My favorite book in 2013 is The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. It is about this protagonist, Jeannette who went through hardship in her childhood years because her parents were not able to provide much for their children. Jeannette has lived a difficult and rough life when she was young. This book is a memoir that has taught me meaningful life lessons throughout the story. It has also stirred up my emotions greatly which is pretty rare in books. I also love how this book was able to help me visualize scenes clearly while reading the descriptive words that the author had chose to use.
The biggest lesson that I took from reading this wonderful book is to be grateful with what you have. In this story, Jeannette has went through a lot. Most of the times when her father drinks and didn't work, her family went starving. It goes up to the point where they argue and fight for the food left in the house. In addition, they rent a house where the roof leaks, and in the winter, there was no heat or coal for making a fire to keep them warm. This made me realized how lucky I am. I have enough food to keep me happy, and a warm and safe home to come back to everyday. In the past, I often take this for granted and think about how there are other people living in much more fancier lifestyles than me and feel bad for myself. So, while looking back at how I was before, I was ashamed of myself. Now, I'm appreciating at what my parents had given me. I am very grateful to have them and the abundance of love that they gave me. I'm very thankful for this amazing book.
I also love how this story has stabbed my feelings. The author has created complex characters where I could hate them at one moment and then love them at the next moment. For example, Jeannette's father was an alcoholic so when their family didn't have enough money to buy for food, he still took the little money that they have and he used it to buy alcohol and cigarettes. This had me enraged and I felt like hitting her father. But, when the author showed how Jeannette's father had tied himself up in his room for days after Jeannette told him that she would really want him to stop his drinking as her birthday present if he can. He tied himself and hoped he could stop his drinking but he was suffering through it. I almost cried at this beautiful, loving moment. It was such a touching scene.
Jeannette Walls has described the scenes very creatively and realistic that I found myself enjoying the pictures flaring up in my mind constantly. She describes the places that Jeannette's family had traveled to live in perfectly that I could easily see in my mind. I truly admired books that I can keep creating pictures in my mind, because that means I am enjoying the story and is focused. When I don't see the images in my mind while reading, it means that I am not understanding it or comprehending. For me it also means that this book is a page turner. A book that is a page turner keeps me reading for hours. It helps me read more and I liked it because reading more is always my goal.
So this book will be one of my top books of all times. I will be always thankful for the significant and important lessons that I learned from this book, and all the complex emotions I had while reading about these characters, and last but not least, I will remember some of the great scenes that the author described which kept me hooked.
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