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Summary: Read it more than once.
Review: A rare book experience. I found myself reading it slowly because I didn't want it to end.
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Summary: Growing beyond the pain of poverty by poignant confession
Review: I resisted reading this book because of all the media attention focused on it. Two things brought me to finally picking it up...the first was reading an essay of Frank's and admiring his writing style, the second was waiting patiently for my sister to come home (for hours) to her dingy little East Village apartment and finding it on her bookshelf. My mother is from Ireland & is the same age as Frank. I knew her family was not well off while she was growing up but had a fantasy of an idyllic childhood for her on the rugged West Coast of Ireland. That was partially true, her father worked regularly & a large, supportive extended family network helped a lot. Her father's strong feelings about the children growing up away from the city saved her a lot of the related troubles that the McCourts experienced. On a first read, I doubted Frank's amazing recall ability but in retrospect, with such heartbreak, there's no way he could have forgotten. Many people (myself included) would have tried to forget those bad times but by bringing it out in his book, I only hope that he has been able to grow beyond the physical and emotional pain of his poverty. The poverty was not just money, Frank was able to relay the poverty of missed joys and opportunities - a great accomplishment. I especially loved the way he was able to put himself back into the mindset of that young boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: When narrative style like this starts earning the Pulitzer Prize, I think I may begin to submit some of my high school students' creative writing.
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Summary: This book broke my heart
Review: Frank McCourt is a master. Writing from the child's perception, he depicts the characters and their environment so accurately. The depression and hopelessness of Angela is overwhelming. Why any of them survived is amazing. This is the saddest story ever written.
Rating:
Summary: Graphic, depressing, yet an irrestible read.
Review: One of the things that I think is absolutely obvious is that there will be a sequel. I could not believe the unrelenting trials and tribulations with almost never a happy and contented moment. Were there really people in the world as vicious and as cruel as the characters in this book, including even the blood relatives? The father obviously drank to escape their miserable lives, but would he not just one time provide even a meagre portion of his wages to his suffering family?And the mother, would she not have just gone crazy on his trifling man as she watched her children suffer and die? She just seemed totally complacent in view of the fact of her children's suffering. It is true that she was no mother of the year, but she showed almost no compassion for her children. Perhaps she learned her own mothering skills from her own slatternly mother. I expected that somewhere in this there would be a saviour, perhaps Uncle Pa. But even he seemed unable to bear up under the wrath of his ill-tempered wife, had he dared try to help. The author certainly leaves us with a yearning for the sequel, which I am sure is in the works. He cannot have attained the success that he has, in the face of his miserable childhood, and not have more to tell.
Rating:
Summary: outstanding I look forward to a sequal
Review: I went from laughter to tears and back to laughter. I would highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I can't wait for the sequal!
Review: this book was non-stop. What makes it so good is that it really happened. I really recomend this book.
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Summary: As an Irish American, I finally understand my realitives.
Review: Growing up Irish in America is a bit like waiting for the next disaster to occur. The language of and outlook of the characters in Angela's Ashes is true and accurate. The phrases and delemas put me back in my grandmother's kitchen. What a terrific read. You'll laugh as hard as you'll cry.
Rating:
Summary: grahpic and depressing
Review: What a great book, so graphically written, and easy to read. It was not difficult to visualise Frank's life, and truly appreciate your own. My only two criticisms are that it could have been slightly condensed and I didn't like the abrupt ending. I also found myself getting extremely depressed, a sign of a good book! I look forward to the continuation of Frank's life story.
Rating:
Summary: Life altering, life affirming
Review: I bought Angela's Ashes and read Angela's Ashes in two days..in between living my own life, I also lived Frankie's. I was stunned, moved and felt, finally, jubilation at his triumph over a childhood so appalling as to beggar belief. Whenever I begin to believe I am a somewhat inadaquate parent, Malachy and Angela can make me believe I am doing okay thankyou. I no longer have my copy of the book. When I had finished it for the second time, I gave it to my 19 year old son and said to him that if he only ever read one more book in the whole of his life, to please let it be this one. He is a typical 19 year old male, jeans short hair etc. but this book has affected him in the oddest manner..for the better! So I have lost my copy because it is doing the rounds of his friends...I can't think of a better testimony to Angela's Ashes than that it has the ability to affect teenagers in such a fashion. He, and I, and everyone I know is the better for reading the harrowing account of Frank McCourts life and I say 'Thankyou Frankie' from the bottom of my soul.
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