Memoir

            The Glass Castle is an excellent memoir about a young girl, Jeannette Walls, who goes through many obstacles and difficulties during her childhood. She travels from one spot to the next, never staying in one place for too long, with her charismatic and drunk (most of the time) father and careless mother, along with her siblings Lori, Brian and Maureen.

            When I heard we were going to be reading a memoir, I was kind of upset. I wanted to start with something exciting; a horror story or some intense fiction story. I didn't want to read about some girl who had taken her memories, exaggerated them a bit, and then put them on paper, just to make money. I thought it was going to be boring. I was pleasantly surprised.

            Jeannette Walls captivated me from the very first sentence. She had such a unique style of writing. She includes her audience into the story, making them grip their seat in excitement or their heart pound with fear. I loved how you had to really pay attention to the book in order to catch the small details inserted in certain spots that really changed the story entirely, and gave me some insight on how the people were feeling. I especially loved the way Jeannette used foreshadowing in her book. I was surprised that I liked it as much as I did, and would have no problem reading it again. It really was an excellent book (though the mother infuriated me to no end).

            I felt that there were two messages of this book. The first one, in my opinion, is that even when things are going terribly in your life, there is always a moment, however brief it may be, that shows you that life will eventually get better. For example, Jeannette and her siblings often had to go through a lot. They sometimes weren't able to get food in their stomachs, had to wear rags and much more. But because of this, they really appreciated the smaller things in life that we sometimes ignore; for example, when Rex brought them bicycles. All of the kids were so happy for such a small present from their father. They were excited to have something that they could call their own. We see that Jeannette also overcomes all the obstacles in her life and becomes a successful author. Even if the starting of her life was rocky, Jeannette got her happily ever after. Another message that I found important in this book is love. Even though Jeannette might have had all the reason in the world to hate her parents, at the end of the day, she didn't. She loved them and though they might have had unusual ways to show it, her parents loved her too.  

            I did find writing my memoir harder than expected. I felt it was difficult to put exactly what I was feeling into words because some emotions can be so indescribable that no word in the English language can portray exactly what you mean. Describing what I heard or saw was difficult as well. I feel that for a memoir, the reader has to connect with what you’re saying; otherwise it loses its effectiveness.  I enjoyed this assignment though because it gave me a chance to appreciate so many aspects of my life that I often took for granted.