bitch about petty bullshit. AHHHHHHH, oh really, you have it so hard because a few family members don’t agree with you politically and that makes you a victim?? Oh right, there is a ‘weird vibe’ going on between your mom and your aunt since she tried to screw you out of an inheritance. I understand that there is no, “normal family” and that every family has something wrong with it. But, families with TRAUMA are on a whole different level.
Jeannette Walls has a genuinely fucked up childhood and she wrote about it in a way that didn’t feel like a trauma dump. Jeannette gave full context on everything which gave depth and nuance to all the people in her life. This book resonated with me, but I also have a uniquely messed up family. I give this book a 5/5 rating. All of the reviews that I saw that were under 4 stars largely complained about this being too sad, or being unable to connect to the people in the book. Some other reviews said that they simply couldn’t finish the book since it was too traumatic. To those reviewers, I say that this is a 5/5 sad book and that not everything you read should make you happy. For me, sad books like this helps me rationalize and think through sad emotions which can be a good thing. I think Jeannette wrote this book in hopes that it helps others who have messed up families.