Genealogy Books - Angela's Ashes

Spotlight customer reviews:
Customer Rating:

Summary: my favorite biography ever
Comment: I love stories that have the rare ability to make you laugh and cry in the same sentence. This book
has it. McCourt is so funny and quirky and at the same he has no problems revealing his
heart-wrenching vulnerabilities... in all their sorrow. It really is a beautiful story and remains
in my top ten list even today.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Angela's Ashes
Comment: Angela's Ashes, is a compelling memoir written by Frank McCourt, that tells the story of what it is
like to grow up in the "miserable Irish Catholic childhood," and the adversities one faces on a
daily basis. Born in Brooklyn, New York in 1930, Frank's family soon moves back to Limerick, Ireland
where the McCourt's are plagued with even more hardships, such as the realities of poverty and the
cruelties of dealing with an alcoholic father.
Frank describes his childhood as a time of
great deprivation; however, he still manages to find time for adventure and humor as he copes with
his troubles at home. Malachy, Frank's father, is usually the cause of his mother, Angela's,
unhappiness as he shatters her dreams of raising a healthy family with a supportive husband by
drinking away the families' money for food and clothing. Frank observes the sorrow that lingers
through his home as another week goes by without support from Malachy: "Mam turns toward the dead
ashes in the fire and sucks at the last bit of goodness in the Woodbine butt caught between the
brown thumb and the burnt middle finger. Michael wants to know if we're having fish and chips
tonight because he's hungry. Mam says, Next week, love, and he goes back out to play in the lane."
Although Malachy's alcoholism is one of the most prominent setbacks for the McCourt family and their
futures, Frank is still able to love his father as his exciting stories and folktales about Irish
heroes not only entertain Frank, but give him a dream and hope for a better life. Because Malachy is
unemployed and drinks away any money that he earns, the McCourt's are left with nothing and nowhere
to turn but to public assistance and welfare, which Frank is deeply ashamed of. He explains that he
would rather steal then beg to survive. This is because being able to pay for one's food brings
Frank pride and self-respect as he states that, "There's nothing worse in the world than to owe and
be beholden to someone." Frank's concerns for his family are also sparked by the other kids at
school who tease and laugh at him for having odd-looking shoes as his have been repaired using
rubber tires because his family could not afford to buy new ones. In addition to the financial
problems, the impoverished neighborhoods of Limerick are home to many fatal diseases and when three
McCourt children die, Angela is overwhelmed with agony and stress and she immediately falls into a
state of depression, which affects the rest of the family as well, especially Frank. Within time and
the onset World War II approaching, Frank begins working for a series of men in order to support his
family when his father fails to do so. Frank's new sense of responsibility gives him the pride and
confidence he needs to start a new life in a different world, breaking the cycle of his mother,
father, and relatives in Ireland.
Angela's Ashes is the true recollection of a boy who starts
out with nothing, but through sacrifice, determination, and a never-ending dream, is able to thrive,
putting the past behind to make room for a new beginning. The lessons and realizations that are
found throughout the story remain with you long after you close the book. I have come to appreciate
all the little things in life that before I had always taken for granted. There are parts where
Frank will make you laugh out loud through his wit and humor, however, there are also times where
the struggles and accounts are so painfully devastating that the novel can sometimes become very
difficult to read. Without Frank's way of finding humor in even the most tragic of times, I
truthfully think I may have put the book down, but I'm glad I didn't. Frank's writing is vivid,
impressionable, and certainly everlasting.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Surviving the Great Depression in Ireland
Comment: This is a unique memoir that harkens back to the privations and hardships previously described in
the novels of Charles Dickens. The author Frank McCourt began his reflections while preparing to
return his mother's cremains to her native Ireland for burial. Hence, the title "Angela's Ashes."
The loss of his mother resulted in this award winning book.

Although McCourt was a
native of New York, during the early years of the Great Depression his Irish immigrant parents made
the fateful decision to leave the United States in the mistaken belief that their prospects would be
better if they returned to Ireland. As McCourt wrote, they should never have left America. The
grinding poverty that they experienced upon their return to Limerick proved to be far worse than the
hard times that the impoverished family had known in New York. Ireland lacked the ability to provide
any of the relief measures available to America's poor. Relations between the Irish Free State and
Great Britain were bad throughout the period of McCourt's childhood and the economic sanctions
imposed by the British on Irish exports made bad matters worse.

The entire family
had to live in a tiny council home, which was little more than a hovel, opposite the communal
lavatory which served the residents of an entire street. Every occupant of the block had to empty
their slop buckets into the same filthy commode. Whenever the plumbing failed or heavy rains flooded
their residence, the filthy sewage would back up into the McCourt's living quarters.
/>McCourt's alcoholic father was originally from Ulster. His in laws never fully accepted him nor
did they stop criticizing his wife for having married a Northerner. He struggled to support his
family, but he was an unreliable drunkard in a time when the most reliable men were hard pressed to
remain employed. The family frequently tried to subsist on the minimal dole available from the
Dublin government and forced to beg for charity from the St. Vincent DePaul Society. In order to
obtain this meager assistance, applicants were subjected to humiliating inquiries.
The
McCourts were oftentimes without the basic necessities of life and constantly poorly fed and
clothed. Eventually, McCourt's father deserted his wife and children. Then things got appreciably
worse. Frank McCourt counted himself lucky if he had a meal of potatoes. His mother's sole luxury
was borrowing or finding a penny with which to buy a Woodbine cigarette.

There is
much to recommend in this autobiography, but it is not easy to read. McCourt does not follow
conventional rules of punctuation. He never uses quotation marks, so it is confusing for the reader
to understand what words were spoken and what words represent internal thoughts. There is a good
deal of repressed anger in the book. Under the political leadership of Eamon De Valera, the role of
the Catholic Church was emphasized in Ireland's political and cultural institutions. McCourt was
naturally embittered by his impoverished childhood and his residual resentment for the Church is
obvious.

Ultimately, this book is a testament to the survival of the human spirit.
McCourt is able to escape from Limerick and return to New York and begin a new life. There is some
humor to be found amongst the buckets of salty tears, vomit, feces and spilt pints of Guinness, but
this book is devoid of the Irish travel brochure romance that is so familiar to Irish-Americans.
McCourt and his family (his brother is character actor Malachy McCourt) are to be admired and
respected for their indominatable spirits. Lesser persons would have been broken and destroyed by
such trials.

Customer Rating:

Summary: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
Comment: "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.

Customer Rating:

Summary: A Home Run
Comment: "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." And so the story begins. Taking place during the Great Depression and WW II, Frank
McCourt does a remarkable job of reflecting on the harsh times he and his family experienced in his
memoir, Angela's Ashes. Born in Brooklyn, New York, Frank was introduced to a life filled with
trouble and doubt; anger and tragedy. When he was just four years old, Frank's parents, Angela and
Malachy, move back to Ireland, ultimately ending up in Limerick. Hoping to get a fresh start in
Ireland, Angela is then disappointed when Malachy consistently drinks away the dole money, leaving
her to beg at local charities and organizations. Things only get worse when Frank recalls seeing
his baby sister die in his mother's arms, and not soon after his younger brother, Oliver, dies of a
cold and Angela goes through stages of depression. Frank and his mother clearly see their father's
flaws; his selfishness and arrogance, though they are forgiving and eventually always offer him more
chances. The McCourt's begin to grow weary; poverty has stricken their family and much of Ireland.
When the McCourt's have decided they no longer can live in their tiny apartment with one lavatory
for many families next to their doorway, they unanimously decide it is time for Malachy to travel to
England for the more apparent opportunities that do not exist in Ireland. Anxiously planning how
they will spend the money their father sends home the first week, the McCourt children are thwarted
when the telegram boy has nothing for them; and does not for the next few weeks. When the times get
tougher, Frank and his family are forced to move in with their cousin, who they soon learn is
abusive. When Frank learns that his cousin and his mother are having sex, he finds it hard to look
at his mother the same way, so he decides to run away. Ultimately, Frank fulfills his dream at the
end of the text, and he opens a new chapter of his life with an optimistic view.
Though this
astounding memoir focuses on terrible times the McCourt family lived through, McCourt writes with
humor and sarcasm to lighten the reading. He portrays the disappointment, tragedy, and special bond
this family shares exceptionally through the text. McCourt adds dole and ironic humor to his
devastating past, "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It's been a minute since my last
confession." He characterizes each family member and acquaintance through aggressive dialogue and
unique mannerisms.
McCourt hits a home run with this book in every way, as he reflects on
the tragic past of his childhood. You will shut this book with knowledge of a difficult time in
history for Ireland, and empathy and appreciation for those who struggled greatly. Ultimately, it
is truly a page turner that leaves you thirsting for more.

Nina Demmerle

Greenwich, Connecticut

Back to Angela's Ashes

Showing page 6 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 |