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Summary: Fantastic, overwhelming and yet believable
Review: Frank McCourt's early childhood is definitely disturbing, to say the least, but not uncommon. Some of his recollections are so real...when his Grandmother makes him take the can of hot dinner to her new boarder at work, you actually feel the hunger Frankie felt as the smells wafted past him and he gobbled it up with childhood innocence. This book is fairly well written and definitely believable. Many countries still experience the unsanitary conditions so vividly described by McCourt.Although it does get a little dragged down by the religous accounts, it does make us better understand the decline in the church in the past generations. I shared my thoughts on this book with my mother and was overwhelmed to find her crying at the thoughts of her own childhood. This book does that. It makes you examine your own childhood. I recommend this book to anyone who thinks they had a difficult childhood. Frankie's suffering, constant hunger, childhood innocence, losses, and family indifference will make you think twice. I feel sorry for the reader who can't share in McCourt's emotions, there is a lesson in compassion and understanding here.
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Summary: Read it more than once.
Review: A rare book experience. I found myself reading it slowly because I didn't want it to end.
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Summary: Growing beyond the pain of poverty by poignant confession
Review: I resisted reading this book because of all the media attention focused on it. Two things brought me to finally picking it up...the first was reading an essay of Frank's and admiring his writing style, the second was waiting patiently for my sister to come home (for hours) to her dingy little East Village apartment and finding it on her bookshelf. My mother is from Ireland & is the same age as Frank. I knew her family was not well off while she was growing up but had a fantasy of an idyllic childhood for her on the rugged West Coast of Ireland. That was partially true, her father worked regularly & a large, supportive extended family network helped a lot. Her father's strong feelings about the children growing up away from the city saved her a lot of the related troubles that the McCourts experienced. On a first read, I doubted Frank's amazing recall ability but in retrospect, with such heartbreak, there's no way he could have forgotten. Many people (myself included) would have tried to forget those bad times but by bringing it out in his book, I only hope that he has been able to grow beyond the physical and emotional pain of his poverty. The poverty was not just money, Frank was able to relay the poverty of missed joys and opportunities - a great accomplishment. I especially loved the way he was able to put himself back into the mindset of that young boy.
Rating: 
Summary: Did I miss something?
Review: When narrative style like this starts earning the Pulitzer Prize, I think I may begin to submit some of my high school students' creative writing.
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Summary: This book broke my heart
Review: Frank McCourt is a master. Writing from the child's perception, he depicts the characters and their environment so accurately. The depression and hopelessness of Angela is overwhelming. Why any of them survived is amazing. This is the saddest story ever written.
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Summary: Graphic, depressing, yet an irrestible read.
Review: One of the things that I think is absolutely obvious is that there will be a sequel. I could not believe the unrelenting trials and tribulations with almost never a happy and contented moment. Were there really people in the world as vicious and as cruel as the characters in this book, including even the blood relatives? The father obviously drank to escape their miserable lives, but would he not just one time provide even a meagre portion of his wages to his suffering family?And the mother, would she not have just gone crazy on his trifling man as she watched her children suffer and die? She just seemed totally complacent in view of the fact of her children's suffering. It is true that she was no mother of the year, but she showed almost no compassion for her children. Perhaps she learned her own mothering skills from her own slatternly mother. I expected that somewhere in this there would be a saviour, perhaps Uncle Pa. But even he seemed unable to bear up under the wrath of his ill-tempered wife, had he dared try to help. The author certainly leaves us with a yearning for the sequel, which I am sure is in the works. He cannot have attained the success that he has, in the face of his miserable childhood, and not have more to tell.
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Summary: outstanding I look forward to a sequal
Review: I went from laughter to tears and back to laughter. I would highly recommend this book.
Rating:
Summary: I can't wait for the sequal!
Review: this book was non-stop. What makes it so good is that it really happened. I really recomend this book.
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Summary: As an Irish American, I finally understand my realitives.
Review: Growing up Irish in America is a bit like waiting for the next disaster to occur. The language of and outlook of the characters in Angela's Ashes is true and accurate. The phrases and delemas put me back in my grandmother's kitchen. What a terrific read. You'll laugh as hard as you'll cry.
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Summary: grahpic and depressing
Review: What a great book, so graphically written, and easy to read. It was not difficult to visualise Frank's life, and truly appreciate your own. My only two criticisms are that it could have been slightly condensed and I didn't like the abrupt ending. I also found myself getting extremely depressed, a sign of a good book! I look forward to the continuation of Frank's life story.
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