Customer Reviews

Angela's Ashes

5 star:		(276)
4 star:		(62)
3 star:		(21)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

The author begins his memoir with the voice of a narrator: describing people, events, etc. But, from the first chapter he slowly transitions into a man remembering & than goes back to when he was a boy. The slideshow of imagery & the depth of details made this a great read, despite the often brutal sadness of the story.

The innocence of a young boy of say 8 or 9 is experienced here like in no other book I have read. The young boy finds himself talking with "the angel of the seventh step," & wishing to hear stories of his mythical hero "Cuchulain." When the boy learns something for the first time, so does the reader. While he ages, his vocabulary grows as does his views of the world around him which starts to make more sense to him, no matter how unsettling.

The reader feels Frankie's angst when his alcoholic father comes home drunk after drinking his paycheck away. The descriptions of the strict Catholic school alone where he was not allowed to even ask a question in class made it seem more like a prison than a place to seek "knowledge & comfort." The living conditions in the Limerick of the 1930's-40's Ireland were truly on a third world level. Their home would flood in Winter, & the many family homes they lived in when they could not afford their rent are gut wrenchingly vivid.

The most poignant emotions are from Frankie's mother Angela.
The reader can feel her desperation & frustration with her useless husband, who often failed to keep a job because of his boozing.
Her anguish that she could not clothe or feed her sons, & her other children who were "dead & gone," & her feelings of shame that she had to borrow & beg in order to keep her family alive leap off the pages.
The dialogue & story captures the imagination, one can feel the chill of damp air & the sickness it brings. This book has it all, the sorrow, heartache, want, humor, & slivers of hope.

I avoided this book for two reasons. The hype. More often than not I am disappointed by highly-hyped books and movies. And, I thought it would depress and exhaust me. But as with Betty Smith's A Tree Grows In Brooklyn, you become so engrossed with the characters that you aren't weighed down by the crushing poverty. It almost seems an afterthought, a tiny detail, yet it is what forms the characters. Both of these books, while written 60 years apart, are written beautifully and skillfully.

I have recently re-read Angela's Ashes for a class assignment in which I had to compare a book with the film version of the same story, and I was again blown away by the beauty of this book. It is a testament to Frank McCourt's enormous talent that he is able to blend such sad situations with such delightful humor. He is masterful in the way he narrates the story from the point-of-view of a child, with his outlook and insights growing as the character (Frank himself) matures, similar to the approach that Dickens used in "David Copperfield."

"Angela's Ashes" is a modern-day classic - one that I'm sure I will re-read every few years, just to hear the magical and shimmering prose in my ears again and again.

Angela's Ashes, Frank's McCourt's New York Times Best Selling Memoir, centers on the cold, hard life of a poor Irish Catholic family. Frank McCourt, the oldest child, tells the story of his family in Ireland and their unfortunate poverty and depression. The father is a mean, cold-hearted man who constantly spends his and his children's money on liquor for himself. The mother, Angela, is without a doubt the backbone of the family; she makes sure they eat and worries about the rent and the well-being of her children. Throughout the story Angela teaches her children the importance of pride and dignity. The ill-starred family is continually struck with the death of very young family members. Even though several children die from starvation and cold before the age of five, McCourt manages to portray these tragedies and shows the family's ability to move on with life. Although the memoir, in general, is an incredibly sad one, the humor of McCourt's style makes the book bearable. Because McCourt's writing style is so descriptive, the reader is able to feel the families sorrow and unhappiness, and we see the world in which they live. Unfortunately, Angela's Ashes did not shine through in the recent holiday film released by Paramount. The film showed the importance of McCourt's humor by not incorporating it into the adaptation. Without this humor, the film was dark, sad, ugly and unbearable. The book on the other hand, may be sad, but is at the same time uplifting.

Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes is a compelling story of death, depression, and extreme poverty in the lanes of Limerick, Ireland. The way McCourt tells the story through his eyes and explains his thoughts of the life in the lanes, and his experiances in America and Ireland. Though the whole book carry's an "I Feel Sorry" feeling with it, the few happy experiances balance the sadness and happiness. Some of the feelings he expresses are with such detail that you feel the hunger, or the sadness, and even the happiness, from which you learn how to be happy again. Some sexual refrences are mentioned, but they help describe his feelings and experiances with the opposite sex. A must have for the interested in irish history and truely understanding what poverty is with a first hand explanation.

McCourt prepares us for the difficult journey through "Angela's Ashes" when he states that "of course it was a miserable childhood. The happy ones are hardly worth the while". We know we are going to experience some pretty unpleasant things but we also know that the narrator survived and that, like him, we will get through them with a sense of humor and irony.

Angela's Ashes contains some pretty rough stuff. Hunger, sickness, death, neglect, abuse, persecution, and guilt are the standard features throughout the book. Just when you think things are bad, they get worse. The family goes from a hovel to homelessness and the mother goes from poverty to out and out begging. When they finally take up residence with the mother's cousin it isn't really clear whether she sleeps with him out of need, affection, or as a form or rent payment. You might wonder if this book is so miserable then why is it worth reading?

McCourt's writing, is direct, lucid, and at times ironic. He chronicles his miserable childhood with little sentimentality and utterly no self-pity. Although McCourt's prose contains considerable anger toward the trauma and occasional injustice of his childhood, he captures the people and environment with clarity and humor. McCourt clearly has an intense curiosity about people and a keen perception of character. I suspect that these qualities played a vital role in his survival.

I recommend this book for several reason. First, it is superbly written. No matter how interesting a story is, I generally won't read it if the writing is bad. But McCourt has an ear for dialog and an instinct for language. Secondly, McCourt's chronicle teaches us a lot about poverty, survival and how well off most of us are. These are all very important lessons. Finally, I loved the way "Angela's Ashes" completely transported me to another time and place. So many writers try and fail to do this, but McCourt did so with seemingly no effort.

"Angela's Ashes" has also been made into a film which really isn't bad. But it pales in comparison to the book.

Angela's Ashes, Frank's McCourt's New York Times Best Selling Memoir, centers on the cold, hard life of a poor Irish Catholic family. Frank McCourt, the oldest child, tells the story of his family in Ireland and their unfortunate poverty and depression. The father is a mean, cold-hearted man who constantly spends his and his children's money on liquor for himself. The mother, Angela, is without a doubt the backbone of the family; she makes sure they eat and worries about the rent and the well-being of her children. Throughout the story Angela teaches her children the importance of pride and dignity. The ill-starred family is continually struck with the death of very young family members. Even though several children die from starvation and cold before the age of five, McCourt manages to portray these tragedies and shows the family's ability to move on with life. Although the memoir, in general, is an incredibly sad one, the humor of McCourt's style makes the book bearable. Because McCourt's writing style is so descriptive, the reader is able to feel the families sorrow and unhappiness, and we see the world in which they live. Unfortunately, Angela's Ashes did not shine through in the recent holiday film released by Paramount. The film showed the importance of McCourt's humor by not incorporating it into the adaptation. Without this humor, the film was dark, sad, ugly and unbearable. The book on the other hand, may be sad, but is at the same time uplifting.

For months, I heard the name "Angela's Ashes" thrown around, and finally bought the book to read while on a trip. I'd talked to several people before hand, who made it quite clear to me that the book was incredibly sad and depressing and to be sure to have a box of kleenex close at hand. I was reassured that despite my tears, I would find the book wonderful. Well, I do find Angela's Ashes to be a wonderful book, and yes, the poverty in which they lived was depressing, however, what I loved most about this book was the fact that these people had a sense of what it means to survive, to be alive, and be thankful for what we have. Though they lived in poverty, there was an incredible sense of community amongst all the residents of Limerick, the town in which Frank McCourt grew up, and there was always help to be had. Small comforts came from a cup of tea, or a cigarette, something that we take for granted in our lavish, western lifestyles. Though materially Frank had very little, he had a wealth of experiences that surpasses anything we can buy. I am grateful that he was able to recount his "miserable" childhood with such humor, and that he was able to humble those of us who are more fortunate.

The first thing you notice about Angela's Ashes is Frank Mcourt's ability to write in such a way that you feel like you are there in the room with him. His descriptions are incredible. They can make you feel sickened, make you laugh or make you want to cry. Mcourt masterfully explains his poverty stricken childhood in first America, then Ireland and then back to America again.

I started reading Angelas Ashes like many other people; as a mandatory book for history. I thought it would be very long and boring like many books about history and it seemed to be that way for the first few chapters. Later, as i read this book, I ended up reading more and more chapters at a time. Though it is repetetive how this poor Irish family lives in hunger while their father drinks away his wages, you begin to appreciate it and really get a feeling of how their misery feels. Because that is what their misery must have felt like; a never ending monotony of hunger and suffering. When you read this book, you feel like you've known Frankie since his birth. Mcourt ages himself in the book perfectly so that he has just the right personality from when he is born all the way to the age of 19. You travel through his life in the lanes of Limerick and share all of his experiences, whether terrible or joyous. This is a must read for anybody interested in Ireland or just for fun.

I could Not put this book down, I had finished about three days, thoroughly enjoying it, often brought to tears by it. Its is very entertaining. So Entertaining , in fact that I dreaded the close of the book and went on reading it here and there again !

It is my favorite book for the past year. Intrigued by the way it starts in the words and thoughts of a child and advances in the words of a very observant young person. Mr. McCourt has great imagination, perception and memory of feeling/being young. He really writes as though he were 7 years old.

I walked, book in hand in the house as not to put it down !

His Writing Changes as he grows up, and when he is a young adult, the Writing is that of An Adult.

Aside from it being So Well Written, the story itself,his childhood is timeless and classic.

Poverty is something everyone understands, or should.

Frank McCourt's mother Angela is not about pride, she retains her dignity while doing anything she can to feed her children. She's a hero.

His family suffers many tragedies, loss of children, lack of food.......Frank's own illness as a boy, etc.

Despite Poverty and serious illness of which he is cured, Frank succeeds to return to New York.

Upon his return to The States, someone remarks of how great life can be in the states.

The last chapter has but one word about this, which is "Tis" !