The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is no new memoir.  It was published 13 years ago, in 2005.  It remained on the New York Times Bestseller List for seven years, and later, was adapted into a movie. Nevertheless, I just recently learned of this memoir. Those of you who keep up with my blog, will know that recently I read Educated by Tara Westover, which is also a memoir.  When I shared on an instagram story my review for Educated, a friend of mine replied to the story and recommended that I read The Glass Castle.  

The two books are similar and different in many ways.  Personally, I enjoyed Tara Westover’s writing style more.  It was able to reach me more deeply and I felt I was more in the mind of the writer, feeling and thinking exactly as she was in the moment.  It was almost more personal, and Westover found details and emotions to include that are relatable to everyone, regardless of how one is feeling of emotions, or the catalyst for these emotions.  She expresses and weaves these emotions into her writing seamlessly which makes for a heart-wrenching memoir about family, decisions, and perseverance.  

Meanwhile, the plot in The Glass Castle is more simple and realistic.  In a literal sense, the biggest difference between Westover and Walls, is that Walls’s family was weighed down by financial issues and her parents’ lack of motivation to work and save money.  Walls family dreamed for a better life, a life where the four kids could go to the city to work, and where they would all get an education.  In Westover’s case, her family was weighed down by extreme Mormonism. Pious practices prevented her from going to school or to even the doctor.  As a result, there are stark difference in the goals of these two women throughout their childhoods.  For Westover, her ultimate goal was to get an education and to bring together her family.  For Walls, it was about getting out of her family’s poverty and giving herself and her three siblings a new life.  

Jeannette Walls highlights defining moments in her life, and writes in what I like to call “snapshots”, where she shares only the most defining moments, giving not too much information about the before and after/impact.  For example, seeing her half painted yellow house, outsmarting some bullies with her brother in front of their house, hiding in the bathroom during lunch because she didn’t have a lunch. 

One aspect I enjoyed more about reading Walls childhood experience is the realm of it.  Her situation seems all too true for so many people, and Walls uses a greater portion of the book discussing her childhood, rather than what happened when she grew up.  The stories she wrote were more relatable to me as a reader, though I believe Westover shares a very unique background with her family.  As a reader, I noticed how many years she had skipped portraying in detail.  Westover on the other hand, portrays about 10 consecutive years of her life in detail.  

Perhaps the beauty of both these two books I read this summer is that they convinced me that memoirs can be very interesting.  I’ve never thought of myself to have an unique childhood compared to the other kids I’ve interacted with, though this is not to forget the great privilege I have growing up.  Nevertheless, I’ve come to believe hardships, difficult decisions, rebellion, and struggle make the greatest stories.  This is something both Educated and The Glass Castle share in common and they have captured my interest in memoirs.