Reading Response: The Glass Castle

          The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls is a memoir about her life before she matured and pursued her own dreams as an adult. The story consists of a continued string of stories in chronological order, skipping periods of time when necessary or appropriate, such as a week on the road in which nothing significant to the themes occur. Starting with Walls' earliest memory as a three-year-old living in an Arizona trailer park, The Glass Castle captures the life of a poor, dysfunctional, and mostly nomadic family in the years before Walls' life as a true member of society and civilization. 

          Although I honestly simply picked up this book from the store because I had seen the trailer for the film, I can easily say that I currently hold no regrets whatsoever about that poor-appearing decision. The story moves rather quickly, natural for a memoir that covers multiple years of the author's life, so many events and details can easily be glossed over or forgotten, but the book appears to be gradually spinning a web that will be able to connect each event to the themes. These "themes" aren't fully clear quite yet in the earlier parts of the novel, but I can only speculate that they will soon develop strong tastes of determination and perseverance. The Glass Castle as a story is a "glass castle" of the ties and emotions that challenged the Walls' family.