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Spotlight customer reviews:
 Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Great book but tough to believe it is a memoir.....
Comment: This is a great book no doubt. The recollection of his childhood with added humor which only
hindsight can provide is truly heartrending. No child in this world deserves to grow through this.
But I have my own doubts whether all the content was real and not a fiction of his imagination. I
did ask some Irish immigrants to the US and they were upset about the stereotyping of the hard nosed
Irish Catholic in this book. In many parts, the book seemed to offer whatever you want to hear and
not what actually transpired.

I read a very similar book about poverty in India told with a
distinct sense of humor - "A Fine Balance" by Rohington Mistry. If you enjoyed Angela's Ashes then
you will definitely like this one.

Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: Wonderful tale that will be loved by all who read it!
Comment: Mr. McCourt describes his life in Limerick, Ireland. WOW! What a book. His story is incredible and
really demonstrates the true greatness of the human spirit. A MUST READ!
Customer Rating: Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5Average rating of 4/5
Summary: Angela's Ashes
Comment: "When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was of course, a
miserable childhood."
Frank McCourt expresses his life emotionally and physically through his
novel, Angela's Ashes. Using his Irish dialect, he helps readers to experience his life full of
poverty, death, sickness and simple pleasures.
Resulting in the death of their precious baby
girl, his family moved back to their homeland, Ireland. Their hope for a better life perished before
their eyes. Malachy, the father, continued to "drink away the wages" at the local pubs with the
money they rarely had. Angela, the mother continued to give birth to their children that they
couldn't support. Over the next fifteen years and six brothers and sisters later, Frank found ways
to make the worst times better. He worked at an early age after his father vanished to England, and
even did the simple things like taking dance lessons to please his mother. Finally, by the age of
nineteen, Frank had earned enough money to fulfill his dream of going back to America for a future
full of opportunities.
We feel that Frank is one of the most determinded characters that we read
about. He was able to see beyond the poverty, hunger and necessities in order to make him and his
family's dreams come true.
Angela's Ashes represents many different types of emotions. Times of
need brought tears to our eyes, while a few experiences and comments made us laugh at his humor. His
variety of vocabulary was endless, and the writing style was very detailed. He did a wonderful job
of drawing the reader into each environment, and almost allowing us to experience his feelings
ourselves.
A negative aspect of this book was the lack of quotations when a character spoke. Only
a few quotes were used, and it confused us, the readers. It left us trying to figure out in our own
minds if someone was either saying it, or thinking it. Also, the beginning of the novel seemed to be
drawn out much more than necessary. McCourt gave us more information than we actually needed.
All
around, Angela's Ashes was a depressing story. It introduced us to a life during the Depression,
from people without an American point of view. It represented the lives of many who suffered in this
time of need and desperation, and how they overcame their problems in order to make their dreams
come true.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: "A Burning Portrait: Angela's Ashes"
Comment: A Burning Portrait: Angela's Ashes
Rebecca Ginsberg
Angela's Ashes is the profound,
heart-warming autobiography of Frank McCourt, who describes the harsh conditions of his impoverished
childhood in both America and Ireland. His story begins in Brooklyn during the time of the
Depression. His recent immigrant parents, Angela and Malachy, force Frank to take care of his
younger siblings, and watch them die. He must be his mother's strength as she waits for her drunken
husband to come home every night without food. Little Frank continues to have hope as he his family
moves to his parent's homeland of Ireland. As his dreams of a rich life in his new home diminish
due to his father's continual drunkenness, he is able to find optimism in his father's tales of
Cuchulian, an ancient heroic Irishman who saved his country. Every week Angela is forced to beg to
a council for food and clothing. Because of the overwhelming poverty in their small town Frank
learns to live with shoes repaired with tires, a pig's head for Christmas dinner, and having to take
two jobs to provide for his family.
This book is recommended because of the genius of Frank
McCourt's writing. He is able to capture the essence of a poor Irishman's life with humor, satire,
and strife, while at the same time telling a touching story. As he writes of his everyday life the
accents and culture of the Irish can be felt. McCourt also brings out diverse emotions, from
laughing at his father who would make him wake up at all hours of the night to sing about his "Pride
for Ireland" to crying as Malachy holds his dead daughter in his arms due to lack of medical
attention. This book also opens one's eyes to the life of poverty, and the obstacles that must be
overcome in order to survive. Before reading this account, I was never aware of the struggles that
people must go through if they do not have money. The fact that Angela is forced to get down on her
hands and knees and had to beg for money to go to the doctor is preposterous. I was educated and my
eyes were opened to a whole new world as I read the horrific details of having to live in solely the
upstairs of a house because of flooding on the first floor of the poorest lane in Limerick,
Ireland.
While this book is entertaining and heartfelt, it is also incredibly depressing.
Learning about the grim realities of Frank McCourt's childhood is extremely difficult. I often
would have to put the book down because of the intense sadness that came through the details of his
life. Particularly memorable was Frank's description of the extra jobs he is forced to take in
order to provide for him and his family. The fact that the McCourts are forced to plead for boots
three sizes too big, and scrounge for the next meal is sickening and extremely sad. Reading about
the hunger they were forced to go through because of a father's addiction really stings the
heart.
Angela's Ashes makes me realize how petty the obstacles are in my life, and how
inspiring Frank McCourt is to have survived such a life, and then to go on and win a Pulitzer Prize.
When anyone is feeling sorry for himself he should pick up this book, and realize how fortunate
most of us really are. This memoir is a superb portrayal of the difficult life uneducated poor
people lead in order to survive, while at the same time providing insight into the Irish culture,
and creating a moving, earnest story.
Customer Rating: Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5Average rating of 5/5
Summary: "A Burning Portrait: Angela's Ashes"
Comment: A Burning Portrait: Angela's Ashes
Rebecca Ginsberg
Angela's Ashes is the profound,
heart-warming autobiography of Frank McCourt, who describes the harsh conditions of his impoverished
childhood in both America and Ireland. His story begins in Brooklyn during the time of the
Depression. His recent immigrant parents, Angela and Malachy, force Frank to take care of his
younger siblings, and watch them die. He must be his mother's strength as she waits for her drunken
husband to come home every night without food. Little Frank continues to have hope as he his family
moves to his parent's homeland of Ireland. As his dreams of a rich life in his new home diminish
due to his father's continual drunkenness, he is able to find optimism in his father's tales of
Cuchulian, an ancient heroic Irishman who saved his country. Every week Angela is forced to beg to
a council for food and clothing. Because of the overwhelming poverty in their small town Frank
learns to live with shoes repaired with tires, a pig's head for Christmas dinner, and having to take
two jobs to provide for his family.
This book is recommended because of the genius of Frank
McCourt's writing. He is able to capture the essence of a poor Irishman's life with humor, satire,
and strife, while at the same time telling a touching story. As he writes of his everyday life the
accents and culture of the Irish can be felt. McCourt also brings out diverse emotions, from
laughing at his father who would make him wake up at all hours of the night to sing about his "Pride
for Ireland" to crying as Malachy holds his dead daughter in his arms due to lack of medical
attention. This book also opens one's eyes to the life of poverty, and the obstacles that must be
overcome in order to survive. Before reading this account, I was never aware of the struggles that
people must go through if they do not have money. The fact that Angela is forced to get down on her
hands and knees and had to beg for money to go to the doctor is preposterous. I was educated and my
eyes were opened to a whole new world as I read the horrific details of having to live in solely the
upstairs of a house because of flooding on the first floor of the poorest lane in Limerick,
Ireland.
While this book is entertaining and heartfelt, it is also incredibly depressing.
Learning about the grim realities of Frank McCourt's childhood is extremely difficult. I often
would have to put the book down because of the intense sadness that came through the details of his
life. Particularly memorable was Frank's description of the extra jobs he is forced to take in
order to provide for him and his family. The fact that the McCourts are forced to plead for boots
three sizes too big, and scrounge for the next meal is sickening and extremely sad. Reading about
the hunger they were forced to go through because of a father's addiction really stings the
heart.
Angela's Ashes makes me realize how petty the obstacles are in my life, and how
inspiring Frank McCourt is to have survived such a life, and then to go on and win a Pulitzer Prize.
When anyone is feeling sorry for himself he should pick up this book, and realize how fortunate
most of us really are. This memoir is a superb portrayal of the difficult life uneducated poor
people lead in order to survive, while at the same time providing insight into the Irish culture,
and creating a moving, earnest story.

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