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Summary: One of the best books I have ever read/listened to!
Review: I was lucky enough to listen to Frankie McCourt tell his story with his beautiful, sweet Irish brogue. I cried, laughed, got angry at his parents--why did his father have to drink away all the money? Why did his mother have to be the poor , powerless woman that she was? Why did his siblings have to die?
I guess all that just made him stronger. He is a sweet, gentle man that I had the great fortune of meeting.
I have recommended/suggested this book to MANY, MANY people, and made my library's reserve list grow immensely. A MUST READ!
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Summary: The best book I ever read?
Review: In reading other reviews of Frank McCourt's Memoir, I was taken back by one that stated "this was the best book I ever read!" I found it easy to "get into" the book, however, I felt that the endless references to sexual escapades of both Frank and his mother at times was pointless and quite frankly a reason to put the book down for a break. I was disappointed with the ending...I expected a much different one with a "glorious arrival" in the US versus a sordid one. The book was recommended to me and I will recommend it to others...but...with caution.
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Summary: Rivetting reading
Review: I could barely put it down except to eat and converse with those who insisted that they be spoken to - a terrible thing when you've just travelled 2000 km just to see your family! There a millions who have shared Frank's experience of family alcoholism, poverty and uninspired, rigid and dehumanising Catholicism (and I thank goodness things have changed - yes, it has), brutal education and grossly insensitive hospitalisation. This story will touch the heart and experience of all who have shared any one of these. That he should grow to maturity, to become a loving father and still be so aware of where he and his family have come from is a miracle. Come to this book and enter a world which we must hope is lost to our young today.
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Summary: An excellent deeply moving book
Review: This was the best memoir I've read in some time. He crafts the language beautifully and he manages to change the voice as the child grows up, which is quite a feat. It's an immigrant's story, a tale of redemption filled with such wondrous and painful moments that it almost seems unbelievable. But it only feels that way because that reality is so distant for anyone, say, shopping online. I'm grateful to McCourt for conveying what it feels like to be hungry constantly. It's something, that in America at least, or in its well-fed portion, we have forgetten. He lets us remember how the other half lives. Deeply moving.
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Summary: The most REAL book I have ever read
Review: McCourt's book Angela's Ashes is absolutely brilliant. While every page turned does not keep you on the edge of your chair, you do realize the reality of this family's world. One of the best books I have ever read...somehow his detailed narration of his misery could make me both laugh and cry.
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Summary: Eye-Opening Lesson to Us All
Review: I am truly impressed and amazed with Frank McCourt. How did this young boy grow up with such awful conditions and influences, yet still keep an innocent, honest and good voice? His childhood is a lesson to us all. I would love to learn more from him through his experiences in the U.S.
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Summary: This book is on Elisabeth Sherwin's List of Best Books
Review: From Elisabeth Sherwin's Printed Matter on the Web site: "This is a memoir of McCourt's childhood in Ireland and it describes the almost unrelieved misery of poverty. That said, why would anyone want to read it? Because, first of all, McCourt survived - sure sign of a relatively happy ending - and his writing is beautiful. He has a sly wit that makes a regular appearance."
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Summary: I met him
Review: H. Aschehoug & Co published Angela's ashes in Norway last year. Mr. McCourt visited Norway in August, and he attended a meeting with norwegian bokksellers. It was a fantastic meeting, an unforgettable moment. I just want to thank him for his wonderful book, and his outstanding storytelling.
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Summary: Captivating from start to finish.
Review: Only those people who have grown up as Irish Catholics could truly appreciate the depth of this book. Those who find it boring and pointless, one would guess, probably spend their time shuffling their own kids from karate to dance to scouts to soccer---just to keep them occupied. These people have no idea what sadness and misery poverty and ignorance can wreak. I find no annoyance with Mr. McCourt for having told the story as it is. One might wonder how he recalls his youth in such detail, but bear in mind that he didn't spend his youth watching television. Instead, he watched the melodrama of his life unfolding daily. The skill with which he relates his story is undeniable. It has a strong Irish flavor which the uninitiated might take to be sloppy prose, when in fact it is the very breath of realism. Many of the slights he suffered at the hands of his school-masters and church officials, and the hypocrasy of organized religion are things many of us have experienced, but few have put it in the form of such a highly digestible book. One reader made a disdainful comment about the author's admission of a lack of hygiene during his youth. Does not admitting something make the book more real? These people were so poor they could ill afford food, never mind soap. To those of us sitting behind the monitors of costly computers, writing these reviews, I doubt that the depth and breadth of such poverty could be truly realized. The book, perhaps, has no point. If any of us were to write his/her memoirs, would it have a point? Yet I read this book over several times, revelling in its humor, its sadness, its challenge, the masterful way in which the story played out. The point of the book then, is to absorb the mind, to take us to other places, other times, other people's lives. It has done this for me. Thank you, Mr. McCourt, for sharing your life and the lives of your family with us. Perhaps each of us will view those around us who find themselves in unfortunate situations with more compassion than we would have before reading your most excellent book.
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Summary: A great memory for a young lad.
Review: An exaggerated story of pathos stretched to draw a tear from every emigrant forced to find a living far from their homeland. If you want the real Ireland of youth read Roddy Doyle's 'Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha' , a man who lives in , knows and loves his country. Mr. Mc Court certainly claims a fine long term memory.
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