Customer Reviews

Tis Unabridged: A Memoir

5 star:		(229)
4 star:		(194)
3 star:		(95)
2 star:		(68)
1 star:		(40)

 

 

This is a wonderful book, but it requires that you remove yourself from your negative impressions of Frank as a young man, and enjoy the beatiful story telling of Frank McCourt, as an author. As I read the criticism of this book by other readers, I am dumbfounded that people can critize the book because they don't like the character. The readers complain that they don't like the way McCourt behaved in America. These are complaints against a man and his actions, not against the novel. The subject matter may be upsetting, but the writing is still beautiful. It is utterly unfair to say that one loved Angela's Ashes because they liked the innocent boy Frank, but didn't like 'Tis because they didn't like the man he grew into. This book is brutally honest on McCourt's part. Angela's Ashes was equally disturbing in subject matter and its description of poverty, but the story was told through the innocence of youth and a child. In 'Tis the subject matter can be equally disturbing, but the story is now told through the eyes of an adult and the innocence is lost. This is the sign of a remarkable author, who can take his readers with him through is life and share the events as they appeared to him at the time. It is unrealistic to expect the poor child growing up on the Lane in Limerick to instantly grow into a noble and refined gentleman the way these readers expect him to. This book tells a disturbing and honest story of a man coming of age as an immigrant in New York.

For all of you complaining that you don't like the book because Frank swears, sleeps around, drinks too much and loses interest in his wife, please don't confuse dislike for a disturbing subject matter for dislike for a work of literature.

Angela's Ashes was a unique accomplishment on many levels. Tis was doomed before it ever came out because it would suffer by comparison. However, this is still a great read by an interesting man who has great sensitivity to dialogue, and makes some stinging social observations with great subtlety. The books cannot be compared unless you have strong feelings about the skill the writer had, or did not have in either volume. Is the language rougher, yes, this is a man describing his life, not a child. Does he have opinions that are black and white, with little room for gray at times, yes. Part of the problem with moving from one book to the next, is that the memories of a child, and terrible memories at that, are a powerful force to draw you in, and cause one to feel great sympathy and pain for the child. Then the child becomes a man, and it's much more difficult to carry the same empathy from the first book to the second. In fact I don't think it is possible. If you have read neither book, read this first, and then Angela's Ashes. The books change dramatically when you do. The harsh criticism of the man becomes infinitely more complex and difficult if you learn of the childhood that was his formative years. Most autobiographies, or biographies cover a life, not pieces of a life that in this case are still unfolding. The abrupt change from book one to book two is caused, I believe, because they are bound separately. If he had covered the same period in his life with a single book it would have been more comfortable for the reader. I am glad that he did break his life up, as Angela's Ashes will forever remain a book that will gain the title of a "Classic". Book one was brilliant, it was the author's first, it won The Pulitzer, it one other awards, it is about to be shown as a major motion picture. There is no one that can follow that act #1. Frank McCourt is a great writer who I wish had come to us sooner. I hope he lives to be a hundred so I may selfishly read as much as possible of what he writes.

'Tis was quite an interesting book. I looked forward to reading this after I read "Angela'Ashes". I was impressed with Mr. McCourt's observations of the American society and culture. Not only was he shocked at some things he saw and experienced in his early years "just off the boat", but he also had to deal with some self-esteem issues. He worked hard at overcoming some of his demons. I noticed he found it quite difficult to forgive or forget in many instances which one can attribute to the bitterness he felt towards the church, his father and sometimes his mother. There were many lessons I got from reading 'Tis such as sticking to ones dreams of a better education, a better life, family loyalty, love and commitment, just to name a few. I do believe Mr. McCourt is a survivor in all respects. His gift of story telling is superb and I commend him in all his endeavors. Overall, this was a great sequel and I thank you Mr. McCourt for hanging in there.

I've just finished "Tis" and found I have mixed feelings about the work and the author - feelings I didn't have concerning "Angela's Ashes". During my reading, I found myself rooting for Frank McCourt to not fall into the same trap as his father did, that trap the Irish call "the weakness". I rooted for him to go to school, get the girl, live the American dream happily ever after. But this wasn't the way Frank McCourt's life was to be.

So I obviosly made the mistake most reviewers of "Tis" made. This work is a MEMOIR, not a work of fiction nor fantasy. If I take Frank McCourt at his written word, he has been mostly unsuccessful in his life's dreams, and fallen far short of personal goals. The book seems to be more of a self examination held in public for ridicule and criticism - as any good Catholic boy must do. Who else would have to air their linen thus. And who else except a superb story teller could make a success of it in spite of those failings. It's a MEMOIR. It's a sad, joyful, shameful, depressing, and very funny MEMOIR. It doesn't need any psychoanalysis or critical reader analysis, or comparisons to similar authors past or present. It's a MEMOIR!

Author Frank McCourt may refer to himself as the "Mick of the moment" but in three years, he truly has soared from being a retired New York City school teacher to literary phenomenon.

In 1996, people around the world were moved by McCourt's poignant memories of growing up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Angela's Ashes has topped best seller lists for two years and won a Pulitzer Prize. Critics and admiring readers alike have been awaiting a sequel and now `Tis here. `Tis, A Memoir picks up where Angela's Ashes left off. As a matter of fact, the title refers directly to the final sentence in Angela's Ashes, serving as response to a sailor's question; "Isn't this a great country altogether?"

`Tis covers the years from 1949 to 1985, when young Frank arrived in New York City. We follow this bewildered young Irishman with the bad teeth and infected red eyes, as he strives for the suburban, picket fence "tormenting American dream".

`Tis, the sequel can certainly stand alone, but I would suggest reading Angela's Ashes first, in order to fully understand the nuances and angst of this son of an alcoholic. Malachy McCourt literally abandoned his young family to starvation in Ireland while he drank his war factory wages in England. Like all children of alcoholics, Frank McCourt yearns for an explanation of how a father could "choose the bottle over the babies".

McCourt's life in the New World was no bed of roses either, as he progressed from cleaning up after the glamorous Ivy Leaguers partying in the Biltmore Hotel to the casual brutality of military life in Germany. After a post army stint loading meat on the docks, McCourt finally finagled his way into college via the GI Bill and some Irish blarney. He then settled into life as teacher, erratic family man and veteran storyteller in the pubs of New York.

In cultural and political perspective, this sequel is much broader in scope than the childhood memoir. McCourt's Dickensian descriptions of boarding house room mates and the edgy comradey of the docks makes for riveting reading. Just imagine 12 boarders sharing 2 towels and 8 beds.

Equally gritty are the descriptions of Frank's military career. Drafted into the US Army at the outset of the Korean War, McCourt ended up in Germany in the Canine corps "despite no rapport whatsoever with dogs". German prostitutes and military typing instructors provided future opportunities for growth. Here again, irony alternates with pathos. A report on the "benefits of kotex in padding the shoulders of the fighting men of America", is followed by a heart wrenching tale of delivering laundry to Dachau. Frank decided against saying three Hail Marys at the ovens because "Jesus hadn't been any way helpful to the Jews in those times".

Angela, McCourt's mother remains a powerful presence throughout `Tis, as she comes to America to spend her final years with her sons. Frank maintains a complicated relationship with her that will be recognized by all caregivers of aging parents-equal parts love and exasperation. Angela's boys continually tried to please her, but never quite succeeded. When she finally died (still complaining) Frank's reaction: "I thought I'd know.....the fine high mourning..to suit the occasion. I didn't know I'd feel like a child cheated".

While there is no poetry in real grinding poverty, McCourt evokes poetic truth in the story of his survival. Always he was able to find escape and solace in books and the reading room of the New York Public Library. He was guided to this haven by a surly bar tender who directed him to the building with the two stone lions and told him not to come back until he had read "The Lives of the English Poets".

McCourt's observations about the icons of literature are fascinating. He was probably most influenced by Sean O'Casey- "the first Irish writer I ever read who writes about rags.dirt, hunger and babies dying". (McCourt had lost three siblings). Later on as a teacher, Frank finds ways to pass on this love of the written word, both to the tough blue collar kids of a Staten Island Vocational School, and to the upwardly mobile preppies of the prestigious Stuyvesant High School. As a veteran substitute teacher in Toronto's inner city schools, I found a truth in McCourt's classroom experiences that I've never read anywhere else. Some McCourt verities: " Teachers are the only professionals who have to respond to bells every forty-five minutes, and come out fighting".......

"Vocational schools are the garbage cans of the school system and the teachers are there to sit on the lids". Frank learned early on that "any group of experienced students in an American classroom can break any inexperienced teacher". These impressions however all fade when he makes the magic break through and begins to genuinely connect with these young minds. "I had to begin enjoying the act of teaching, and the only way I could do this was to start over, teach what I loved, and to hell with the curriculum". It's a joy to read of these "Eureka moments" in his long teaching career.

Throughout `Tis, McCourt doesn't pretend to be any Horation Alger hero. In real life he overplays the Irish card, carousing with brothers Malachy and Michael at their upper East Side Bar, and going out for "beer and teacher enlightenment", instead of home to his beautiful WASP wife and dinner. The marriage founders, but unlike his father, Frank's devotion to daughter Maggie never wavers. She remains his ultimate joy and inspiration.

All through his life, Frank never forgot the admonition of his Irish school master; "Your mind is a treasure house that you should stock well. It's the one part of you the world can't interfere with". In `Tis, McCourt has provided a gem for all of us to store.

I was excited when this book came along because it meant that I could revisit Frank and continue hearing his facinating story. I think the brilliance of it is the narrative in which it is written. You hear his voice in every sentence; you hear him as he spoke in whatever stage of his life he was in. It's just a wonderful read and, although his story is mostly a string of tragedies posing as birthdays gone by, it's a story of hope. Hope because despite all he had been through he still managed to become what he wanted to be and has succeeded. And to do that and still retain a sense of humor is amazing. Saying anything more about the actual book's contents would do a browsing customer a great injustice. This is just simply a book you have to buy. That is, of course, AFTER you order and read Angela's Ashes.

......but what a hard act to follow after the whole world took Angela's Ashes to it's heart. What a book! I resisted reading it for so long as I felt it was in danger of becoming over hyped. In the end it won me over of course, so I wasted no time in reading 'Tis when it arrived. Frank is now in the process of becoming a man, so the perspective is a little different. There's not the same amount of good natured forgiveness towards his parents anymore, rather Frank has to work through some of his feelings, especially when he returns to Ireland, and when his mother arrives in New York. Although there's not as much humour as in the first book his eye for character is as spot on as ever. I particularly loved the tenderness of Frank's description of his workmate Winston, and his feelings for his wife Mike. Imagine being able to evoke those feelings again, I don't know how the man conjures up the memories. I'm looking forward to the next book, and I hope that other readers will remember that it's someones life we're dealing with here and not some work of fiction. (Or, to borrow from Frank, it's not Charles Dickens where the main character turns out to be the long lost son of the Duke of Somerset, and all live happily ever after)! My feeling about 'Tis is that it was Frank's long dark hour of the soul, and having exorcised a few of his ghosts he may write a book that offers a little more hope next time. Bring on the next instalment I say, this man has things to say about life and those who live it that are quite unique. I can't help but want a happy ending, Frank McCourt deserves nothing less from life.

Once again, Frank McCourt has captured the trials of his life using his very special narrative voice to make us chuckle while we despair right along with him, sometimes all in the same sentence! Humor starts in the very beginning with a very funny tale of having to share a bed with a naked, snoring priest. Perhaps in parts he is a little self-pitying, but a very emotional highlight is when his short story "The Bed" is read aloud by his college professor at NYU. The reflections on his relationships with his parents are remarkably honest, especially his trying to remember the good times with his Dad even though his memories are clouded with the "darkness" of his father's drinking and abandonment.

Although this book is not as good as "Angela's Ashes", I felt the same way as I neared the end: I was disappointed that it was ending. It's not so much that I really care so much about what happens to him going forward, it is the lyrical prose of his memory that is so captivating.

The ending is quite different from Angela's Ashes, and having gone through that particular episode very recently in my own life, I found some solace in knowing someone else's reflections on the topic. Besides, how can you top the ending to "Angela's Ashes"? Young McCourt realizes his childhood dream of getting back to the US (after poor and miserable childhood conditions in Limerick), gets off the boat and gets laid! Bottom line: If you loved "Angela's Ashes" you will like "'Tis" a lot.

I thought 'Tis was a magnificent book and a great complement to Angela's Ashes. Frank McCourt has many strengths. He has the ability to incorporate dialogue into his story and keep the flow extremely smooth. When reading 'Tis I felt like McCourt and all of his friends were acting out their lives in front of me. The images McCourt created were so vivid. Even though McCourt and I come from different backgrounds I could relate to many of his feelings, his uneasiness with dancing, his approach to education. I felt like his feelings were so honest, he included the "good" and "bad" things he felt, from being faithful to his mother to the women at the refugee camp. 'Tis is a story about human nature, with none of the facts or feelings left out, it is painfully honest. McCourt's humor is also unmistakable, his Irish blood shines through his writing! I enjoyed reading about his teaching experiences. I am a student, and I was reminded that teachers have families, pasts, and lives as well as their students. On completing the book, I read a review by Robert Sullivan (Vogue) that was a perfect example of how I felt throughout the book "...funny, sad as hell, written with sentences that seem to come from the dream you wish you hadn't woken up from..." The book's ending disturbed me in that I am still hungry to find out the next chapter of McCourt's life. I'm wondering what happened after Stuyvesant, what happened to Alberta? Maggie?

I don't understand why so many people seem to see Frank a failure as a teacher. As a teacher myself, I understand exactly what he went through in the schools. His "humor" and "irreverence" towards his students & their "attitudes" is very typical of all teachers--good and bad, and anyone who thinks it isn't, is very out of touch with our American education system. His description of his students was very realistic, and I got the impression that he was a very effective teacher, considering that the majority of kids in this country today have to be "entertained" in order to be "taught."

I would be interested in hearing some reviews from his former students? How about it? Are you out there?