Rating: 
Summary: Triumph Over Great Tragedy
Review: Angela's Ashes is definitely a story of a young boy who overcame many obstacles and misfortunes to fulfill his plan of making it to America. Young Frank McCourt tells his story of his Irish catholic Childhood from his early years to age nineteen. The book focuses on many issues in McCourt's life. For instance, he makes many references about the church, his inhumane poverty, Irish stereotypes, and Irish folklore. Each piece not only represents Ireland, but also effects the decisions in McCourt's childhood. The story almost immediately begins to seem depressing and sad. But, Frankie's knack for telling stories is definitely highlighted in his book Angela's Ashes. Frank McCourt gives great detail to his story which makes for some pretty sad times. His life is one with discomfort, constant hunger, an absent father and an adulterous mother who sleeps with a man to house her children. But, the story is not a tragedy, for the protagonist, Frankie, achieves his desire in the end. What makes the story a success is McCourt's progression into young adulthood. People and teens alike enjoy it because it seems more of a coming of age and a drama. I personally enjoyed it for this reason. Angela's Ashes is a wonderful, yet sad story. Readers enjoy McCourt's style of first person narration, as well as learning about the Irish traditions. Four Stars for asngela's Ashes and a thumbs up for Mr McCourt.
Rating: 
Summary: Inspiring
Review: What can be said about this great novel that hasn't been said already? Angela McCourt, a remarkable woman who lived a life few of us can even begin to imagine, and survived. She should serve as an inspiration to all no matter how dark and bleak the present and future present themselves. What was it that ran through her mind as she sat by the stove, smoking, drinking her tea, and staring at the ashes? Frank McCourt has written the most beautiful eulogy a son could ever write of his mother.
Rating:
Summary: :o)
Review: Angela's Ashes is a very powerful and great book. It is hard in the beginning because it just seems hopeless and so depressing, and yet at the same time, you can't put it down. As it progresses u slowly become slightly numbed to this depression because you come to accept it is there way of life at the time and can find some of their experiences now comical. I enjoyed the book and would recommend it .
Rating:
Summary: A Tragety Being Replayed Again
Review: The book Angela's Ashes includes love, hate, death, and poverty to such great extent that the book is a tragedy. This tragedy encompasses the childlike year of the author's life (Frank McCourt). Where he is born in New York, and later move to Ireland where their living is even worse than before. Frank goes through a life of poverty while living in an atmosphere where the death of loved one's is a regular occurrence. He watches his two brothers, sister, grandmother, and lover all die. At the same time Frank deals with a drunken father, who drinks away all of the family money while the rest of the family starve. This dysfunctional family nevertheless, doesn't it's best to stay alive and in the end makes it through just taking one day at a time. Frank although doesn't follow the trend of his father, instead he saves enough money to travel to America and start a new life.
Rating:
Summary: A Slice of Irish
Review: From the opening lines, McCourt gracefully foretells his miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Throughout the book he paints a portrait of the idiosyncratic and at times hypocritical Irish culture of the early forties. The reader can see the door being slammed in his face, him praying to St. Francis, and his desperation in licking the grease off the newspaper. In addition, McCourt does all this masterful storytelling in the mentality of an repressed Irish Catholic child. Although he may have exaggerated a few details, the author creates a poignant memoir that makes the reader feel that they are miserable and suffering along with the McCourt family.
Rating:
Summary: A Real Experice of Poverty
Review: I enjoyed reading this book because it was a good example of growing up. McCourt does a good job of using a child-like voice and then transitioning as his character approaches adolescence. Even though his story was depressing at times, he has a way of keeping interest up through his clever and at times, sarcastic style. I also like how he used food as a motif to represent what kind of poverty he was experiencing. While I was reading it, I felt the hunger that he was describing with great detail. Overall, this book was a real view on a normal person's experiences of growing up and living with poverty.
Rating:
Summary: Angela's Ashes, an Amazing Story of Hope Through Tragedy
Review: Growing up in Limerick, a poverty-stricken town in Ireland, was anything but easy for Frank McCourt. The book Angela's Ashes is an autobiographical assessment of the obstacles Frank went through as a boy growing up with an alcoholic father, strict family and religious values, and a never ending hunger for food and money. The value in this story is not through the tragedy but rather in the lessons taught through determination, hope, and love. This book is an inspiration to us all, proving anything is possible. It is well worth recognition and praise.
Rating: 
Summary: A slow start
Review: I read this book for school. If I had read it on my own, I don't think I would have finished it. The beginning was a little to slow for me, and it also took a while for me to understand the narative of it. It is not written normally with quotes, ect, it is written in free verse, unlike anything else I have read. Once Frank becomes older, he starts to lead an interesting life, where he is woken up to all of socitys wrongs. Personally I think this almost always interesting. From that point on, I enjoyed it. Overall, if I knew the entire plot, I would read it, but if it was as borring as the first 75 pages, I would not have.
Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Quotes from Angela's Ashes
Review: I chose a couple od different quote from this book that expresses what this family had to go through. "People everywhere brag and whimper about the woes of their early years, but nothing can compare with the Irish version: the poverty; the shiftless loquacios alcholic father; the pious defeated mother moaning by the fire; pompous priests; bulling school masters; the English and the terrible things they did to us for eight hundred long years...above all we were wet." This is one of the basic yet dredful things that the McCourt family had to deal with. Even though it is the time of the deppresion, the McCourt family is having a hard time having barely enough money to starve. With four small boys and one daughter dead it still wasn't enought for six people to live off of. "There are seven masters in Leamy's National School and they all have leather straps, canes, black thron sticks..." When the McCourts moved back to Ireland after living in NewYork for five years, they had two more tragic things happen to them. Also the two oldest boys got put in to a school. Where it was common to be hit with black thorn sticks, daily, it was ssaid to make boys into refined men. "It's hard to sleep when you know the next day you're fourteen and staring your first job as a man." At this point Frankie has to get a job because his borther, Malachyis too young and his father is no help. This is the time where this book gets heavier and every page, every sentence, every word has you at the edge of your seat, not knowing what will come next. This is why I sugguest to anyone who needs someone else to feel sorry for or for something that will make them reailze how easy our lives now are. Well then I say read this book you will absoulty love it.
Rating:
Summary: McCourts "miserable Irish Catholic Childhood"
Review: Angela's Ashes is a touching portayel of McCourts "miserable Irish Catholic Childhood". It is the sad story of growing poor in Ireland. McCourt overcomes his father leaving him, starving, and constantly being in the hospital for illness. McCourt is a vivid writer and describes his childhood graphically. Overall a good book with many memorable moments.
|
