When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's ...
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When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy -- exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling -- does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father's tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies.Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.Angela's Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.
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Great book, well written. In my top 10 of books I've ever read.
Victoria L
May 1, 2014
the human spirit
heart rending story which I could not put down,
my mind shall contemplate Frank McCourt's
chronicles for a long time
browneyedgirl
Apr 10, 2010
I loved this book!
I had to read a section of Angela's Ashes for my english class last year. The part that we discussed was the scene in the typhoid ward. Shortly after reading it, I went out and bought the book. It is one of my favorite autobiographies. It was unique to see the hardships of McCourt's impoerished Irish family as he saw them as a child. I would highly recommend this book to everyone.
ohrenberg@gmail.com
Oct 30, 2007
McCourts First
In Frank McCourts first novel he is able to weave an intricate story that will break your heart. The Tears are broken up by moments of levity that will have you laughing out loud. The true story of author Frank McCourts life of poverty in the irish city of Limerick is one you will not forget.
DWHandy
May 3, 2007
Touching and funny...
A heart tugging book that still manages to bring many smiles. The story of a poor boy growing up in America and Ireland. Frank is the oldest son of Irish parents. His father is an unemployed alcoholic and his mother is just desperate. The story is warm and the humor is genuine. The book won a Pulitzer and for good reason. I am reading the second book of the three he has written in this series.