The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
There are probably many other reasons why I chose it--issues with mothers, wanting to read about the Walls family, getting another book off my TBR...but mainly, I guess, the book called out to me.
Regardless of reason, I was enthralled by the book from the beginning. Jeannette Walls' first memory was of being on fire. She was three and her mother let her cook hotdogs by herself. She got into an accident, caught fire, and was brought by her mom to the hospital. She loved being in the hospital because it was totally different from the trailer park in which they lived. Her brother and sister came to visit, as well as her dad, who didn't approve of hospitals or anything to do with The Man. After six weeks, she leaves the hospital Rex Walls-style, which basically means that her father just snuck her out.
Obviously, Jeannette's parents aren't the epitome of parenting. They drag their children around the US, and they allow them to go starving. The father drinks them broke and the mother refuses to work because she wants to concentrate on her art. But the kind of picture that Jeannette Walls paints of her parents is one of love. Seriously. You have to read it to believe it. As a mother, I felt disgusted by certain things that Jeannette's parents did or allowed to happen. But never was I disgusted by them.
Rex Walls might have been a drunk and Rose Mary Walls a self-absorbed wannabe artist, but, based on Jeannette's portrayal, they were both very intelligent and educated their children so well that, despite their poverty and periodic starvation, these kids were always ahead of their peers. Moreover, whatever lack of parenting skills Rex and Rose Mary had, they made up for in imagination. One Christmas, when they had no money for presents, even of the dime-store variety, Rex Walls took his children out in the night sky and made them choose stars for their Christmas presents. He told them of the different stars and constellations, about light years, black holes, and quasars. And after they had made their choices, he told them, "Years from now, when all the junk they got is broken and long forgotten, you'll still have your stars." It's an excuse, to be sure, but it's beautiful all the same.
Perhaps the only thing that really irritated me about her parents, though, was that Jeannette's mother seemed to have the capacity all the while to lift her whole family out of poverty, but she refused to do anything because, well, it was just against her principles. It wasn't anything like whoring or selling her kids--it was simply that she refused to sell a piece of land worth a million dollars because "land must stay within the family." I understand why Jeannette was so intent to learn how much the land was worth when she learned about the situation as an adult.
Yes, the children do grow up to be adults--successful ones, for the most part. After years of being poor and hungry, the Walls children learned to escape and fend for themselves. And when Jeanette and her siblings move to New York one by one, away from their parents, you can't help but cheer. However, they never could leave their parents far behind. Especially these parents who, no matter how dysfunctional, seem to love their children.
In my post about poetry, I mentioned an unforgettable line from "A River Runs Through It"-- We can still love them--we can love completely without complete understanding. I think the line illustrates Jeannette's relationship with her parents perfectly. Heck, it illustrates many a person's relationship with his or her parents perfectly. And The Glass Castle is a testament that, even in the midst of disappointment, you can still love.
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