Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Angela's Ashes
Book Review: Angela's Ashes
Summary: 5 Stars
Was a gift for my daughter who rarely reads and she loves it. Read it through in a couple of days.Book Review: Angela's Ashes Review
Summary: 4 Stars
I though Angela's Ashes was a good memoir of a family during World War II. My favorite character was Frank because it was fun to see him grow up, and see how he changed over the course of this book. I thought that Angela did as much as she could to try and get her family through World War II, and I thought she did a good job, considering the help she was receiving. My least favorite character was Malachy. Malachy was always drunk, and he would always waste away the family's money. I felt that he only thought about himself. Unfortunately, most people who are addicted to drugs only think out for themselves, because all they are thinking of is getting drugs for them. I would definitely recommend this book, and give it four stars. I would recommend Angela's Ashes to high school students because it does cover a serious issue and the humor might not be appropriate for younger students. Overall I think the book is a winner!Book Review: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Summary: 4 Stars
"Worse than the miserable childhood is the miserable, Irish childhood. Worse yet is the miserable Irish, Catholic childhood."
Imagine living in a one room apartment with what is left of your family: your alcoholic father who has drunk your family into the squalor of poverty, your exhausted mother, and your three siblings, as the three others have already died. Now imagine being only a child, going days on end without food or warmth, unable to understand your situation and unable to change it. As difficult as it is to imagine, these are the daily trials and the desolate lifestyle Frank McCourt depicts in his compelling memoir Angela's Ashes.
Frank McCourt was born in Brooklyn in 1930 to Angela and Malachy McCourt, recent immigrants from Ireland, hoping for new opportunities in America. However, when prospects remain bleak, their family is forced to return to Limerick, Ireland, where Frankie lives out the rest of his childhood. Once in Ireland, their family's hardships remain unchanged. Malachy McCourt remains a chronically unemployed alcoholic, drinking away the McCourt's small income. As both Frankie and his younger brother, Malachy, are too young too find work, the McCourts grapple to deal with the day-to-day trials of hunger and disease. Begging soon becomes their only means of survival, and even Frank and his siblings are often forced to search the streets for scraps of bread and leftover lemonade to quell their constant hunger. However, Frank McCourt persists in his attempts to improve the destitute lifestyle his mother, father, and relatives have grown to accept. It is not an easy quest, as Frank is constantly held back by his weakened eyesight and shabby appearance; but he maintains his determination, clinging on to the hope of a new beginning.
Frank McCourt writes, "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived it all." He proceeds to depict so many situations of overwhelming poverty and utter hopelessness that I was tempted to put the book aside in pure despair after only the first few chapters. His depictions are vivid and the emotions are real. The style is observant and memorable; he captures his feelings of confusion, loneliness, anger, and his wavering hope within the pages. Furthermore, his experiences are told from the point of view of his childhood self, an innocent boy struggling to overcome his desolate situation. For this reason, it was a difficult book to read because of the harsh realities of the author's life, and I often found it extremely depressing.
At the same time, I was struck by Frankie's determination in the face of his family's hardships. I could not help but wonder how he would overcome each trial and soon became enthralled in his family's struggles. At first, I found Frankie's point of view slightly confusing, but the further I read, his voice became a dialogue in my head. Seeing the story through the eyes of naïve child brought hope and laughter to the saddest of parts. Even in the most desperate of situations Frankie's constant wonderings made me smile, "Affliction," he writes, "I'd like to know what that word means. I know that big people don't like questions from children. They can ask all the questions they like, How's school? Are you a good boy? Did you say your prayers? but if you ask them did they day their prayers you might be hit on the head" (102). Frankie's comic relief saved the book for me! He frequently includes lively vignettes of his childhood that lighten the subject matter. I constantly found myself laughing at times when I might have been crying. I would truly recommend this book, but not to just anyone. It is a compelling, eye opening, and well-written memoir, but overall, it is incredibly haunting, and sad.
Book Review: Good, not great
Summary: 3 Stars
Angela's Ashes is a heartbreaking story about growing up desperately poor. It is a story about the underside of Irish Catholicism. It is a story of growing up in a totally dysfunctional family. It is an easy read and captures the reader.
I question the validity of this as a memoir. It seems too harsh and too detailed on early life experiences. How much of this memoir consist of family stories that have been filtered by numerous retellings? How much of is diatribe against the English and organized religion? We will never know, but his seems to be the case.
The book is a good and worthwhile read, but I really did not feel that it is too slanted by political correctness.
Book Review: If you kid hates reading, drop this in their lap!
Summary: 5 Stars
I remember reading this book as a freshman in high school after telling my grandmother, who is Irish and an avid reader, that I despised reading. A class assignment asked us to read a book that linked to our heritage, and my grandmother told me this book might just do the trick for me. After looking at its thickness, I almost flung it out the window, but after a few pages this book had me captivated. I loved it!