Rating: Summary: AMAZING STORY Review: Sequel of "Angela's ashes", I was not disappointed a second. The book starts exactly when Angela's...finished. It's written with talent. We hear about what happen to the dad & mum afterwards(You can also learn more on Malachy's first book...Read it). By the way you'll learn of anything happened to Frank in USA, his return to Europe (after war as a soldier) and in Ireland. A life that could have finished in an Irish lane fortunately made it in USA successfully.
Rating: Summary: Tis is a must read for everyone Review: I read Angela's Ashes at the suggestion of a very good friend, Louis it was his favorite book and I have say I could see why. When a friend at work saw me reading it she told me about the sequel "Tis a Memoir", I just had to get it and I have to say that when I did, I could not put it down! It is an excellent book, Frank McCourt has such an engaging way of keep his reader hooked! Superb! I love his sense of humor, his triumphs a wonderful and give us all hope, a must read for all ages!
Rating: Summary: And here?s what happened next Review: This book continues the story of Frank McCourt's life, from his return to American shores at the age of 19 through his middle age, as he finally makes peace with his parents. McCourt tells us about his work history and his romantic involvements, and how he became a writer (or at least a writing instructor). I didn't find this book as engaging as Angela's Ashes. Perhaps the struggles of adult life, deciding whether to stay at a lousy job or quit, or how to keep a relationship alive, just aren't as immediate as those of childhood- -where will your next meal come from? Will your father get up you up in the middle of the night again to make you swear you will die for Ireland? Or maybe the American characters in this tale lack the spirit of the Irish ones in Angela's Ashes. This book seemed to drag a bit, as McCourt details the slow meandering path that he took while pulling himself up from work cleaning ashtrays in a hotel lobby to becoming a teacher and a father. One trait that McCourt seemed to inherit from his father was the propensity to let drink get in the way of his family life. In this sense, it seems that McCourt didn't take all the lessons of his childhood to heart. As a result, his upward progress is perhaps a bit more bumpy than it needed to be. Nevertheless, McCourt can still tell stories, and as he relates the events of his wedding or first day in school, the reader is there with him in the scene as it unfolds. I also enjoyed his description of how he found and developed the particular teaching style that suited him. No, it's not easy to walk into a classroom as a new teacher in a tough school and establish a sense of order, let alone motivate students to learn. But when you're trying to get the students to read moldy old classics simply because they're part of the assigned high school curriculum, and the kids find out that you never had to read these books in school yourself because you didn't even attend high school, you're in thick soup. It's in such circumstances that McCourt truly comes into his own.
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