EoFF Book Club - August - The Glass Castle

[Formalhaut]

The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
August

Hello! And welcome to the first book we'll be reading as part of the EoFF Book Club. If you missed the initial thread, it can be found here, but don't worry if you haven't, as the point of the book club is that you can drop in and out depending on time and other commitments. Having said all that, let's open up with our first book!

The Blurb

The Glass Castle is a remarkable memoir of resilience and redemption, and a revelatory look into a family at once deeply dysfunctional and uniquely vibrant. When sober, Jeannette's brilliant and charismatic father captured his children's imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and how to embrace life fearlessly. But when he drank, he was dishonest and destructive. Her mother was a free spirit who abhorred the idea of domesticity and didn't want the responsibility of raising a family.

The Walls children learned to take care of themselves. They fed, clothed, and protected one another, and eventually found their way to New York. Their parents followed them, choosing to be homeless even as their children prospered.

The Glass Castle is truly astonishing--a memoir permeated by the intense love of a peculiar but loyal family.

Where to find a copy

- Try your local library first of all. Nothing beats free reading!
- If they don't have a physical copy, check to see if they have a digital library and see if they have a eBook or eAudiobook.
- If that fails, check used book shops or used book websites online. You can often get a good deal. You could also use eReaders and apps to check their prices, like Kindle or Kobo.

Discussion

Unlike regular book groups, I'll keep this thread open for discussion throughout the month for people to post first impressions and ongoing thoughts about the story.

Obviously, put such talk in spoiler tags. At the end of the month (I'm going to set a date for the 25th August), discussion no longer needs to be put in tags. Think of that date as the time we would meet up normally if this was a physical book club.

Anyway, I hope you all manage to find a copy. If someone's really struggling, post about it and I'll see what I can do.

Book Order

Book Order

Jinx - August - The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
Bubba
Mr. Carnelian
Shauna
Karifean
WarZidane
Freya
Bri
Formalhaut

[Freya]

My library has this book on super hold and I wont be getting it for months at this rate! So I'll have to buy it x.x

[Shauna]

Neato. Gonna get it on my kindle and have a crack at it during my lunch times at work. If I can.

[Bubba]

I've ordered a second-hand copy from Amazon for £1.03. Should be here by the end of the month. It'll give me time to finish my current book

[Jinx]

there's always...*cough*...torrents....

[Bubba]

Nah, I can only read books in paper form.

Old Skool

[WarZidane]

So, I won't discuss the actual content of the book yet because, well, it's not even August yet, but I did feel like I should say this:

I was really on the fence about even trying to read this one. It's so far removed from what I tend to like, I was pretty sure I'd hate it and saw little point in trying it. I mentioned this in the discord chat as well (which might have come off as complaining about the book choice for the month? If so, unintentional. )

But I gave it a shot anyway, because why not, and as I sit here, 60% through the book (what can I say, it's relatively short compared to what I'm used to, I'm a quick reader), it's obvious I was wrong, so I just felt like admitting that.

[Jinx]

I'm glad you're enjoying it! It's honestly the book that got me hooked on memoirs, but it's been yeeears since I read it, so it will be pretty fresh for me as well.

[Bubba]

It is August 2nd. How are we all getting on with the book?

Mine arrived today and we s currently sat at MissH's mums house. Hopefully kick it off tomorrow.

[Shauna]

I have some free time this weekend. I'll read it then.

[Shauna]

>some time
>finishes book

[Jinx]

Just picked up my copy from the library today!

[Bubba]

False alarm. My book has not arrived

[Shauna]

My general thoughts:

I enjoyed my time with this book! I liked how as she grew, the author grew into realising her life wasn't quite as sunny as she thought it was as a kid. The slow but steady realisation that her parents weren't all that she thought they were.

[WarZidane]

Thar be spoilers here
I thought it was particularly unusual that I couldn't hate the parents despite the fact they screwed up so much and did some awful things. You can tell they love their kids and want what's best for them, they're just so flawed and don't really know what's actually best for their kids sometimes (most of the time?)

The two parts that probably got to me the most was 1) when her dad asks her what she wants and she wants him to stop drinking and 2) when Lori quietly breaks down after they find out the money they saved up for New York is gone.
Glad all the kids seem to have made it out okay, even Maureen who near the end went off the deep end but the end of the book seems to indicate she's doing okay now.