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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Great writing and very detailed descriptions of life in poverty. I did find the ending to be a bit odd and lacking closure. I also found some of the details within this book to be unnecessary.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Abandonment, War
Minor: Confinement, Genocide, Gore, Infertility, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Antisemitism, Toxic friendship
Takes real talent to make something this tragic be this funny!
Equal parts heartbreaking and hysterically funny. This is an absorbing read.
Frank McCourt's absolutely amazing "Angela's Ashes" covers the full spectrum of human emotion. It shines a spotlight on poverty, alcoholism, fatherhood, motherhood, friendship, sex, and religion so piercing that it will change the way you think about those topics. Has there ever been a book so simultaneously infuriating and hilarious?
Reading "Angela's Ashes" was an experience unlike any other I've had. Both infuriating and hilarious, optimistic and devastating, it will leave you yearning for more. I was reminded of my own childhood at numerous points, not that mine was in any way truly comparable to Mr. McCourt's. No, it was only the wrenching portrait of a child, a family, and a nation so wrecked by the insidiousness of a fanatical, terroristic form of catholicism that made me recall my own experience with religion. It's true, the dark habits the nuns wear in this story serve the same role that a villain's classic black hat would - as identifiers of a special, twisted form of evil. With the way things were going in the lives of the McCourt children, I was expecting an abusive priest to come onto the scene at any moment. The guilt - oh, the guilt! As if the trauma of an alcoholic father and an impoverished childhood weren't enough for young Frankie to have to deal with. The father drank all the baby's money again - bloody hell! Talk about a bad father! Then he just straights up disappears to England, drinks the money away and is never seen from again - at least until the sequel I presume.
Nuns aside, who is the real villain in "Angela's Ashes"? Is it the alcoholic father? The disgraceful Aunt who can't even be bothered to help her own family out? Is it a society that just sits stewing about past wrongs rather than correcting their own present ones? Most incredibly of all, Frank McCourt doesn't cast blame - he looks on the characters in this story of his life, in this story of many lives, without judgement. His is one amazing story.
Reading "Angela's Ashes" was an experience unlike any other I've had. Both infuriating and hilarious, optimistic and devastating, it will leave you yearning for more. I was reminded of my own childhood at numerous points, not that mine was in any way truly comparable to Mr. McCourt's. No, it was only the wrenching portrait of a child, a family, and a nation so wrecked by the insidiousness of a fanatical, terroristic form of catholicism that made me recall my own experience with religion. It's true, the dark habits the nuns wear in this story serve the same role that a villain's classic black hat would - as identifiers of a special, twisted form of evil. With the way things were going in the lives of the McCourt children, I was expecting an abusive priest to come onto the scene at any moment. The guilt - oh, the guilt! As if the trauma of an alcoholic father and an impoverished childhood weren't enough for young Frankie to have to deal with. The father drank all the baby's money again - bloody hell! Talk about a bad father! Then he just straights up disappears to England, drinks the money away and is never seen from again - at least until the sequel I presume.
Nuns aside, who is the real villain in "Angela's Ashes"? Is it the alcoholic father? The disgraceful Aunt who can't even be bothered to help her own family out? Is it a society that just sits stewing about past wrongs rather than correcting their own present ones? Most incredibly of all, Frank McCourt doesn't cast blame - he looks on the characters in this story of his life, in this story of many lives, without judgement. His is one amazing story.
I’m ashamed of myself for not having read this earlier; as it is without a doubt one of the best memoirs I’ve ever read. Frank McCourt recounts, with startling detail, the events of his childhood from originally living in New York, to growing up, poverty-stricken, in Ireland. While the story on the surface seems to be a tragic one, McCourt recounts his life with dry wit and writes in a unique style making his story all the more enjoyable.
Read Full Review: https://mybookbagblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/frank-mccourt-angelas-ashes-1996/
Read Full Review: https://mybookbagblog.wordpress.com/2014/04/07/frank-mccourt-angelas-ashes-1996/
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
Let me first say that this is one of the saddest books that I have ever read. It is also one of the best books that I have ever read. You can read a thousand books and never come across an author with a voice like Frank McCourt. Yes, the content of the memoir is touching, inspiring, and unique, but the execution of the story-the writing-is, in my opinion, what makes this book so brilliant. McCourt manages to write a mature, sophisticated, adversity-ridden story in a child's voice. And it's funny. I'm not sure how he achieved this, but I'm so glad that he did.
I was SO excited about this memoir and thoroughly enjoyed the entirety of the read. Frank McCourt’s writing was fantastic and his life story was remarkable and intriguing. Unfortunately, it seems that he took great liberties in exaggerating, and even falsifying parts of his memoir, even admitting that he made up a particular occurrence in the book. Richard Harris (of Harry Potter fame - he played the original and much better Dumbledore in the movie series), also grew up in Limerick and disputed much of McCourt’s recounting. Another Irish local compiled at least 117 inaccuracies in the memoir, stating McCourt never even worked as a Telegraph boy.
A fantastic book if you ignore the remarkable deception the author employed in garnering a Pulitzer Prize and become a bestselling author.
A fantastic book if you ignore the remarkable deception the author employed in garnering a Pulitzer Prize and become a bestselling author.
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced