Angela's Ashes (AUDIO CASSETTE)

Rating:
Summary: Worth the Effort! :-)
Review: I knew about this book long before I received it in my Christmas stocking late last month. This was a highly enjoyable, sometimes depressing/sad, book to read. I had to invent time to read this book. On the way to work, during lunch, between meetings, late in the evening. Well worth it! :-)

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read
Review: Once I started this book, I just couldn't put it down. Though others may find it gloomy, but it is fascinating to see how people survived such tragedies. I can't imagine how they can make this into a movie however, because the way it is written is what makes it most interesting.

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Summary: Touching and honest...
Review: I really truly didn't wish to read this book at first, wondering if i would find it to be both inspiring and entertaining in one package. I eventually picked it up off my "i'm going to read that later" shelf and just read it, finding it to be thought prevoking and beautiful. What surprised me greatly though...was it was also very amusing at times...it made me laugh. That was unexpected to say the least and it made the book more enjoyable and interesting to read. This book is beautiful and touching, and sometimes, when it makes you sad, you have to remind yourself that this is about a man's life...and it touches your heart even more. Worth the money...worth the read.

Rating:
Summary: Very touching
Review: Frank McCourt is a wonderfull story teller.I can almost hear that Irish accent as i read this book! Very touching,funny,sad,many emotions felt while reading this book.Yes,Frank had a depressing childhood but he shares it with us in a very colourful way.There's no doubt that the poverty he lived in was appaling but this book is not just a story where another Irish child grows up in a slum and goes nowhere.He shares his dreams,his thoughts,his longing to be someone and go somewhere. He tells this story in such a delightful way that you can't help reading on.For those of you who cannot hear an Irish speaking voice in your head I recommend you listen to this on the cassette that is available.This book is very moving and very well written.If you liked this book then please read the follow on called 'Tis.

Rating:
Summary: My life will never be the same
Review: From the very first page until the last, I was living in a different world. McCourt's style of writing puts you into a trance. Everything I experienced, saw and heard during the time I was reading this heroric story, was profound.How this man can reach back into his childhood memories and replay events with such detail and emotion, as if they were yesterday, is soulful. Just when my eyes were full enough with tears that I couldn't read another line, I found myself laughing at his innocence and intense simplicity. I commend McCourt for his ability to truly live. He is an inspiration to me because of his light heart and strong will. Everyday I am grateful for a toilet that flushes!

Rating:
Summary: A portrait of life in Ireland
Review: A gripping book. A tale of a family with a father who chooses the drink over the baby. If you wish to learn about the hardships of Irish Catholics read this book. It does a great job of "showing not telling" life in Ireland. Frank Mcourt does a great job.

Rating:
Summary: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Review: I didn't read this book for a long time because I thought it would be too depressing. I'm sorry I waited so long. It was so refreshing, honest, at times funny, sad, and enlighting! I'd recommend this book to anyone.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Reading!
Review: Before you buy this book-realize that this is not fiction. This is an autobiographical look at Frank McCourt's life as a child. It shows how his family struggled in New York when he was a young child & then later in Limmerick, Ireland until he leaves at age nineteen. As you read this book you feel like you are growing up in the slums of Limmerick with Frank, Angela (his mother), his father and his brothers. You live with him through everything-he shares even the smallest details. Applause to Frank McCourt, not only for just surviving, but for writing this book so well that it reaches out and touches the reader.

Rating:
Summary: Hopeful Story
Review: Many people have read this book and commented on how terribly gloomy it it. But one must remember how even when his life was at its lowest McCourt still dreamed of something better. And we musnt foget the most uplifting part of all, through all the tradgedy and sickness he managed to survive. If that isn't uplifting I dont know what is. Angela's Ashes is probably one of the best books I have ever read.

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Summary: Mc Courts book - the final word
Review: Anyone from Limerick who was listening to the local station last night or anybody listening to it on the internet would have heard Richard Harris, a contemporary of Frank Mc Court point out the inaccuracies in this book. Harris says that there was no misery because of the sense of community that surrounded and still surrounds the city of Limerick. Also it appears that Angela's ashes were lost by Malchy Mc Court on an Icelandic flight and are still probably in the lost luggage department of Kennedy airport. As to the book itself, I believe along with most of Limerick, Richard Harris and even Brian Friel has said that this book lacks any literary merit whatsoever.Angela Mc Court was often described as the angel of the lanes and was a big heavy woman and not a waif like Emily Watson thogh Frank Mc Court himself said it brought a tear to his eye how much she reminded him of his mother.Don't buy this book if you want a good read. Buy it if you want a good fire.