Genealogy Books - Angela's Ashes

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: In a different light
Comment: Almost everyone who's read Angela's Ashes praises it as one of the best autobiographies/memoirs ever
- a statement I would hesitate to agree with. Dont get me wrong: I do think it's a very good book.
The best thing about Angel's Ashes is its lack of sorrowfulness - you dont see an author sobbing
over a painful childhood and asking for your sympathy. Instead it's treated with great humor (this
book does have some of the funniest passages you'd read in a serious autobiographies) and a lack of
egoism. The narrator describes things for what they are and show a geniune interests in the
psychologies of others. Even when it comes to an unsympathetic character, the protrait is drawn with
great understanding and warmth. The oceanic existence of the child is particularly well-done, with
great immediacy, that we get drawn into his universe in great sympathy. These are among the greatest
achievements an autobiographer can have.
The only thing I am uncomfortable with is the ending.
It's a very deliberate construction of McCourt 'giving up' Ireland (symbolized by the Priest) for
U.S. and its values (think of the woman who grabs him - and the affirmative answer he gives to the
question: isn't America wonderful?). The book ends well - but I can't get rid of the feeling that it
is a bit too 'market-oriented', which undermines the previous narrative a little bit when you go
back to read it again.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Angela's Ashes Review
Comment: After I read the book, Angela's Ashes, I felt as though I had lived and experienced a whole
different life. This new life, was in Ireland, and I faced the same harships as the protagonist,
Frank McCourt, went through. This book made me realize that you should be happy with the little
things in life that you take for granted, because some people might not even have those items. I
can't even express in words, what kind of impression this book made on me. I think that this has to
be in the top 3 of my favorite books. I learned a lot about the culture and values of this family,
which makes it a book worth reading.

Customer Rating:

Summary: great book
Comment: the story of a young boy named frank mccort who is born in america and moves with his family to
ireland. the time is depression era amercia and things are not much better when they move to
ireland. sometimes funny, sometimes stark and horrifyingly sad. this book is a great read about
the poor and destitute life of young frank mccourt.
my only question is this: if franks's
mother(angela) is so poor then why in the world would she keep reproducing? they cannot afford to
eat themselves and yet they crank out the babies. even after some of their children die of various
disease/starvation, they continue to reproduce.
other than that, the book is ok, showing
that even in the worst of circumstances there is fun to be had and laughing to be done. this book
will make you laugh and cry.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Katy's Review of Angela's Ashes
Comment: My book is called Angela's Ashes, it is by Frank McCourt. I found my book very interesting, because
it was rough to learn that they were so poor. I really liked the spirit Frankie and his family had
for Ireland and their heritage. I agreed with Frankie about how the most miserable childhood is the
Irish childhood, and worse yet the Irish Catholic childhood. Sometimes things would get so bad to
the point were he thought he couldn't go on. I felt that Ireland is somewhat similar to what America
was once, when we were divided into the Confederacy and the Union. It angered me to read about how
everyone was critical about people, and where they were from. For example on page 247 Frank said,
"She calls me scabby eyes, she says I'm the spitting image of my father, I have the odd manner, I
have the sneaky air of a northern Presbyterian, I'll probably grow up and build an alter to Oliver
Cromwell himself, I'll run off and marry an English tart and cover my house with pictures of the
royal family." It seemed as if most Irish people were biased where the McCourts lived, they were so
particular. In addition, I didn't understand why even just one person would be smart enough to not
drink or smoke. And why didn't anyone even limit the number of drinks a person could have? I felt
really sorry for all the people of Limerick because not only were they in poverty, but also they
were so unhappy from getting drunk too often.
In Angela's Ashes the theme or message that the
author was trying to portray was to make the best of your situation and be happy with it. Frank and
his brothers were so excited when they got a piece of toffee or went to the Lyric Cinema; it seemed
to me like it was the best thing in the world to them. I definitely agree with that. I feel it's so
important to make everything special regardless of how horrible the conditions. This book doesn't
relate to my life, but I learned so much from it like about how what life is like for people with a
completely different childhood than mine. There seemed to always be one more challenge or problem
that Frank had to face, which I had never had to deal with. As I read more I became more thankful
for the little things that came upon him, and for what I have experienced growing up.
I would
recommend this book to people who can handle reading anything sad, and have an interest in other
cultures. This book was very well written and realistic. I became involved in it, and couldn't stop
reading. This book, Angela's Ashes, is a great true story.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Why you should read Angela's Ashes
Comment: I believe Angela's Ashes is a great story and very worthwhile to read. Frank McCourt's dreams of
growing out of poverty and making a better life for himself sends the story on a whirlwind of
tragedies and hilarious happenings. He is such a strong character for supporting his family, his
dreams, and himself. Without Frank, I do not believe the McCourt's would have survived the way they
did. His story is truly inspirational and proves that anything is possible as long as you keep your
dreams alive.

Back to Angela's Ashes

Showing page 56 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 |