Rating: 
Summary: Delightful and Distasteful
Review: When I first started listening to "Angela's Ashes" I was hoping for a glimpse into the life of the common Irish. Much of the book was an absolute delight, whole other parts were very distasteful."Angela's Ashes" is Frank McCourt's story of his life from his first memories in New York, through his childhood and teen years in Limerick until he is able to save enough to return to America on his own. At the start of the book, McCourt says: "My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born...Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." He then writes a first person stream of consciousness narrative to prove his premise. The parts of the book which were absolute delights were the parts in which one is treated to the language of the Irish with all of their peculiar phrases, expectations and beliefs. While listening to these selections, I was reminded of some of the phases which I have heard from my Irish born relatives. Some of the beliefs and world views illustrated did not seem so different from some of which I have heard or even held. There is just enough truth to make the quotations humorous. I am glad that I listened to the audio version which was read by the author. His Irish accent made the book more entertaining than the written word would have been. I noticed that the pronunciation was not always the way the book was writen. The oppressive and endless poverty and burden of alcoholism are depressing but, in his as in too many families, real tragedies. The characters are, perhaps, realistic dichotomies. Malachy, seems to be a good man when sober, but his weakness for the drink renders him an irresponsible father. Angela, the mother, seems to be a an incompetent personality who, somehow, manages to hold her family together when with little and, eventually, no help from Malachy. The initial, cold receptions of the McCourts by their families in Ireland ultimately give way to grudging acceptance and assistance. Frankie, the author and narrator, begins as a naive child who, forced by circumstances, becomes a self sufficient adult. Perhaps the tragedy of Frankie is that, immersed in a world of hardship and formal religion he learns much about self-sufficiency but little about morality. The parts of the book which I found to be most distasteful were the later sections which degenerated into what would have to qualify the work for an "X" rating. Perhaps this is McCourt's ultimate way of proving his premise that the worst childhood is an Irish Catholic childhood. I suspect that this would have been a better book had the immorality been eliminated from the later sections, but, perhaps, it would not then have conveyed the intended message. This book is enjoyable to read in parts and I am glad to know what it is about, but any endorsement would have to be lukewarm.
Rating: 
Summary: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Review: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt is an autobiography of a boy suffering from a poverty-stricken life. This little boy is Francis, born in America, but a descendent of the Irish. He had five other brothers and one sister but they all had died before the age of four, except for his three brothers Malchy, Michael, and Alphie. Their mother, Angela, tried to feed and warm her children, but times were harsh and it didn't help that the father, Malachy, rarely worked. When he did find work, he "drank his wages" and never brought home any money. Even when his children were starving.
This story begins when Francis is only a small boy around the age of three. At the end, he is near twenty. His tales of life lessons and the pain and suffering of living in the slums of Ireland are presented wonderfully in this thought-provoking book. It makes the reader consider what it might have been like to live the way they were forced to.
Rating:
Summary: Yet another rave.
Review: What really sets Mr. McCourt's story apart from any other memoir, or the rather dramatic (and appalling) childhood he led - what really sets it all above the rest, is simply the style. The lack of punctuation, the run-on sentences, not quotation marks; all give us a truly genuine sense of his thought processes and the swirling madness that was around him. I felt miserable at times, particularly at any point involving going to the restroom in a little hovel outside the McCourt home. Not that it wll change anything, but Americans need this kind of literature more than anyone else. We have it so easy, and that is so rarely the case elsewhere.
Rating:
Summary: Splendid
Review: A heartbreaking but warm and funny tale of an unfortunate Irish family, told through the eyes of a child. Despite miserable poverty, an alcoholic father, and the death of three siblings, Frank manages to work his way towards a dream of returning to America. Major hardships are the backbone of the novel, but the author's use of colloquial language and religious symbolism adds lightheartedness to the suffering. A novel that can make you laugh out loud and choke with tears in the same chapter is definitely worth 5 stars, if not more.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely astounding!
Review: This is probably the most pivotal book I have read in my entire life. And I have read a lot of books. Frank writes so well that at parts in the memoir I almost felt that I was experiencing what he was. If you ever read a memoir, there is none better and more thought-provoking than this one. Get it! Read it! And let it change your life!
Rating: 
Summary: An exceptionally heartrendering and poignant novel
Review: The non-fiction read of Angela's Ashes captured our attention with an infinite barrage of pure human emotions and experiences. Author Frank McCourt captures extensive details in his writing by illustrates the poignant severity of the poor Irish Catholic childhood in Limerick Ireland. The sentiment exhibited throughout the book by virtually all members of the McCourt family allows the reader to connect with "old" Ireland. The vivid imagery of the depression and stark hunger of Limerick is articulated so well that at several points during the book readers can actually identify with the family's humiliation. An Example of such an occasion is the Christmas Eve dinner. Due to sever poverty, the family is forced to beg for extra food. The only food that can be spared is a pig's head that the mother (Angela) cooks up, eyes and all. Frankie himself faces ultimate shame when, in carrying the pig's head home, it sheds its newspaper covering which draws mocking disgust from surrounding pedestrians in downtown Limerick. The general position of the family in society only worsens as the father flees shortly there after, the weekly doll of sixteen pence canceled with his desertion. Frankie's life is full of trials: from his father's love of alcohol to the boys' rubber tire soled shoes; from his first love Theresa to the first time he loses trust in his Mam, his life is full of a tremendous amount grief. Through out the book Frank McCourt is constantly overcoming overwhelming adversity that surely would have ruined a lesser man. Though we consider this book to be rather depressing in nature, it also shares with the reader a substantiated love of life.
Rating:
Summary: A Memoir of Faith and Hope
Review: McCourt's hellish surroundings and bright spirit continually play off each other in a tension that keeps you turning the pages. Will his childlike faith in God carry him through his next defeat? Will he succumb to the misery? It is certainly not a book for the weak in spirit. I was tempted to lay it down because of the sheer multitude of extreme situations, especially in regard to his father, but I kept reading - out of my own sense of hope I guess. I found most of the book to be believable, except for his sexual experiences. These seemed to be more personally redemptive and fantasy oriented than realistic. It made me question his character and pity him somewhat; Whereas before I strongly admired him and applauded his painstaking honesty and depth. Because of this incongruence, I gave the book a 4 rather than a 5.
Rating:
Summary: excellent
Review: While the situation that Frank McCourt grew up in is nothing to laugh about, he somehow makes you laugh. By looking at poverty through a child's eyes one cannot help but laugh at the stories he tells. The way he viewed the church and religion. The movie does not do justice to the book at all. It lost all the humor the book exuded. Read it and laugh at what a child thinks of the world and the adults around him.
Rating:
Summary: the best...
Review: this was the best memoir I ever read. Period.
Rating:
Summary: 'Tis a Marvelous Book!
Review: Angela's Ashes portrays the events of a young boy, Frank McCourt, from his early childhood through age nineteen. It tells of the family's hardships and heartbreak, and although the novel could be incredibly depressing, the author's insight makes the book universal, and makes the particular relavent to all. I enjoyed the details about Irish life during the depression, and the ways that people survived, and tried to keep their dignity even on the precipice of despair and death. The prose is imaginative and the dialogue quite memorable. I read this book in a day because it was so intriguing, and I bet that you'll enjoy it, too.
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