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Summary: Angela's Ashes
Review: This has to be one of the best books I've read in a LONG time. It was refreshing to find a book that could keep my wandering mind and High School attention span in check. The trials of the Mc Court family were nothing to laugh at but I often found myself trying very hard to surppres laughter while reading in a classroom where you could easily hear a pin drop. The humerous sections were not based around the events that were taking place, but more around how Frank, as a child, viewed what was going on. The McCourt children knew very little of life and death. What they did know was taught to them by their drunken father and manic depressive mother. Frank seemed to have a slight grasp on the idea that once his younger siblings died he would never see them again, yet he still had many innocent questions. At a very young age Frank was questioning how death happened. He saw a dog get hit by a car and bleed to death. Later on he made another child bleed on the playground. Thinking that blood was death after seeing the dog die from it, Frank feared that he had killed his friend when in all actuality it was a minor injury. Later on in the novel when others take ill and die Frank questions why there was no blood and yet they died. The lack of knowledge and simple questions that Frank had as a child added a great deal to the novel. It was almost depressing when I realized that he would never get those questions answered and just keep wondering. While reading I found myself often forgetting that this was a true story and wondering how an author could come up with a plot line with this many twists and turns. All in all I LOVED this book. It earned each and every one of the five stars not only because it kept my attention for longer than humanly possibly, but because of the way McCourt took tragic events and somehow made the reader believe that for a split second something comical was going on.
Rating:
Summary: Angela's Ashes
Review: Great piece of literature. Once started I couldn't put it down. The innocent ways of the Mc Court children through the tough times and their basis for judgement on what they learned from their drunken father and depressed mother made a comically sad novel.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm sure it's all very worthy...
Review: But I was glad when I got to the end. God, it bored me.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book I Have Ever Read
Review: I just reccomend this book to anyone over 12 years old who loves to read stories of hope, love, and to help you really appreciate what you have in life. I have read soooo many books from anything to the Holocaust to this book about the depression in Ireland but I will trully always remember this book becasue of the way it made me laugh and cry.
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Summary: A Miserable Irish Catholic Childhood
Review: "When I look back on my childhood, I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Experiencing this life of Frank McCourt through the novel Angela's Ashes was fascinating. McCourt's perception of events and people was amusing and clever. It was especially interesting seeing what the world and its actions appeared to be to Frank McCourt. In a memoir, like any piece of writing, it's important to have an opening sentence that intrigues the reader and is interesting. Frank McCourt definitely accomplished that. He begins the book with the sentence: "My mother and father should have stayed in New York where they met and married and where I was born." This leaves the reader with the question, why. Why should they have stayed in New York? What was it about where they moved that was so bad? Where did they move? In order to receive answers for these questions, you have to read on. By the time you receive answers, you are hooked on the book and most definitely will continue reading. It's also important to establish a clear setting so the reader can picture where the action is happening. I had a remarkably clear image in my mind of his many houses. I could also almost feel what it might have been like to be in the house, what the mood was. This is as important as being able to clearly see the setting. The one thing Frank McCourt lacked when he wrote this novel was knowing how to end his story. There were a lot of extra stories that he told towards the end of the book that made it go on just a little to long. The actual ending, the last thing that happened, was quite good, however. Angela's Ashes was an entertaining telling of McCourt's difficult childhood. Although it was a miserable Irish Catholic childhood, McCourt did survive it and retold it with wit and sincerity.
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Summary: Humor Within Tragity
Review: This book is so depressing its funny. Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt is a memoir full of thought and detail with descriptions that draw you in and have you turning pages. Frank McCourt makes it clear that with out pain and suffering there would not be joy and happiness. One of the best qualities in the book is the character. The characters in the book are so real and defined that it is easy to feel that you know and can relate to someone you've never even met. They are full of life and have you laughing and crying. One problem with the book is that although the humor was hidden amongst the hardship was that it is to depressing. The sadness that often made the memoir moving sometimes gets really depressing and will fall in to ruts that make you want to stop reading. This doesn't happen often but when it does the book becomes fairly uninteresting. It is hard to not read a book that is written with words that flow off the page and are almost as beautiful as the joy and happiness sprinkled within this book. The Irish dialect in the memoir really is a part of what makes this book great. This memoir was a great account of childhood and it is amazing the way the author can remember and describe everything in his early life. I would definitely recommend this book to reader who was looking for humor within tragedy.
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Summary: Burnt Black Stuff
Review: Innocence. Growing up in Ireland Frank MCcourt was deprived of his childhood innocence. He was forced to grow up fast and pass over what could have been a world full of fun and exciting childhood memories. His life was hungry for more than just food. He was hungry for childhood. Innocence in childhood simply skipped. One quality that this book possesses is that you really feel as though as though you are growing up again with Frank MCcourt. You travel through his experiences by his side through the streets of Limerick. You almost feel troubled with his difficult events. You almost want to help him. So buckle up in for an emotion roller coaster. Another quality of this book is the incredibly vivid detail and description. You as a reader are able to visualize the scenery. You are able to feel the emotions of the family in a small degree. You get the hunger for life reading the book. A quality that I didn't like was the tendency to drag on a topic. I felt that even after the thought had been rung out and dried up they were continued a bit to long. This quality made it difficult to read because it was a challenge to stay involved in the story. The plot was drawn out and quite over used. Angela's ashes was a remarkable story about a young boy becoming a man. A boy supporting his family at the age of thirteen. It is sad yet beautiful the way his heart is true.
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Summary: A Horrible Childhood
Review: In Angela's Ashes Frank McCourt told of his fascinatingly difficult path from moving from Brooklyn to Ireland, seeing terrible poverty and death and his road of learning both in school and out. Angela's Ashes was a compelling story of a difficult child hood in Ireland. One of the weakest aspects of the story, though, was the length. If it bothers you than I don't recommend this book. But, if you don't mind then take up the challenge. It flows very well though some parts I can admit to skipping a couple of paragraphs. I think that though sometimes slightly tedious the not so significant times make the good times better. At times you want to quit but if you keep coming back even when the family hits a rough patch you will end up with a beautiful, moving story of growing up. If you stick through the book you will learn all about the McCourt family. But mostly you learn about Francis McCourt. He is the oldest of many siblings and always has to stay responsible. You learn of his trails and triumphs, his decisions both good and bad, and the harshness of his school, church, and family. You could really feel the "voice" of the story. You could tell when the "voice" matured. It remained the same tone throughout. Throughout the whole story you get closer and closer to Francis McCourt as he lost his childhood innocence and moved on to new things. There are certainly themes in this book including alcoholism, Catholicism, and learning in a permanently harsh schooling system. The McCourts were always, always looking for food and money. But sadly Mr. McCourt was usually losing the jobs he gained and spending his wages on pints of Guinness. It was a difficult read at times, I will not deny that. But I promise your heart will find a place for the McCourt family as you read on. You will learn of Francis' lost siblings, the angel on the seventh step, and his strange, mean Irish grandmother. Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Angela's Ashes and recommend it highly.
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Summary: Angela's Ashes Summary: A Review by Audrey D
Review: Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes was a moving, charming and a fine example of an Irish childhood. He describes the thoughts, ideas, and feelings of himself living in the Old Irish country. He goes through adventures, tragedies, and everyday life and puts it in to a form to read so everyone can share the experiences he had. One of the many things McCourt illustrated was how he balanced his positive and negative occurrences. For example, when he would get the money to eat toffee and when his brothers and sisters were born. To when his father would drink the dole and his mom would smoke woodbines by the fire and mourn over her lost children. So, basically,McCourt displays his life in an elaborate yet simple design and balance. The next achievement of Frank's is the ability to remember what is was like to be a child and describe it from that point of view. It's hard to imagine what it was to think in the very way you did decades ago. Also in such a way that people would understand it. That is one of Frank McCourt's hardest obstacles to get over.The final accomplishment that he made was the placing of the Irish accent. The Irish accent is a hard thing to copy especially to put on paper in which readers could understand. The accent also added charm to the memoir and helped us get into the characters and stories better. That's why I think placing the Irish accent was Frank's greatest accomplishment when writing this book. Overall Angela's Ashes was a spectacular memoir. It had all the charm and adventure I would expect from Frank McCourt as a writer and I hope his sequel"'Tis" is as good as the first.
Rating:
Summary: amazing
Review: hey :) i've just finished reading angela's ashes and all i can say is WOW!! :) i can't describe how much i enjoyed reading this book, and i can't wait till i read Tis! i couldn't stop reading this book. the way he describes his childhood is amazing. it's hard to understand a book like this if you've never had any real struggles in life, but... well, it's just great. he wrote this book in a way so that mostly anybody could enjoy it and understand it. i mean, it's his life! :) i didn't know wether to cry or laugh sometimes... this is definately a MUST read book! i hate writing reviews for books 'cause i'm VERY bad at it, but i just HAD to let everybody know that this is a GREAT book! if you want to know more details about the book you can email me at: rivas_juanita@hotmail.com. later, take care
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