This was meant to be posted on Readers Paradise forum.

And it is.

??????

What parts do you think were exaggerated? I have no opinion, just curious what you think, and why?

Kathy, I am sure it would make a difference if one heard the author speak about her childhood the year the book was written. I had thought the drama was a bit exaggerated and the characterizations a bit extreme, but I admit I could be wrong.

Colleen, often when one posts at Houzz it goes to more than one forum. I wrote my second comment because it had also ended up on the Hot Topics forum. It has happened before.

Woodnymph - I do understand how you might be suspicious, and I certainly could be wrong. Now that I think about it, I also totally believed Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea, and I had seen him speak. That particular disappointment was bitter for me.

Please will someone fill me in re. The Glass Castle and its author. Is she someone I should have heard of and, perhaps more to the point, is the book worth reading?

Vee - I found The Glass Castle to be a fascinating and very entertaining memoir. The author, Jeannette Walls, a successful gossip columnist living in New York City, was raised by parents who were umm... free-spirited I guess you might say - irresponsible toward parenthood in so many ways. This is the story of her upbringing.

Thanks Kathy. These 'true-life' misery memories were all the rage here a few years ago. I remember reading Helen Forrester's Twopence to Cross the Mersey about HF growing up, first in a respectable middle class home, then after her father's business collapsed, in the worst slum housing in Liverpool where 12 year old Helen is kept at home to care for the other children. While the kids practically starve the parents still afford cigarettes and have no idea how to cope. . . I could happily have kicked them.

On the other hand the story that Frank McCourt tells in Angela's Ashes though much more humorous has turned out to be wildly exaggerated and often untrue, leading the townsfolk of Limerick to condemn him as a liar.

Angela's Ashes

You've got the idea, Vee. The Helen Forrester book you describe sounds similar to The Glass Castle. The ending is rather interesting though, as Jeannette Walls describes her mother's present life in contrast to her own adult life.

I didn't know that the veracity of Angela's Ashes, which I read quite a few year ago, has been questioned. That's another disappointment. I do realize though that trying to accurately describe one's childhood would be a slippery slope. I have been surprised more than once to learn that my brother's recollection of a childhood incident is not the same as my own memory of it.

Found The Glass Castle is available somewhere deep in our county library system, so have put my name down for a copy ie the only copy. I'll get back when I have read it.

Hi, all,

Read Glass Castle years ago - loved it, though 'loved' seems not quite right. I found the prequel, Half-Broke Horses (a novel) very helpful in understanding the 'bones' of the family. It was a book club book and I recall many did not like it. (I was often the 'odd one out' but the loyal members of the group found that my reviews to help them articulate theirs - it seems easier to argue than to simply explain sometimes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Has anyone seen the movie? With all the hype for the movie, I suspect it will be mediocre. And Rotten Tomatoes gives it 48%.

Back to the Glass Castle story - I think it is plausible for a family to fall into disfunction this way. The parents were adults who seemed to share the same (uncaring) attitude that working to have the money for shelter is an unnecessary hindrance to other pursuits and it's a fine way to bring up children. And the story of the dysfunction comes through in the prequel. (I recall there were other adults around them that helped the kids build their resiliency).

Since I'm feeling a lazy day so far, I think I will re-read it starting in a little bit.

What I do find strange - is that Jeannette ended up working as a gossip columnist. I guess her upbringing would make her open to making detailed observations about others.