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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
I received a copy of Angela’s Ashes as a donation for the Little Library I started, and was intrigued enough by the cover touting it as a bestseller and winner of the Pulitzer Prize, I decide to put it aside and read for myself first. Since I’ve been a little busy, I decided to read it via audiobook instead. Hoopla had a copy ready to go, so I checked it out, knowing it would be a quick read at 4.5 hours long.
The novel is a memoir based on the author’s childhood growing up in Ireland and then his immigration to the United States in his late teens. As he introduces his story, McCourt states,
“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived it 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.”
Right off the bat, the narrative is dripping is satire and dry humor. From there, McCourt continues the story of his childhood, from making ends meet and putting food on the table when there was none, to hard work and what it means to be an Irish catholic, to living through typhoid fever. He also talks about typical boyhood memories, such as sibling squabbles, learning about girls, and grown up discussions with his parents. This includes helping search for his drunken father in bars for his mother as a young man.
Despite the more serious themes of Angela’s Ashes, such as classism, cultural and religious bias, and poverty, there’s still plenty of humorous tales to offset the heavier points in the novel. I absolutely adored listening to the author narrate his own memoir, and especially enjoyed his accent. I thought I would have trouble with my listening comprehension because of how quick he spoke and his thick accent, but in truth I had no trouble understanding him and ended up hanging on every word. He also reminded me a bit of Robin Williams in the way that he gave each person in his novel a distinct voice, which was very entertaining. It was fascinating listening to what it was like to be a Irish immigrant working to get to the United States.
Though Angela’s Ashes was published in 1996, this backlist novel is still relevant and riveting. I highly suggest the audiobook for the full effect of McCourt’s tale, but any way you can check out this novel, please give it a read!
The novel is a memoir based on the author’s childhood growing up in Ireland and then his immigration to the United States in his late teens. As he introduces his story, McCourt states,
“When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived it 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.”
Right off the bat, the narrative is dripping is satire and dry humor. From there, McCourt continues the story of his childhood, from making ends meet and putting food on the table when there was none, to hard work and what it means to be an Irish catholic, to living through typhoid fever. He also talks about typical boyhood memories, such as sibling squabbles, learning about girls, and grown up discussions with his parents. This includes helping search for his drunken father in bars for his mother as a young man.
Despite the more serious themes of Angela’s Ashes, such as classism, cultural and religious bias, and poverty, there’s still plenty of humorous tales to offset the heavier points in the novel. I absolutely adored listening to the author narrate his own memoir, and especially enjoyed his accent. I thought I would have trouble with my listening comprehension because of how quick he spoke and his thick accent, but in truth I had no trouble understanding him and ended up hanging on every word. He also reminded me a bit of Robin Williams in the way that he gave each person in his novel a distinct voice, which was very entertaining. It was fascinating listening to what it was like to be a Irish immigrant working to get to the United States.
Though Angela’s Ashes was published in 1996, this backlist novel is still relevant and riveting. I highly suggest the audiobook for the full effect of McCourt’s tale, but any way you can check out this novel, please give it a read!
I hate how well this book was written
I hate how I had to feel all of the emotions because Frank was too young to feel them himself
I hate how he can turn his head to the hypocrisy in his life and absolutely none of the anger comes that Frank almost certainly feels now comes through
I love it
I hate how I had to feel all of the emotions because Frank was too young to feel them himself
I hate how he can turn his head to the hypocrisy in his life and absolutely none of the anger comes that Frank almost certainly feels now comes through
I love it
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
I enjoyed the themes about family, being the “man of the house,” poverty, education, religion, alcohol, etc. etc. but the hyper-focus on discovering sexuality in the second half of the book felt rather excessive. The deep dive into religion and feelings of shame surrounding both sex and poverty was fascinating, and so nuanced and complexly addressed. It was never clear cut. The constant tension he expresses: the loving and hating his father, the pride of poverty, Ireland vs America, the reality (?) and contradictions of religion — all of that was held in such balance, somehow with none of it feeling overwrought. Every part of the novel felt unresolved, which I liked and disliked in equal measures. That felt very honest.
Overall, I really enjoyed it but the amount of focus on sex exploration was too much for my tastes and made me want to just get through it. I would have preferred the gravity and complexity of life covered with themes other than discovering sex is a thing.
Overall, I really enjoyed it but the amount of focus on sex exploration was too much for my tastes and made me want to just get through it. I would have preferred the gravity and complexity of life covered with themes other than discovering sex is a thing.
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
Frank McCourt es sin duda un gran escritor y sobre todo valiente, no cualquier se atreve a contar de esa manera lo que vivió y sobre todo sufrió durante su infancia, tiene un toque de sarcasmo por la forma en la que lo cuenta que sin duda te deja intrigada y con ganas de saber qué más pasó con su vida.
I appreciated the glints of dark humor in the author's reading aloud of the audio book.
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
so good