I'd recommend heading to Barnes & Noble. They have buy 2 classics get the 3rd free deal!
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Monday, January 28, 2008
Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Liz
Here are my answers:
Though The Glass Castle is brimming with unforgettable stories; which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the funniest?
• I loved the story of her dad giving them stars for Christmas. At this point, the book is still beginning and the childhood still seems hopeful. They are poor, but there is hope for a better future. I loved how her mom and dad had such a different outlook on things. The star is just one example of that.
• The most shocking scene for me was probably when the grandmother violated Brian. I didn’t see that coming at all, and when Jeannette asked her siblings about her grandmother doing that to their father I think it was a significant moment in her life when her sister replied “You can’t think about things like that, they’ll drive you crazy.” Think about it – when was there another time Jeannette writes about her assumptions? She stopped thinking about things that made her crazy. Anyway, all that time her dad was refusing to move back home, never once did I consider that his parent’s weren’t great people. But when you think that their mom’s mom was a great woman… I guess it makes sense for us to wonder about her dad’s parents. Anyway, that was the most shocking for me.
What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions?
• His biggest weakness was his pride. He was too prideful to work for other men, to start from the bottom and work his way up. He was too prideful to admit defeat when he couldn’t provide for his family. I think it was his pride that set the stage for his children’s childhood.
• At the same time, I think his biggest strength what his unconditional love for his children. I was surprised when he didn’t want to protect Jeannette after the bar incident, and I hated the learning-to-swim scene, but in a weird way… the man loved his kids. It’s too bad that love wasn’t enough in this situation, you know?
What kind of woman was Rose Mary Walls? What did you think about her description of herself as an “excitement addict? (p. 93)"
• I think she was selfish and immature (re: the crying fits in FRONT of the children). I have to admit – I admired her for never leaving Rex. Actually, that’s something I have thought about significantly since I finished the book. She never considered the thought of leaving her husband. I know that can be a good and a bad thing, obviously (had she left, her children may have had a better childhood), but I do really admire that she didn’t even consider it. That’s just a rarity these days. Anyway, I still think she was very selfish and it was hard to even sense that she cared about her children. Jeannette didn’t write much about her mom consoling or comforting her and I think that’s a mother’s job.
• I think her “excitement addict” term was a bunch of crap. I still don’t understand why she continued to live homeless after her husband died. I guess she really just never wanted to work. But the excitement thing? Yeah right. I think she was just as miserable as her children, if not more. I think she just tried to remain some-what positive to keep her own sanity and if she told herself she was an excitement addict then her life just made a little bit more sense, and she needed that.
The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family --and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book’s tone?
• Oh the change in the tone was huge. It wasn’t until they moved to WVa that I started feeling sad for the kids. The move, losing all of their stuff in the process (except for some reason they ALWAYS had her mother’s paintings – imagine that?), a much worst lack of money, and the environment change was basically THE turn-for-the-worst in Jeannette’s life.
The most extraordinary thing about The Glass Castle is that despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?
• I think so, actually. Jeannette did a good job of helping us feel the love her dad had for her, and the protectiveness her brother had over his sisters. However, I am not a mom and I had a very good childhood, so maybe I am able to be nonjudgmental because the only thing I know of this terrible childhood is what I have read. I didn’t really feel the cold nights and the empty stomachs and the classmates beating Jeannette up. I don’t even think I can really imagine how all of that really was – on her level at least.
• I know that as an adult and in my past, I have been very judgmental to my own parents. In fact, the older I get and the more I learn about them and who they are and their pasts, I think I judge them more! I am terrible. But my point in saying that is that I still admire Jeannette and how she simply refuses to condemn her parents. I guess they must have done something right when they raised her. ☺
Though The Glass Castle is brimming with unforgettable stories; which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the funniest?
• I loved the story of her dad giving them stars for Christmas. At this point, the book is still beginning and the childhood still seems hopeful. They are poor, but there is hope for a better future. I loved how her mom and dad had such a different outlook on things. The star is just one example of that.
• The most shocking scene for me was probably when the grandmother violated Brian. I didn’t see that coming at all, and when Jeannette asked her siblings about her grandmother doing that to their father I think it was a significant moment in her life when her sister replied “You can’t think about things like that, they’ll drive you crazy.” Think about it – when was there another time Jeannette writes about her assumptions? She stopped thinking about things that made her crazy. Anyway, all that time her dad was refusing to move back home, never once did I consider that his parent’s weren’t great people. But when you think that their mom’s mom was a great woman… I guess it makes sense for us to wonder about her dad’s parents. Anyway, that was the most shocking for me.
What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions?
• His biggest weakness was his pride. He was too prideful to work for other men, to start from the bottom and work his way up. He was too prideful to admit defeat when he couldn’t provide for his family. I think it was his pride that set the stage for his children’s childhood.
• At the same time, I think his biggest strength what his unconditional love for his children. I was surprised when he didn’t want to protect Jeannette after the bar incident, and I hated the learning-to-swim scene, but in a weird way… the man loved his kids. It’s too bad that love wasn’t enough in this situation, you know?
What kind of woman was Rose Mary Walls? What did you think about her description of herself as an “excitement addict? (p. 93)"
• I think she was selfish and immature (re: the crying fits in FRONT of the children). I have to admit – I admired her for never leaving Rex. Actually, that’s something I have thought about significantly since I finished the book. She never considered the thought of leaving her husband. I know that can be a good and a bad thing, obviously (had she left, her children may have had a better childhood), but I do really admire that she didn’t even consider it. That’s just a rarity these days. Anyway, I still think she was very selfish and it was hard to even sense that she cared about her children. Jeannette didn’t write much about her mom consoling or comforting her and I think that’s a mother’s job.
• I think her “excitement addict” term was a bunch of crap. I still don’t understand why she continued to live homeless after her husband died. I guess she really just never wanted to work. But the excitement thing? Yeah right. I think she was just as miserable as her children, if not more. I think she just tried to remain some-what positive to keep her own sanity and if she told herself she was an excitement addict then her life just made a little bit more sense, and she needed that.
The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family --and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book’s tone?
• Oh the change in the tone was huge. It wasn’t until they moved to WVa that I started feeling sad for the kids. The move, losing all of their stuff in the process (except for some reason they ALWAYS had her mother’s paintings – imagine that?), a much worst lack of money, and the environment change was basically THE turn-for-the-worst in Jeannette’s life.
The most extraordinary thing about The Glass Castle is that despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?
• I think so, actually. Jeannette did a good job of helping us feel the love her dad had for her, and the protectiveness her brother had over his sisters. However, I am not a mom and I had a very good childhood, so maybe I am able to be nonjudgmental because the only thing I know of this terrible childhood is what I have read. I didn’t really feel the cold nights and the empty stomachs and the classmates beating Jeannette up. I don’t even think I can really imagine how all of that really was – on her level at least.
• I know that as an adult and in my past, I have been very judgmental to my own parents. In fact, the older I get and the more I learn about them and who they are and their pasts, I think I judge them more! I am terrible. But my point in saying that is that I still admire Jeannette and how she simply refuses to condemn her parents. I guess they must have done something right when they raised her. ☺
Melissa
The Glass Castle Discussion Questions
Feel free to let me know what you're thinking about my answers!
Though The Glass Castle is brimming with unforgettable stories; which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the funniest?
I don’t know if any one scene was more memorable to me than any other. I think that Jeannette did a really good job of providing a vivid setting for the events that unfolded throughout the book.
I feel that the most shocking moment was probably when Rex took Jeannette to the bar with him to help out his pool game. Before that point, I felt as though he really did want to take care of his daughter but just wasn’t as able to as he would have liked. That moment led me to believe that he didn’t really care as deeply for Mountain Goat as his pet name would imply. I also felt shocked, but knew it was coming, when he decided to whip Jeannette with a belt after she back-talked her mom. I too have been in the same boat as Jeannette and felt that there was no way my father would have sided with my mother on a certain issue. Then he did – and although I didn’t get a beating (instead got kicked out of the house and called many nasty names – I love the man, still though) I still felt a similar pain to hers’, I believe.
I laughed out loud on more than once occasion while reading The Glass Castle. I had a huge laugh when Jeannette was in the swimming pool shower room and carrying on with the black women and Dinitia. I think my longest laugh was when Jeannette explained her creative braces technique. I laughed and laughed as I too, used rubberbands to try to force my gap together. (It eventually grew together on it’s own though – unless my technique worked too).
The first story Walls tells of her childhood is that of her burning herself severely at age three, and her father dramatically takes her from the hospital: “You’re safe now (p.14)." Why do you think she opens with that story, and how does it set the stage for the rest of the memoir?”
I believe she started with that story because it is where her mind's starting point began. That’s her first memory. It set the stage for the story because it showed us as readers that from a very early age she was on her own. It’s also and example of one of the main themes of the book “leaving things behind.” Jeannette, Lori, and Brian all eventually left their past behind just as the dad and mom left each place they ever lived. They skedaddled.
What is the “glass castle” and what does it signify to Jeannette and her father? Rex Walls often asked his children, “Have I ever let you down?Why was this question (and the required “No, Dad” response) so important for him--and for his kids? On what occasions did he actually come through for them?
The glass castle was their better life, their family dream, and what the family, especially the children and to an extent the parents always wanted but could never achieve. It was a real home, together and happy. The question Rex always asked his children was so important to him because he wanted, but didn’t work hard enough to be their super hero. The children could never really answer yes to his face because they knew he knew that he had let them down – and once you're let down that many times it’s hard to even let the person know they’ve done it. He did come through for the children when he gave Jeannette the money to finish her senior year.
What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions?
Rex was a very smart man with a great imagination who actually loved his children very much but couldn’t get through his own issues. His greatest strength was passing on his knowledge to the kids and instilling a wonderful sense of imagination. Of course his weakness was alcohol, but another would be the fact that he’d never be happy living a normal settled life. He always had to be on the go. I would say his biggest contradiction would be the fact that he didn’t want his grown children to leave him after so many years of pushing them away with his awful behavior.
What kind of woman was Rose Mary Walls? What did you think about her description of herself as an “excitement addict? (p. 93)"
I think she was very selfish, very unique, and not a mother at all. She had no drive to make her family better.
In college, Jeannette is singled out by a professor for not understanding the plight of homeless people; instead of defending herself, she keeps quiet. Why do you think she does this? Is homelessness a choice?
In some cases homelessness is a choice, but everyone has their issues and some of us aren’t equipped well enough to endure them. These days, it is so expensive to live, I can completely understand someone having no home. I had no home for a while. It’s easy for people to hide things from one another and I’ve witnessed a hard working and middle class person lose their home at the expense of someone who had a problem that went unrecognized. It may seem like it was that person’s choice to do the things they did to cause this to happen, but looking back and knowing their guilt they did the best they could at the time.
Jeannette should have probably spoken up, but there would be very few people at an Ivy League school that would really understand what she was saying. Then she would have won the argument by saying she had homeless parents – and she’d worked so hard to move on from that and make something of herself – what business was it of their’s? None, and just not worth it to her as she had already been through so much more.
The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family --and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book’s tone?
I don’t really know how to answer this question right now, I might need to think about it some more and comment later.
What was Jeannette’s relationship to her siblings? Were you surprised to learn that, as adults, Jeannette and her siblings remained close to their parents? Why do you think this is?
Jeannette loved all of her siblings, they all loved each other deeply. Our siblings are the only people that live through the same things we do. They might deal with them differently, but they know – and you can’t help but love someone who has come from the very same place you did. I understand completely how the kids can still remain close to their family even as they are older. I’ve stayed (with bouts here and there) close to my family. Our parents remain in our hearts and the children were all smart enough to know that their parents weren’t okay. They had problems – but they also had great qualities.
What do parents owe children and what do children owe parents?
Love, a safe environment, and the best childhood possible. Children owe their parents at least the best attempt possible not to make the same mistakes and make the most of the opportunities they’ve been given. That's a loaded question
Though it portrays an incredibly hard scrabble life, The Glass Castle is never sad or depressing. How do you think that the author achieved that effect?
It is sad and depressing. Jeannette may not have ever come right out and said how sad she was, but you could feel it when her dad whipped her, when her dad took her money, and when she was freezing at night laying in the bed knowing there was no food for her to eat. She didn’t let the sadness stop her, that’s all. And that’s what we have to try to do.
The most extraordinary thing about The Glass Castle is that despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?
No, they aren’t my parents. I passed judgement and questioned how in the heck they could do that to their children. I understand how she didn’t really condemn them, but she did on occasion express her feelings of anger/betrayal.
Heidi
This is the question I am choosing to answer.
Though it portrays an incredibly hard scrabble life, The Glass Castle is never sad or depressing. How do you think that the author achieved that effect?
I am going to answer this in the best way I know how and the way I perceived the book to come across to me.
The book never seemed sad or depressing mostly because Jeannette doesn't ever get sad or depressed. She was taught her whole life (that we can see from age 3) to get over things and move on. Emotion is mostly taught to children. They get hurt and we run to them, they cry and we comfort them, etc. Her parents didn't "teach" her to have those types of emotions. Well, when it was convenient for them. Obviously she was on her own early on if she was cooking at a stove at age 3. I can't picture any of my children ever even having the comprehension to do something like that, even if they were starving.
She was sexually abused on at least 2 occasions and watched her brother be sexually abused, yet it never registered to her that these acts were something that could have damaged her forever because she had no people that cared about the abuse. I think she knew that they were wrong--yet no one cared enough to help her through them, so she taught herself to tuck it away in her memory. We would feel sad for her if she ever talked about later how that may have affected her. The fact that she never brings them up again is one way we the reader don't get too sad about it.
I did cry in this book--for many reasons. I felt sad and depressed for her at times, but most of all I marvel at the way she got through these events in her life and decided to not let them destroy her. This type of childhood could very easily destroy someone.
One last thing--about the parents.
I would do the same thing she did with her parents. I have no sympathy for people that "choose" to live a certain way. They made their bed, let them lay in it. Her mother can choose to be in her life or not--but if I were Jeannette, I would just keep on living my life the best I could and remember that she got out to save her life and good for her!
Though it portrays an incredibly hard scrabble life, The Glass Castle is never sad or depressing. How do you think that the author achieved that effect?
I am going to answer this in the best way I know how and the way I perceived the book to come across to me.
The book never seemed sad or depressing mostly because Jeannette doesn't ever get sad or depressed. She was taught her whole life (that we can see from age 3) to get over things and move on. Emotion is mostly taught to children. They get hurt and we run to them, they cry and we comfort them, etc. Her parents didn't "teach" her to have those types of emotions. Well, when it was convenient for them. Obviously she was on her own early on if she was cooking at a stove at age 3. I can't picture any of my children ever even having the comprehension to do something like that, even if they were starving.
She was sexually abused on at least 2 occasions and watched her brother be sexually abused, yet it never registered to her that these acts were something that could have damaged her forever because she had no people that cared about the abuse. I think she knew that they were wrong--yet no one cared enough to help her through them, so she taught herself to tuck it away in her memory. We would feel sad for her if she ever talked about later how that may have affected her. The fact that she never brings them up again is one way we the reader don't get too sad about it.
I did cry in this book--for many reasons. I felt sad and depressed for her at times, but most of all I marvel at the way she got through these events in her life and decided to not let them destroy her. This type of childhood could very easily destroy someone.
One last thing--about the parents.
I would do the same thing she did with her parents. I have no sympathy for people that "choose" to live a certain way. They made their bed, let them lay in it. Her mother can choose to be in her life or not--but if I were Jeannette, I would just keep on living my life the best I could and remember that she got out to save her life and good for her!
Monday, December 3, 2007
Pick a number, any number(s)...
Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls at Allegheny County LibraryA few discussion questions for when we have finished reading.
- Though The Glass Castle is brimming with unforgettable stories; which scenes were the most memorable for you? Which were the most shocking, the most inspiring, the funniest?
- The first story Walls tells of her childhood is that of her burning herself severely at age three, and her father dramatically takes her from the hospital: “You’re safe now (p.14)."
- Why do you think she opens with that story, and how does it set the stage for the rest of the memoir? What is the “glass castle” and what does it signify to Jeannette and her father? Rex Walls often asked his children, “Have I ever let you down?”
- Why was this question (and the required “No, Dad” response) so important for him--and for his kids? On what occasions did he actually come through for them?
- What kind of man was Rex Walls? What were his strengths and weaknesses, his flaws and contradictions?
- What kind of woman was Rose Mary Walls? What did you think about her description of herself as an “excitement addict? (p. 93)"
- In college, Jeannette is singled out by a professor for not understanding the plight of homeless people; instead of defending herself, she keeps quiet. Why do you think she does this? Is homelessness a choice?
- The two major pieces of the memoir -- one half set in the desert and one half in West Virginia -- feel distinct. What effect did such a big move have on the family --and on your reading of the story? How would you describe the shift in the book’s tone?
- What was Jeannette’s relationship to her siblings? Were you surprised to learn that, as adults, Jeannette and her siblings remained close to their parents? Why do you think this is?
- What do parents owe children and what do children owe parents?
- Though it portrays an incredibly hard scrabble life, The Glass Castle is never sad or depressing. How do you think that the author achieved that effect?
- The most extraordinary thing about The Glass Castle is that despite everything, Jeannette Walls refuses to condemn her parents. Were you able to be equally nonjudgmental?
Friday, November 16, 2007
November-December Book
If you would like to join us in reading this book, please comment so we know you are reading with us. As we go along, feel free to comment and discuss your thoughts without giving away too much--we all might not be in the same spot.Let's have a finish date of December 16th. When we are done, let's discuss!
http://www.amazon.com/Glass-Castle-Memoir-Alex-Awards/dp/0743247531
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