201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

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Rock
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註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Rock »

I see.... it's because I'm still in the middle of the book. Now I regret I asked the question. Luckily, my captain only revealed a tiny bit of the ending. :lol:
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Iris Wu
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註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Iris Wu »

Hey, so sorry for my tone, my dear president! I don't know why I was so defensive in this case. Actually I have had hard time to judge her mother. Regardless of all my previous arguments, I do think her mother's home schooling and reading habit provided the kids with intellectual stimulation and enriched their spiritual lives which most of ordinary families are lacking in.
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Rock
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文章: 2161
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Rock »

My study notes

1. There’d be a cool spell come sundown, when the mosquitoes... (p.122, pdf)
1.1 but it would be frozen so solid there was nothing to do but wait for the next warm spell. (p.1027, pdf)
1.2 During the slow spells, Mr. Becker and I watched the Watergate hearings on a little black-and-white TV.
2. “No, thank you. I’ve got kites to fly and fish to fry.” (p.1059, pdf)
3. sexual assault was a crime of perception. “If you don’t think you’re hurt, then you aren’t,”
4. The man smiled the way you do to sugarcoat bad news.
5. The man said that someone whose name he was not at liberty to disclose had called his office recommending an inquiry into conditions at 93 Little Hobart Street
6. Street, where it was possible that dependent children might be living in a state of neglect.
7. But if the child-welfare man got it into his head that we were an unfit family, we’d have no way to drive him off.
8. she said the surest way to feel rich was to invest in quality nonessentials.
9. Lori told me I had an exaggerated view of how bad my teeth looked. “They’re just a little bucked,”
10. Mom told me my overbite gave my face character.
11. “Those braces are a goddamn feat of engineering genius,” he said. “You take after your old man.”
12. One morning toward the end of the school year, Mom had a complete meltdown. She was supposed to write up evaluations of her students’ progress, but she’d spent every free minute painting,
13. He also didn’t argue or wheedle or cajole or ratchet the charm way up. He simply waited for me to fork over the cash, as if he knew I didn’t have it in me to say no.
14. He knew I had a soft spot for him the way no one else in the family did, and he was taking advantage of it.
15. Dad got ticked off and said that if I wasn’t going to team up with him, the least I could do was stake him some pool-shooting money.
16. We told Brian about the escape fund, and he pitched in,
17. Part of me wanted to do whatever I could to take care of Mom and Dad, and part of me just wanted to wash my hands of them.
18. “This stuff could grow on you,” I said.
19. She couldn’t accept our invitation to stay awhile, she said, because she had to get back for a board meeting of the squatters.
20. A wind picked up, rattling the windows, and the candle flames suddenly shifted, dancing along the border between turbulence and order.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
Iris Wu
YOYO member
文章: 894
註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Iris Wu »

Iris' Notes:

(about her mom)
At least one morning in a week, she’d throw a tantrum and refuse to go to work, and Lori,, Brian and I would have to get her collected…. P.236
We had to cajole her…. We tried to drag her out, but she wouldn’t budge.
Mom’s head snapped up. “You can’t talk to me like that,” she said. “I am your mother.”
“If you want to be treated like a mother,” I said, “you should act like one.” -- p.262

They were his blueprints for the Glass Castle, all stained and dog-eared. – p.284
(Dog-eared: fold down the corner of book)

I wondered if he was remembering how he, too, had left welch full of vinegar at age seventeen and just as I was now that he’d never return. – p.288

I didn’t know what to do. Part of me wanted to do whatever I could to take care of Mom and Dad, and part of me just wanted to wash my hands of them. – p. 304

That was why I didn’t own up to my parents in front of Professor Fuchs. – p.304
(own up: admit that you have done something wrong)

But Lori convinced me that dropping out was a lamebrained idea. – p.306
(lamebrained: stupid)

Dad went to great lengths to make sure there was no alcohol in it before he accepted a glass. – p.311

“Mom,” I sid. “I’m doing very well. I’m very, very comfortable.”
“That’s what I am worried about,” Mom said. “Look at the way you live. You’ve sold out. Next thing I know, you’ll become a Republican.” She shook her head. “Where are the values I raised you with?” – p.319
(Very interesting statement! :) )

In the hallway, Lori and Dad got into a loud argument over who was responsible for pushing Maureen over the edge…. I just stood there looking from one distorted face to another, listening to this babble of enraged squabbling as the embers of the Walls family gave vent to all their years of hurt and anger, each unloading his or her own accumulated grievance and blaming the others for allowing the most fragile one of us (i.e. Maureen) to break into pieces. – p.327

It was a ridiculous yarn. – p.331
(Idiom: spin a yarn – Tell a story, especially a long drawn-out or totally fanciful one.)

So you could say our families hailed from the same neck of the woods. – p.338
(neck of the woods: the area you come from or where you now live, your area, your neighborhood )
Iris Wu
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註冊時間: 週二 5月 20, 2014 4:33 pm

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Iris Wu »

Date: 3/22/17
Event: Closing Discussion
Attendees: J.D., Cindy, Shirley, Rock, Catherine, Stephen, Kat, Iris

Thank you, all the book readers, because of your dedication and support, we had chance to read “The Glass Castle” together!
I think all of our readers agreed that this book is very easy to read and the story is somewhat special and controversial. The writing style and the author’s eventful life are good incentives to keep us going. Every reader has been so self-motivated to read and they were always curious about the ending, so we actually finished the book a bit ahead of time.:)

During this book reading journey, I recognized that our readers are independent thinkers. Some have strong opinions about the accomplishment of reading a book; they think we need to pick some good words and phrases and use them and let them stick into our mind and soul.Others (including myself) probably flipped the pages and just tried to finish the story. But either way, we have had so many thoughts about the parenting style stated in the memoir. Our opinions sometimes clashed, such as if the parents loved their kids? Is the father worse or the mother? What were the good parts of their family education? Was it all true in this memoir? What was the purpose that Jeannette wrote the book? We probably had quite different answers for the above questions.
Some other discussion was actually igniting the spark (in good way), for example, why did the author give the book title, “The Glass Castle”? Other than that it was her father’s dream, the name may mean an unfinished project, a task in the air, an invisible limit, or a mirage, etc. And how did the kids “accept” their parents and worked their own way to success? We had different opinions to complement each other.

There is no last chapter for any of our discussion. This book reading thread is always open for anyone to continue posting your thoughts.
Thank you!
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Rock
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文章: 2161
註冊時間: 週三 10月 31, 2007 9:03 am

Re: 201702 Book Reading - "The Glass Castle"

文章 Rock »

Alas! We forgot to discuss why the book was banned.
In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock.
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