Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

[Dominique]

Ok I'm nearly half way through this and I couldn't see a thread on it so I thought I'd start one. I'm really enjoying it so far, it's so sad all the hardship and loss that McCourt had to face from such a young age. I have Irish ancestors and stuff but I don't know all that much about the country and I'm finding it interesting from that perspective too.

One thing I've noticed is how well McCourt recreates the perspective of a child. I had a think about it and he does it in a really similar way to what Faulkner does for the younger character Vardaman in "As I Lay Dying" where sentances don't end where they should and thoughts string together unrelated things in a child like way. I'm not very good at explaining it, but it reminded me of Faulkner where Vardaman thinks his mother is a fish. It reminds me of how McCourt keeps going back to the dead dog he saw on the road at the beginning of the book whenever someone dies or he sees blood or something like that.

[zeldafitzgerald]

I read Angela's Ashes last month, and I loved it.

I agree with what you said about his voice - how he is able to write with the voice of a child. I haven't read As I Lay Dying, but it sort of reminded me of how well Haven Kimmel conveys her childhood with the exact voice of a child in her Zippy memoirs.

I was surprised with Angela's Ashes - based on the cover and the subject matter, I was expecting it to be an incredibly depressing book. And while the events that happen are certainly sad and tragic, the book manages to be more matter of fact, and just plain interesting and extremely well-written.

[belle]

I read this one a year ago - and it was hard for me to read it. I don't know why, but I didn't like his way of writing very much, so I didn't finish it. I know many people love it and it's interesting to hear something about the irish history, but I just didn't enjoy it .

[Kristie]

My older sister has read it and liked it. I've had it on my TBR list for ages, but haven't gotten to it yet.

[bookaddict]

I really enjoyed the story. I loved the writing and I really felt bad for the mother and children. The father was despicable. I have Tis', and I will get to it soon. I have never seen the movie, and I don't really want to see it.

[Lu]

I've read Angela's Ashes and I loved it!
As you said zelda, I thought it was a depressing book too, there are some sad happenings and life is very hard for McCourt family but I didn't get depressed reading it.
I think that it's really well-written and that the author manages to recreate child's perspective in the best way.

I've seen that Angela's Ashes movie is soon on tv, I'm not sure if watching it, has anyone seen it?

[hoshi]

Wow, I read this book, like... let me count... around seven or eight years ago. That's quite a long time, although it didn't seem to me that long at first. Easy to guess I forgot almost everything concerning the plot, style, etc. But what I do remember is that I really enjoyed the reading and I almost devoured that book. It's been a pretty positive experience. I think I should re-read it again some time, but there are soooo many other books waiting on my shelf to be read, I just don't know where to start!

[Dominique]

I just finished this book and I really enjoyed it, it was very good. It's hard to imagine living in such poverty to me, surrounded by so much death and disease. Despite that I didn't find it depressing at all, although at times it did seem to go on forever. The father really was despicable, I agree.
I haven't seen the movie, I'd be interested in reading 'Tis in awhile I think.

[Maggie!]

will possibly buy this soon, its been on my reading list for a while

[singinbanana]

I read "Angela's Ashes" when I was about 12, and then the sequal " 'Tis" when I was about 13 (I tell you that book is too graphic for a 13 year old girl ). I haven't read the third sequel yet, which I think is called "Teacher Man".

I really enjoyed "Angela's Ashes" at the time, although I don't remember it so much now. However, I remember really liking the little couplets of Irish songs throughout the book. Being a musican and liking traditional Irish/Scottish music, I thought these little verses were a nice addition to the depth of the narrative.

It's sad to see though that whenever I've been to a charity booksale type of thing that there are heaps of copies of "Angela's Ashes" and the other Frank McCourt books. It's as if people have bought them as part of a hype and then never bothered to read them or whatever and have just given them away. But I suppose that's how Mr. McCourt made his money from the books in the first place.

[Kristie]

This book has been on my TBR list for awhile, but I haven't gotten to it. And today I just saw on an old movie a preview for the movie version, which I didn't know existed? Has anyone else seen the movie? Is it true to the book?

[bookaddict]

I really enjoyed Angela's Ashes. I have the other to books but have not gotten around to reading them yet. They are not light reads, because it's very depressing. So, it's hard to motivte myself to read the next one. I do higly recommend Angela's Ashes, it was great. Sad, but great.

I have not seen the movie, I've heard of it tho.

[bookworm148]

I don't want to see the movie. I think it might ruin the way I think about the book. The book was so amazing, and while it did get me a little depressed, the end was worth it.