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Book Reviews Title Angela's
Ashes Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story NOW A MAJOR
MOTION PICTURE FROM PARAMOUNT AND UNIVERSAL
PICTURES INTERNATIONAL. THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD,
THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK AWARD, AND THE ABBY
AWARD. "Every once in a
while, a lucky reader comes across a book that
makes an indelible impression, a book you
immediately want to share with everyone around
you....Frank McCourt's life, and his searing
telling of it, reveals all we need to know about
being human." - Linnea Lannon, Detroit Free
Press We
Say After hearing
about Frank McCourt’s biography, Angela’s
Ashes, I decided to see if it was worthy of all the
rave reviews it was receiving. Fortunately I was
not sure what the book was about so I began reading
with few expectations. I was impressed with
McCourt’s ability to remember his childhood
experiences and reveal them through a young
boy’s eyes. I can see why so many felt that
McCourt’s biography was so impressive.
While I
wasn’t completely overwhelmed or overly
impressed, I did enjoy reading Angela’s Ashes
and I actually gained a greater insight of what
growing up in Ireland might have been like. In the
end, I felt that Angela’s Ashes is not only
about Frank McCourt’s experiences growing up
poor in Ireland, it is also a memoir of a young boy
growing up with an alcoholic father. Many of
McCourt’s descriptions of growing up in
Ireland were fascinating. Almost everyone living in
the United States can lay some claim to knowing
what it means to be Irish, but so many of our
perceptions are misguided by stereotypes and rumor.
The news has been filled with the violence and
discord plaguing Northern Ireland, but I don’t
believe anyone really understands why there is so
much conflict unless it is experienced first hand.
Jokes are made about growing up Catholic and we all
assume we know who to blame for a family’s
impoverished status. Angela’s Ashes dispells
some of the stereotypes and myths by providing one
child’s view of growing up Irish. Still,
McCourt’s childhood was really no different
from the millions of other impoverished children in
the world. He just wrote it down well. As I was reading,
I couldn’t help but wonder what McCourt’s
childhood would have been like if his father had
not been an alcoholic. His family probably
wouldn’t have returned to Ireland, and his
story wouldn’t have been any different from
the other Irish immigrants struggling to make a
living in the United States. Perhaps the reason
that so many were left with strong impressions
after reading this memoir was due to the fact that
McCourt tells his story with humor and honesty.
Overall I believe
that Angela’s Ashes is a testimony to a
child’s hope that his future will be better
despite his circumstances. What can be seen as a
biography of a young boy struggling to be the man
he wants his father to be, can also be seen as a
message of hope for all of those who find
themselves in desperate situations. Review by: Rachel
Taylor |
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