It seems like this has been the year of the memoir and everywhere I turned someone was reading a copy of The Glass Castle. And now I see why. This is Jeannette Walls's story of growing up with her parents and three siblings all over the country. Severely impoverished, her father is a brilliant, but depressed alcoholic, and her mother a struggling artist who seems to feel no responsibility whatsoever toward her children. Jeannette and her siblings protect each other from the sexual advances of relatives, incredible hunger, and bullies at school who beat them up for wearing clothing that haven't been washed in months. Through the horrific neglect, Walls manages to paint a somewhat sympathetic portrait of her parents as liberal dreamers who refuse to conform to societal norms. Reading this memoir was like learning about one of my clients - it is a social history filled with mental illness and abuse, masquerading as eccentricity. But, it is also a testament to the importance of the support that siblings can give to one another, and the importance of having that network during a traumatic childhood. While this book is incredibly depressing, I think it presents a realistic view of so many children growing up in this country, and shows a side of poverty and survival that few people who haven't gone through it themselves could ever believe. I hope we won't find out in another year that Walls made half of this stuff up (like the author of A Million Little Pieces). I worry sometimes when these memoirs have such shocking examples of poverty and abuse, yet are presented in "humorous" ways (Augusten Burroughs is a perfect example). Walls, among many others out there, has the power to bring recognition to very important issues in our society -- but not if readers are able to downplay these stories as merely "touching" or "heart-warming."
Friday, December 21, 2007
The Glass Castle - Jeannette Walls
It seems like this has been the year of the memoir and everywhere I turned someone was reading a copy of The Glass Castle. And now I see why. This is Jeannette Walls's story of growing up with her parents and three siblings all over the country. Severely impoverished, her father is a brilliant, but depressed alcoholic, and her mother a struggling artist who seems to feel no responsibility whatsoever toward her children. Jeannette and her siblings protect each other from the sexual advances of relatives, incredible hunger, and bullies at school who beat them up for wearing clothing that haven't been washed in months. Through the horrific neglect, Walls manages to paint a somewhat sympathetic portrait of her parents as liberal dreamers who refuse to conform to societal norms. Reading this memoir was like learning about one of my clients - it is a social history filled with mental illness and abuse, masquerading as eccentricity. But, it is also a testament to the importance of the support that siblings can give to one another, and the importance of having that network during a traumatic childhood. While this book is incredibly depressing, I think it presents a realistic view of so many children growing up in this country, and shows a side of poverty and survival that few people who haven't gone through it themselves could ever believe. I hope we won't find out in another year that Walls made half of this stuff up (like the author of A Million Little Pieces). I worry sometimes when these memoirs have such shocking examples of poverty and abuse, yet are presented in "humorous" ways (Augusten Burroughs is a perfect example). Walls, among many others out there, has the power to bring recognition to very important issues in our society -- but not if readers are able to downplay these stories as merely "touching" or "heart-warming."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
1 comment:
My list just grows and grows and grows. My book club in Denver was considering this book a few years ago but it looked too intense for us at the time. Part of it having to do with what you mentioned, the students we served are the ones who are coming from some of the situations described in the book. I'd like to tackle it soon though.
Post a Comment