Angelas Ashes Cd

Rating:
Summary: A story so tragic it's funny.
Review: I finished Angela's Ashes yesterday but I didn't want to be done with it. I miss it already. Rarely do I find a story that stretches the lunch break ("Just one more page--then I'll go back.") and keeps me up late. This fascinating recounting of a childhood that I can't even imagine is one I will lend out generously--after I put my name in it so I'm sure to get it back!

Rating:
Summary: Depressing, disgusting, but not because of McCourt
Review: I had to read this for my book club and it turns out I'm glad they were all checked out at the library and all I could get was the audio tape. That way, I listened to McCourt drone and whine while I sat in traffic and I didn't have to waste valuable time reading it. I'm not Irish, but I was raised Catholic and he used jokes and bromides most of us had heard by the time we were ten. As a society, we deplore poverty, alcoholism, wife and child abuse, yet what voyeurs we become when some opportunist writes about any of the above! McCourt should be applauded for so adeptly using the American reading market to make money off his misery, but as a writer, he offers no more wisdom, insight or inspiration than Joan Crawford, Roseanne Barr or any other come-out-of-the-closet-dysfunctional-family-member who ever wrote a book.

Rating:
Summary: You'll laugh, you'll cry, sometimes at the same time.
Review: This book brought back memories of my grandfather telling me stories of how things were growing and working in a coal mining community during the period of the depression. Whether you are Irish, Italian, or any other nationality or mix of nationalities this book is for you. Frank's description of what his childhood was like will leave a pool of sympathy and emotion in your heart. It is a true testiment that reguardless of what circumstances and environment a person grows up good things can always happen.

Rating:
Summary: A TREASURE
Review: First book Frank McCourt writes wins Pulitzer Prize, need I say more? His description is crystal clear, and his writting is pure magic.This book had my complete attention, every word absorbed and felt.Will I ever have the pleasure of reading this kind of writting again? I imagine only with 'Tis...

Rating:
Summary: Honest, gripping, poignant and spirited
Review: McCourt has an uncanny ability to integrate humor into the most dior circumstances. I laughed, cried, chuckled and sniffled throughout. His ability to establish a coherant story with begining, middle and end, out of a real life story, without the benefit of creative license, is awesome. Another book similar in style which runs a close second to this is "The Liar's Club," also a memoir of childhood, but "Angela's Ashes" is the best book I have yet to read.

Rating:
Summary: Writing At It's Best!
Review: Frank McCourt's writing is incredible. He brought me right there with him. I found myself drinking tea like never before! This kind of writing is what I hope for when I read a book, and Frank McCourt surely satisfies! I hope he will continue writing and sharing his wonderful, gifted talent.

Rating:
Summary: Speechless
Review: Several members of my family have been after me for two years to read this book. I am an avid reader and had so many great literary works (and a few trashy novels) on my list that it took me this long to get to it (despite near tears, threats and bribes; they were desperate for me to read it.) Well, I picked up and devoured it in its entirety the same day. Yup, it was indeed everything they had promised it would be and more. I think I'll go read it again. Best piece of writing I have ever had the pleasure of experiencing! Thanks to you all for keeping after me about it!!!

Rating:
Summary: The best book I have EVER read, of thousands
Review: Frank McCourt had the courage to be painfully honest, to give us details that most of us would find hard to face, and not to sugar-coat. Wouldn't it be easier to leave out those parts that would make readers cringe, and the recounts of his own very private and sometimes less than perfect behavior? Yes, it would have been easier, but Frank McCourt never took the easy way out. He dares to introduce his own style, a flow of thoughts like that of a child, and any creative thinker and adroit reader can easily keep up with the story and never want for the missing punctuation. A MASTERPIECE. Frank McCourt takes the most painful situations imaginable and finds love and humor in them. Amidst too-much-of-the-same misery, he finds ways to interject side-splitting anecdotes that make this book a delightful page turner. I have incredibly vivid memories of my own childhood; what I was eating, what I was wearing and who said what, verbatim, so I had no problem believing that his memories were that vivid. Wouldn't they be, considering the major life events that were surrounding life's daily toils? McCourt never feels sorry for himself and never casts blame, but he is not a martyr either. Brilliant and totally refreshing. Again, best book I've ever read! I will be hard pressed to ever find another that leaves me so enthralled. It is not the actual story, but the spirit with which the story was experienced and is now told, that makes this book one of the most deserving Pulitzer Prize Winners of all time. I have great sympathy for anyone who was unable to capture that spirit. READ it, one and all and read into it as well.

Rating:
Summary: Incredible gifted talent for story telling; gripping
Review: I love to read, but rarely does a book have such an enormous impact on me. Frank McCourt's vivid and guileless present-tense story telling style brought all the characters right into my heart and there they will stay. One of the best books I have ever read, by far.

Rating:
Summary: lacking...
Review: While the subject matter of this book describes a gripping poverty that makes any heart sad, the writing faild to get to the point. The images didn't form a coherent message. Shocking pictures of babies in dirty rags and a useless father drinking is pubs while his family starves are stark, but where they go is unclear. McCourt has captured individual moments very well but dosen't develop a story.