I absolutely loved this book. It was by far my favorite book that I have read this year and probably so because I was so shocked by the behavior of this very unique family. There was rarely a dull moment because the members of the Walls family were always up to something crazy by typical standards. What I found most astonishing was the calmness in which Rex and Rose Mary went about doing things and handling tough situations. My family is the complete opposite of the Walls family, which is also why I found this book to be so captivating. I really enjoyed the fact that I could somehow find a connection with the characters of the story by having opposite opinions and never being able to imagine raising a child in that way. I was able to empathize for the children. At the same time, however, I thought that the parents were slightly justified in bringing up their children the way they did, to be strong and independent. The unconventional ways of the Walls family were very interesting to read about and made me think about the different situations children encounter depending on their parents. It also made me deeply appreciate how lucky I am to have such great parents and stability in my life.
My favorite and least favorite part about the author’s style was the lack of commentary and “fluff” in her writing. Because she did not put a lot of her own personal input into the memoir, it made it very easy to form my own opinions about the different characters and situations. If she were to give her own opinions I would be much more likely to tend towards that direction simply because she is narrating. On the other hand, I would have loved to see more commentary because I was curious as to how exactly she felt about some of the horrific things that her parents put her through. I like to experience emotion when reading a story and if the author were to include detailed descriptions of her feelings towards different events, I feel like the memoir would have impacted me in a completely different way. Regardless, I feel that this story was extremely well written and a very entertaining read.
I actually felt that the lack of commentary in the narration was Walls' way of giving the reader her opinion on the goings on of her family. The fact that she really did not give much commentary went further to emphasize her innocence and 'go with the flow' nature necessary for the lifestyle of her family. It greatly increased my empathy for Jeannette simply because she really didn't understand what was going on half the time.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with Bren. "Fluff" in her novel would be unnecessary. I felt that her story was already so unique and heartfelt that she did not need to add the "fluff" because the any added or substituted feelings would simply over bear her amazing narrative.
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