Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
I was actually a bit skeptical when this was suggested as a read-along, I'd read it before but it had been a long time and not much had stuck with me. However, I enjoyed it greatly and thought the voice of young Frank was very well done.
I really loved this novel! It is such a vivid depiction of impoverished life in Ireland, or impoverished life as a young boy, as he tries to make sense of the world. <3
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
McCourt lets the reader know before committing to this book, that you're in for a lyrical and depressing tale. What you don't anticipate is being transported to the wet, dirty lanes of Limerick and still being thoroughly amused. "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."
I had attempted to read this book about 4 times. I really couldn't get past McCourt's fast-paced sing-song. However, I've always believed that sometimes you may not be in the best place to appreciate a book. This accounts for the reason why I start and stop books on a dime. I prefer to leave it unread than finish it and completely miss the author's message.
McCourt's message, in my opinion? At face value, it may seem like an unemotional account of getting out of Ireland and leaving behind a sad childhood and memories. Upon further thought, I realized how Catholicism, guilt, and poverty were a central theme and inextricably related. With TB claiming the lives of countless people, including several of McCourt's siblings, an alcoholic father, and cruelty from neighbors and relatives, it's a wonder that McCourt could still make me laugh aloud with his cynical eye for detail. I was touched by his mother's heroic attempts to provide for her family. She did what she could, which is something to be said for a woman in 1930's Ireland. Also, I fell in love with each and every McCourt boy. They had such a deep, protective love for one another; it was never begrudging. It warmed my heart. I'll be sure to give the sequel 'Tis a read in the future.
I had attempted to read this book about 4 times. I really couldn't get past McCourt's fast-paced sing-song. However, I've always believed that sometimes you may not be in the best place to appreciate a book. This accounts for the reason why I start and stop books on a dime. I prefer to leave it unread than finish it and completely miss the author's message.
McCourt's message, in my opinion? At face value, it may seem like an unemotional account of getting out of Ireland and leaving behind a sad childhood and memories. Upon further thought, I realized how Catholicism, guilt, and poverty were a central theme and inextricably related. With TB claiming the lives of countless people, including several of McCourt's siblings, an alcoholic father, and cruelty from neighbors and relatives, it's a wonder that McCourt could still make me laugh aloud with his cynical eye for detail. I was touched by his mother's heroic attempts to provide for her family. She did what she could, which is something to be said for a woman in 1930's Ireland. Also, I fell in love with each and every McCourt boy. They had such a deep, protective love for one another; it was never begrudging. It warmed my heart. I'll be sure to give the sequel 'Tis a read in the future.
Oh so very depressing. It took me ages to finish and I read several books in between to lift my mood after reading some of Angela's Ashes.
A strong argument for social welfare, birth control, and divorce, this is the frankly horrifying story of McCourt's childhood. As one of the charity workers come to inspect their home offers, it's more akin to life in a Calcutta slum than anything else. (I wanted to reach through the pages and slap the useless father - don't know where he ended up, but I hope it's somewhere rotten.) The stranglehold religion had on that culture drags like an anchor. Reading about how teenage McCourt had to go around his delivery job ripping out newspaper pages that related to contraception was deeply frustrating, given how badly the entire impoverished community was in need of it.
It's kind of astonishing to think that a life like this is living memory for some - although clearly it is for many still in less developed parts of the world.
The real strength of this story, though, lies in the voice. It'd be easy for this to descend into misery-porn, and yet it doesn't. That's due to the very controlled narrative. It reads as easy and ignorant, a perfect child's voice, but it can't have been a simple thing to replicate. A lot going on under the surface there I think.
It's kind of astonishing to think that a life like this is living memory for some - although clearly it is for many still in less developed parts of the world.
The real strength of this story, though, lies in the voice. It'd be easy for this to descend into misery-porn, and yet it doesn't. That's due to the very controlled narrative. It reads as easy and ignorant, a perfect child's voice, but it can't have been a simple thing to replicate. A lot going on under the surface there I think.
Decent, but not something that overly impressed me. Some of the dialogue got on my nerves (a bit too much tis, wee and och). It also got a bit repetitive and I found very little to be redeeming about it. I have no interest in reading anymore of his books though; this was enough.