Genealogy Books - Angela's Ashes

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: I Tell Ye, I've Been a Wee Bit Stricken With This One
Comment: After I retired from teaching, I was at Borders, looking for something good to read. Angela's Ashes
caught my eye, so I picked it up and began the first page. Needless to say, I didn't have to look
further. Once I got in my car and drove home, I went in the house, sat down, and began once more to
pore over its pages. I tell ye what, me little darlins, I couldn't put this'n down til' it was
finished. I was completely stricken with the sadness of poor little Frankie's life in Limerick,
Ireland, and even to this day I find myself still mulling over and over in my mind, the Irish
dialect within its pages.

Afterwards, I practically begged others to read it, knowing
they would no doubt have the same reaction. Not so. I even loaned my precious copy to a dear
friend. A few days later, she handed it back, saying, "I just couldn't read it. I found it to be
much too depressing." I couldn't believe anyone would refuse to read such a fine piece of
literature, all because they found it to be a bit gloomy. Life isn't always sunshine and roses. We
should familiarize ourselves with the reality of hardship such as Frank McCourt's heartbreaking
childhood. I, too, faced difficult times during my own Appalachian boyhood in the 1940s-'50s;
however, Frank McCourt made me feel as if I had been raised by royalty in comparison to his
seemingly hopeless existence in Limerick. Later, I loaned it to another friend. She told me, "I
stopped reading it. He got too personal in his writing." I thought, "What's wrong with these
people anyway?"

To this day, I'm still seeking others who will read this book and
find the same level of entertainment I felt when I first held it in my hands.

From
the hills of West Virginia, I am...

David Lee Thompson, Author
River of Memories:
An Appalachian Boyhood

Customer Rating:

Summary: It COULD have been good...
Comment: This is one book that I did not expect to enjoy at all. I don't usually like the genre, and the
story didn't sound even a bit interesting. It didn't help that my mom, who had read it before me,
called it "depressing and pathetic". But I had to read it for school, so...what can ya do? />
I'll start by stating the bottom line: I DID enjoy it. I don't agree with the reviewers who
called it boring. It was actually the kind of book that you could read a hundred or so pages every
day and not really get tired of it. "Exciting" may be the wrong word, but I guess it was so easy to
read and interesting enough that it drew me in. The prose is this certain style that I haven't found
in any other book--conversational, not much punctuation, and lots of slang and run-on sentences.
However, this isn't exactly a bad thing. In fact it's one of the things that made the story sort of
"roll off the tongue", if you know what I mean.

Besides boring, it seems a lot of
one-and-two-star reviewers called Angela's Ashes depressing (one of them being my mom). This I can
see, more than boring. However, I personally didn't find it depressing. Sad, yes, but not
depressing. There was enough humor to keep it from being overly-sad. If I were to use one word to
describe Angela's Ashes, it definately wouldn't be "funny." But there were a few quirky things
throughout that made me smile, or even laugh out loud.

So some more positive things to
say about this book...
~McCourt comes across as a likeable character, who you really "know" by
the end of the story. And even in the scenes when he's, um, a little less likeable, there's still
something in him that you can relate too.
~It paints a good picture of a childhood. Which, in
the end, is what the author wanted to do.
~It's the first book that really-truly-genuinely
made me think, "Wow. I've got it really good, ya know that?". This is the only book I've ever read
that actually made me greatful for what I have. Theoretically, I suppose, I've read a lot of books
that SHOULD have made me feel this way. But I think a book really has to be GOOD to get through to
you in this way. And the author cannot present his life, however tough it may be, in a manner that
seems to beg for pity. Angela's Ashes fit these criteria.

Sounds good, right? But now I
have to go into why I gave the book only three stars.

The first, and by far the most
minor, of my complaints is that Angela, as a character, was never well developed, especially
considering the book was named after her. She had one personality trait, which I guess you might say
was "desperate".

But the main reason I gave this book such a low rating is that it
REALLY went downhill near the end. It started when he first told about how he had been "interfering
with himself", to use the author's own words, and how it was a mortal sin, and oh God I'm gonna go
to Hell, but I couldn't stop looking at the girls in their underwear in the magazines. First of all,
to put it simply, it's just TOO MUCH INFORMATION. I do not WANT to know about you interfering with
yourself, it's not a subject that I WANT to read about (as I'm sure you can imagine). Secondly, he
goes into great detail. It's not that I haven't read "explicit" stuff before, but a couple of the
R-rated scenes in this book I really think the author could've left out, without taking anything
whatsoever from the quality of the story. I get that he's just telling it how it was, but there is
something called good taste. And thirdly, content aside, it just became repetitive, like a few other
things in this book (his father's drinking, for one). After a while, I found myself thinking, "Oh
no, not again!"

But the real disappointment was the VERY last scene in the book, in
which 19-year-old McCourt has a fling with a married woman at a party upon returning to America. I
mean, what kind of way is that to end an otherwise fairly good book? The reason for putting this in,
as the author implies, is that it shows how he no longer had to worry about it being a sin, and that
he wouldn't have cared if "the pope himself" had seen him. As I read this, I was thinking "Well,
maybe you SHOULD care!" And then you wonder what McCourt is trying to say, and what this says about
him as a person, and it kind of puts a damper on the tone of the whole book, making you wonder if
McCourt really IS such a likeable character(NOT a good thing to do in the last scene!) Even looking
past the fact of WHAT exactly is portrayed in this scene, I think he should've ended with something
redeeming or inspirational or even SAD, just to get some kind of emotion from readers (yes, emotion
is good!).

Anyway, taking everything into consideration, I'd say this rounds off into a
fairly average 3-star book. Worthy of the Pulitzer Prize? No. Worthy of your time? Yes. Just, by all
means, don't expect it to be perfect.

Customer Rating:

Summary: The Greatest Memoir Ever Written
Comment: It's a shame that this book was written over 10 years ago and I've only discovered it now (but then
I would've probably been too young to appreciate the intrinsic value of the novel.)Angela's Ashes
has stirred up so many emotions inside me, emotions that I didn't even know existed. The book just
deals with so many themes and issues in depth, you get the feel that you're actually there and grew
up in those times. But throughout all the characters difficulties you can't help but keep that
occasional grin on your face because of Frank McCourt's ability to find humor in these dire
situations. This book was so remarkable 3/4 of the way through I really didn't want it to end so I
tried to stall just to savor the last moments. I have nothing but praise for the author with his
technique and style of storytelling combined with that ever prevalent Irish wit.Angella's Ashes is
one of those books that no one should go through life without reading. Yes it's that good.

Customer Rating:

Summary: complete
Comment: It is so fascinating to read the book which combines humor, sadness, cruelty, and everything else.
What touched me the most was the fact how Frank McCourt writes the events from the child's point of
view... such simple things that catch the attention of a child and how different and full of
mysteries life seems when you are young. Honesty to the fullest in this memoir! (sometimes maybe a
bit too much) I also enjoyed the presentation of irish life! and how ironic it seems that no matter
how poor you are you just don't want to admit it! (the moment when Frank's father refuses to go
gather coal, and of course many others)

enjoy

Customer Rating:

Summary: Wonderful snapshot of life.
Comment: Loved it! I read it while still in high school and I was moved by this story. Being of Irish
ancestory myself, I felt like a piece of my own families history was intertwined within this book.
Wonderful and thought provoking. I believe that I shed a tear while reading this. Recommend it to
anyone trying to capture the essance of what it means to be an immigrant.

Back to Angela's Ashes

Showing page 19 of 366
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 |
16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 |
31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 |
46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 |
61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 |
76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 |
91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | 100 | 101 | 102 | 103 | 104 | 105 |
106 | 107 | 108 | 109 | 110 | 111 | 112 | 113 | 114 | 115 | 116 | 117 | 118 | 119 | 120 |
121 | 122 | 123 | 124 | 125 | 126 | 127 | 128 | 129 | 130 | 131 | 132 | 133 | 134 | 135 |
136 | 137 | 138 | 139 | 140 | 141 | 142 | 143 | 144 | 145 | 146 | 147 | 148 | 149 | 150 |
151 | 152 | 153 | 154 | 155 | 156 | 157 | 158 | 159 | 160 | 161 | 162 | 163 | 164 | 165 |
166 | 167 | 168 | 169 | 170 | 171 | 172 | 173 | 174 | 175 | 176 | 177 | 178 | 179 | 180 |
181 | 182 | 183 | 184 | 185 | 186 | 187 | 188 | 189 | 190 | 191 | 192 | 193 | 194 | 195 |
196 | 197 | 198 | 199 | 200 | 201 | 202 | 203 | 204 | 205 | 206 | 207 | 208 | 209 | 210 |
211 | 212 | 213 | 214 | 215 | 216 | 217 | 218 | 219 | 220 | 221 | 222 | 223 | 224 | 225 |
226 | 227 | 228 | 229 | 230 | 231 | 232 | 233 | 234 | 235 | 236 | 237 | 238 | 239 | 240 |
241 | 242 | 243 | 244 | 245 | 246 | 247 | 248 | 249 | 250 | 251 | 252 | 253 | 254 | 255 |
256 | 257 | 258 | 259 | 260 | 261 | 262 | 263 | 264 | 265 | 266 | 267 | 268 | 269 | 270 |
271 | 272 | 273 | 274 | 275 | 276 | 277 | 278 | 279 | 280 | 281 | 282 | 283 | 284 | 285 |
286 | 287 | 288 | 289 | 290 | 291 | 292 | 293 | 294 | 295 | 296 | 297 | 298 | 299 | 300 |
301 | 302 | 303 | 304 | 305 | 306 | 307 | 308 | 309 | 310 | 311 | 312 | 313 | 314 | 315 |
316 | 317 | 318 | 319 | 320 | 321 | 322 | 323 | 324 | 325 | 326 | 327 | 328 | 329 | 330 |
331 | 332 | 333 | 334 | 335 | 336 | 337 | 338 | 339 | 340 | 341 | 342 | 343 | 344 | 345 |
346 | 347 | 348 | 349 | 350 | 351 | 352 | 353 | 354 | 355 | 356 | 357 | 358 | 359 | 360 |
361 | 362 | 363 | 364 | 365 | 366 |