“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.” So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish … Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank’s mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank’s father, Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy — exasperating, irresponsible and beguiling– does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story. Frank lives for his father’s tales of Cuchulain, who saved Ireland, and of the Angel on the Seventh Step, who brings his mother babies. Perhaps it is story that accounts for Frank’s survival. Wearing rags for diapers, begging a pig’s head for Christmas dinner and gathering coal from the roadside to light a fire, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors–yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness. Angela’s Ashes, imbued on every page with Frank McCourt’s astounding humor and compassion, is a glorious book that bears all the marks of a classic.
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historical insightful story
Fabulous book. So well worth reading. A true story about a very difficult and nearly unbelievable childhood in Ireland. There is poor and then there is destitute. It is hard to believe how these children managed to survive such difficult times.
If you’re prone to depression, don’t read this book.
It opens one’s eyes to the Irish potato famine and the plight of the poor Irish.
I absolutely loved the adventures of Frank McCourt. It was like a trip to Ireland, through a poor child’s eyes.
This book really gave me a look at true poverty and broadened my world view.
I enjoyed this story so much that I have read it more than once. It made me want to hold my children closer realizing that not all babies that are birthed aren’t loved.
Read this great book years ago. It still resonates with me. As I read it, I could hear the lilt of my nana’s brogue. I remember her Irish sisters didn’t appreciate the sad representation of our Emerald Isle.
I loved this book so much that I bought a hard copy to keep. The poignancy of Frank McCourt’s telling of his early life will grip your heart hard. As the descendant of poor Irish immigrants, I was always interested in life in Ireland and the effects of the various issues that seemed to plague them, and in those who came to America seeking more. It …
A true story of a young lad and his family. The story takes place in Ireland during famine. The father is a drunk and unable to provide shelter, clothing and food. The story is told through the eyes of the author. You endure the hunger, pain, and family misfortune. The strength of this young lad to find his way and his subsequent journey to …
Loved reading this. As I was growing up, my Irish war-bride mother always said, “remember, the children are starving in Ireland.” This book brought it to life in an incredibly warm memoir.
I did not like the book. Although this particular story was or was not fictional it was too realistic not to have been true for some poor Catholic Irish family. I fear that in reality it was true for many people at that time in history. Too sad not to have been true for some people in that time of history.
Well-written and memorable. One of my favorites of all time.
Dark and depressing.
One of the best books I ever read
This was such a tragic sad read.
Written with true characters. Will someone please help them.
The MOST depressing book I have ever opened. I couldn’t finish it.
Frank McCourt’s recollections of his family is an account that often brings you to tears, but sometimes makes you laugh till you cry. Engaging and readable as they come, a memoir that reads like a novel.
An excellent memoir. Much better than McCourt’s follow-up, “‘Tis.”