The Glass Castle

Hi everyone, Erin here!
I just finished reading The Glass Castle and enjoyed it a lot. I haven't had time lately to read too many books, so it was a good book to ease back into reading!
What struck me most about the story were the people; I almost didn't beleive that this was a memoir because the characters all seemed very well thought out, almost made up. Everyone had a certain roll, or certain stereotype that they followed, and they never deviated from them! Parts of the book were so symbolic, that it was amazing that these people and events were not made up.
My favorite person in the book to observe was the Mother (although I hated her at the same time). She was so in to finding the positive in every situation, that it backfired on her and always turned everything into a horrible situation. She found "the good" in everything...but to a fault ("hitler loved dogs"... I loved that line).
The book really shows you how personalies are formed by the way children are raised. The author was made to be self sufficient and strong through her parents unwillingness to coddle her as a child (making your own hot dogs at 3 years old?!), yet the youngest daughter turned out to be completely incapable of living on her own becuase everyone coddled HER as a child. To me, it was neat to be able to see the development of these people's personalities as they grew up. A lot of times as a human being, you like to think that you are in complete control of your own actions and all of your decisions are made because that's who YOU are. But really, that's who your parents/ your environment MADE you (not that this is a good excuse for certain actions, but it explains a lot sometimes!). It's a good view of, if you are a parent, how much your actions can affect your children. Good read!