Rating: 
Summary: Human Spirit
Review: This is a remarkable tale of the strength of the human spirit and character. As a teacher, I have seen first hand the strength of our nation's children. Some of the obstacles they face on a daily basis were not even a flicker in my eye as a child. Angela's Ashes shows this perseverance through the eyes of an Irish child. Run, run to the store for a copy.
Rating: 
Summary: HOLLYWOOD ENOUGH?
Review: Mr. Mccourt was my English teacher in Stuyvesant High School, back in '82 or '83. I remember him talking about making a movie about this material, but he was told it wasn't "Hollywood" enough. I wonder if he Hollywooded it up.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant!
Review: How could anyone not fall in love with this book? I have never read a book that had me laughing out loud and crying tears in the same sitting. Surely, the most effective (and clever) use of the run-on sentence in literary history!
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, terrible book
Review: I loved this book. McCourt's use of the language is tremendously evocative - you can actually hear the voices speaking as you read. His story-telling is superb - he is able to simultaneously tell a hideous story and roll you on the floor laughing - with tears in your eyes. I thought the passage about his first communion was one of the funniest things I've read in years - in the context of a certifiably hideous childhood. I have no illusions that the people and events depicted here are in any way representative of the Irish Catholic population in general - this is a memoir, a very personal story, and never claims to be anything other than that. It's probably dressed up a bit - I never entirely trust a "memoir" with direct quotes of lengthy conversations, especially when the protagonist is too young to really remember verbatim statements. But even tarted up, it's a great tale - makes you glad to be a German Jew! I recommend this book to anyone with an appreciation of fine writing and a keen ear for the nuances and music of language.
Rating:
Summary: I only have a question
Review: I'm sorry, but I dont know where else to ask....Will the CD of Angela's Ashes be available on CD as UNABRIDGED? I am only able to find abridged... Please answer....thanks.
Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking & Hilarious
Review: This extremely accurate description of life in in early forties Ireland is both heartbreakingly sad and unbeleivebely amusing at the same time. The memoir focuses on little Frankie Mccourts childhood into teens. Its a rollercoster of emotion from chapter one. Frankies father is a jobless drunk who cares more about his pint of Guiness than his everexpanding brood of starving and dying children and wife (Angela). The book takes you through the years on how the Mccourt family survive by begging at the Vincent St Paul charity for even the smallest amount of food to survive on or new shoes for the boys to go to school and how they move from room to house to room to avoid paying rent and staying with mean relatives who care none about the poor familys plight. Now dont let that fool you into thinking this is a depressing book, it is not. Frank McCourts style of writing and frank honestly will have you laughing and crying in the same paragraph. As Frankie McCourt gets a little older he experiments with sex which he refers to as "the excitment", masturbation and petty theft all of which leave very frank images but not disturbing! He also tears himself up over not going to confession to releive himself of the terrible burdens he carries. Its definately a page turner and a must for anyone feeling remotely sorry for themselves.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I have ever read
Review: Angela's Ashes is a charming and touching true story of a young boy growing up poor in Ireland in the 1930's. This book will make you laugh and cry. Mr. McCourt is an extremely talented writer as well as a great storyteller, something you don't see that often. I highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: Thankful
Review: Often while reading this book I felt the hunger pains in my stomach. It really makes you thankful for whatever you have, it has to be more than what Frank and his family survived on.
Rating:
Summary: Remarkable, perfect, wonderful
Review: Frank McCourt has created a wonderful, warm and witty memoir out of a life that could have justifiably and easily been turned into a miasma of self-pity, depression and angst. His humor and sensitive insights coupled with stunning use of dialect lift this book way above the level most memoirs. McCourt's also got a keen sense of perspective about him, not letting hindsight and the obscuring lens of maturity bog down the childhood years.
Rating:
Summary: Both Light and Heavy; Funny and Sad; Hopeless and Hopeful
Review: At first I was sceptical about a book that claims outright monopoly on 'miserable childhoods'. There are plenty others in the world who have had to endure miserable circumstances as a child, so the opening passage of the novel rather turned me off with its self-pitying tone. But after reading past the first 5 pages I was transported to another world and couldn't help but be convinced of the harshness of the reality facing little Frank McCourt and his brothers, both in New York and then, in wet and cold Limerick. And the 'miserableness' isn't the point of it at all - what shines as a beacon through the dark cloud of poverty and depression described in the book is McCourt's matter-of-fact will to survive, and to find humour and grace in an otherwise adject existence. The book really made me both laugh and cry at the same time, and stands as a masterpiece in combining both humour and misery, without destroying the integrity of either. If the subject matter doesn't convince you to buy the book, then buy it for its unsurpassed language - McCourt has produced the definitive story told in an Irish accent. 'Tis a fantastic read indeed...
| 
