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Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Verfasst von Frank McCourt
Gesprochen von Frank McCourt
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Mit Anhören beginnenBeschreibung
When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.
So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story.
Perhaps it is a story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing shoes repaired with tires, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner, and searching the pubs for his father, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.
Imbued with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion -- and movingly read in his own voice -- Angela's Ashes is a glorious audiobook that bears all the marks of a classic.
Buchaktionen
Mit Anhören beginnenInformationen über das Buch
Angela's Ashes: A Memoir
Verfasst von Frank McCourt
Gesprochen von Frank McCourt
Beschreibung
When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.
So begins the luminous memoir of Frank McCourt, born in Depression-era Brooklyn to recent Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick, Ireland. Frank's mother, Angela, has no money to feed the children since Frank's father Malachy, rarely works, and when he does he drinks his wages. Yet Malachy does nurture in Frank an appetite for the one thing he can provide: a story.
Perhaps it is a story that accounts for Frank's survival. Wearing shoes repaired with tires, begging a pig's head for Christmas dinner, and searching the pubs for his father, Frank endures poverty, near-starvation and the casual cruelty of relatives and neighbors -- yet lives to tell his tale with eloquence, exuberance and remarkable forgiveness.
Imbued with Frank McCourt's astounding humor and compassion -- and movingly read in his own voice -- Angela's Ashes is a glorious audiobook that bears all the marks of a classic.
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Born in Brooklyn in 1930 to recent Irish immigrants Malachy and Angela McCourt, Frank grew up in Limerick after his parents returned to Ireland because of poor prospects in America. It turns out that prospects weren't so great back in the old country either--not with Malachy for a father. A chronically unemployed and nearly unemployable alcoholic, he appears to be the model on which many of our more insulting cliches about drunken Irish manhood are based. Mix in abject poverty and frequent death and illness and you have all the makings of a truly difficult early life. Fortunately, in McCourt's able hands it also has all the makings for a compelling memoir. Won 1997 Pulitzer prize for Biography or Autobiography.Despite the difficult conditions of his childhood, McCourt manages to inject humor into this memoir. Very compelling.
To hear the author read his Pulitzer Prize winning novel, in his distinctive Irish accent, made this book very intimate. Although his childhood was incredibly sad, Frank McCourt was able to tell some memories with humor. When he would sing the songs his drunk father sang, I couldn't help but smile. The audio of this book is simply amazing.
This book was written brilliantly. The life of Frank McCourt was grim with an irresponsible drunk father in already miserable Limerick, Ireland. However, this memoir was also funny in a sad way because of how innocent McCourt was going through his day to day life, with hope. Love it to the end.
This book was amazing. It changed my view on just about everything. It made me appreciate where i came from more.
A funny yet tragic memoir of growing up in poverty in Ireland. While the overall world of Frank McCourt's childhood is seriously depressing, he manages to tell stories that have a hopeful tilt. I really liked Angela's Ashes.
I do believe I'm the last person on earth to have ever read this book and everyone but I got the memo that it's brilliant and awe-inspiring and I wish I could write trains of thought without punctuation so majestically as Mr. McCourt.It's not going to blow anybody's mind to say that I loved this book. It rips your heart out, it really does. When Frank had to lick leftover newspaper from his uncle's fish and chips wrapper, that's how desperately hungry and at the bottom of the barrel he was, my gut wrenched. His poor mother, losing three babies and married to man addicted to the drink and so far gone into the addiction that he can't see (or refuses to see) that his family needs the money for literal survival. Poor Frankie and his brothers, all of them sweet and good and somehow able to be positive in the most desperate of situations, the way only children can. How terrible that his own aunts and uncles and grandmothers treated him with disdain for the sole reason that his mother married a man from the North.What a tragic childhood.Yet at the same time, I wonder if Mr. McCourt found his childhood to be tragic. As a child, did he think he had it terribly? He knew his family were dirt poor (literally), he watched as his mother lost three children, he stood by his mother as she weeped over her husband who continued to let his family down, but Frank and his brothers were able to find happiness and light in the darkest of places and times, such is the resilience and power of a child's mind.If ever there were a book that forced you to be grateful for everything you have, grateful that you have a bed, your own toilet, shoes, food and that you don't have to lick the grease off a newspaper to stave away the hunger, this book is it.Bring on 'Tis and Teacher Man.
What an amazing story. I did not actually read this one, I listened to the audio book from my local library app, hoopla. All opinions are my own. I hung on every word. My heart bled for Angela and then later for the kids. This poor family and all the struggles they had. I also felt Angela's family were cold and really should have stepped up more to help out but I guess times were different then. This story will truly tug at your heart. Frank survives so many near death experiences and so much neglect you almost have to hate everyone he comes in contact with. His amazing ability to forgive is what keeps this book moving forward. Review also posted on Instagram @borenbooks, Library Thing, Go Read, Amazon, Goodreads/StacieBoren, Twitter @jason_stacie, and my blog at readsbystacie.com
A classic.
Stunningly raw and wonderful.
Surreal. (11/10)
Heartbreakingly good.
Moving, funny compelling memoir
Blew me away!
This memoir by Frank McCourt is tough and sad. He is brought up in the slums of Limerick, Ireland......his mother has no money to feed or clothe her children and his father, who rarely works, and when he does get money in his hand drinks it all down the pub. It is an excellent book......sad, enduring, poignant and powerful.
To read - or in my case, listen - to McCourt's poverty, illness and family hardship upbringing in Limerick, Ireland was like experiencing his childhood firsthand. A very haunting experience. The excellent descriptive writing made it possible for me to visualize Ireland of the 1930-1940's. While there is some humour in this memoir - Angela's two female cousins who descend upon Frank's as yet unmarried parents when they still resided in America is a hoot to read about! - but other than that, this one does not have the overall cheery feel I found in Brendon O'Carroll's Agnes Browne memoir series. Even with the painful childhood described in this one made me weep for Frank (and really want to wring his father's neck!), I found this to be a somewhat cathartic read: a purging of the past to move on with the future. I am already looking forward to reading the next book, 'Tis, in the author's memoir series.
What a story!!! I read this book long long time ago as a little girl still in school. My cousin gave it to me and it was the first book i ever read. I call this book starting point of my reading addiction. After all these years i still wondered about this book and never really understood the great reviews i occasionally read in different forums which off course meant i had to read it again some day! And so it happens that i stumble upon this epic.
Finished this book in 3 sittings spread over 2 days and o boy what a story. Having grown up in India, i always imagined that all European countries are rich ones. This book is a glimpse into the irish history & poverty and what its like growing up in utter desperation. Heart touching and definitely a book that will keep me thinking about Frankie and his growing up years, Angela and her utter frustration of raising a family with husband who cares all about his pint and all other characters
Now i know and understand this book so much better after having read it as a grown up
Finished this book in 3 sittings spread over 2 days and o boy what a story. Having grown up in India, i always imagined that all European countries are rich ones. This book is a glimpse into the irish history & poverty and what its like growing up in utter desperation. Heart touching and definitely a book that will keep me thinking about Frankie and his growing up years, Angela and her utter frustration of raising a family with husband who cares all about his pint and all other characters
Now i know and understand this book so much better after having read it as a grown up
very poignant
The story of a boy growing up in a poverty-stricken Irish family. There are heartbreaking scenes of the death of little brothers and sisters and the hunger and filth the family have to live in, but the general tone is light due to the straightforward logic of the boy-narrator, which clashes with the absurdities of real life.
Frank McCourt tells about his impoverished childhood and adolescence in Ireland. His father was a drunkard who could not hold down a job. He eventually left for work in London, rarely coming home. Frank's mother put up with too much abuse from her husband. Death of children was too common in the family. The Catholic Church was important in their live. It's a sad story. Frank finally earns his way to America.
Frank McCourt relives his early life in this memoir, covering from when he was a very young boy until his teenage years. The book opens with his family living in squalor in 1930s New York, dealing with poverty so deep that he and his younger brothers are near starvation. Things come to a head when his infant sister dies. His immigrant parents opt to return home to Ireland, in hopes of things being better there. Instead, they meet with more poverty, illness, and death as his mother struggles to feed the family while his father repeatedly spends his wages on alcohol and loses jobs as a result of drunken nights. As Frank ages, he endeavors to find ways to earn money on his own, eventually deciding that his best option is to return to America someday.Despite the seemingly depressing nature of this book, I found it riveting. It was one of those books that once I started it, I didn't want to put it down. McCourt writes in such a lovely way -- the text flows easily; he captures the young child's voice so well and slowly changes the tone as his young self ages; he subtly connects the book to the wide world of literature with references to legends, poetry, and more; and he infuses so much humor throughout the book that the horrible situations seem at least slightly less awful. There are many interesting people that we meet throughout the book from McCourt's Uncle Pa Keating who doesn't "give a fiddler's fart" about anything, to his Uncle Ab Sheehan who was dropped on his head as a baby and is a little off as a result, to his neighbor Nora Molloy who periodically checks herself into the lunatic asylum for a rest from her woes of dealing with raising her family in abject conditions. There are also numerous other neighbors, classmates, teachers, priests, and so forth who young Frankie meets and associates with, each with their own unique personality traits. This title was one from my book club, and it made for a lively discussion on all types of topics. I highly recommend it as an interesting read that puts a lot into perspective. My only reservation is for those who are squeamish, as there is quite a bit of talk about bodily functions, death, and other tragedies.
Bring the tissues! Frank McCourt's member about growing up impoverished in Ireland is beautifully written and completely heartbreaking at times. Recommended for high school students, particularly in upper grades.
Loved this book!
Excellent Book!
Good read. Inspirational.
The walk through McCourt's childhood in Ireland was deeply moving, but I passionately hated his parents. I mean, I really hated them. They bothered me so much that it was almost painful to read at times.
I saw the previews for the film version--it seemed to portray McCourt's parents positively, as doing the best they could, as lovable, impoverished saints with a few problems (I can't remember if I did actually watch the movie and that's how I know this), but I just can't get past my judgment. McCourt makes a good hero, though; he's a remarkable man.
I saw the previews for the film version--it seemed to portray McCourt's parents positively, as doing the best they could, as lovable, impoverished saints with a few problems (I can't remember if I did actually watch the movie and that's how I know this), but I just can't get past my judgment. McCourt makes a good hero, though; he's a remarkable man.
Sad story, but very engaging drawing the reader in one page at a time deeper and deeper into the story. 10% in = meh, 25% in = seems ok, 50% in = hooked in and ready for each page
McCourt begins his popular memoir, Angela's Ashes, stating - "When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood: the happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." and thus begins the journey of Frank McCourt's life as a child in Ireland. And while The Great Famine may have been a thing of the past for most in Ireland, you would never know it from the McCourt household.
An enduring story. It took me a bit to get used to the voice and the grammar used in the book but enjoyed it quite a bit. Some parts were extremely sad, leaving me near tears while others had me laughing (his first Communion and his Grandmother's dress were a riot) but at all times it gripped my heart. I just kept wanting something good to happen to this family. A great story on the struggle of life and overcoming that struggle against all odds. I look forward to the continuation, 'Tis, to see what becomes of the young man named Frank McCourt.
An enduring story. It took me a bit to get used to the voice and the grammar used in the book but enjoyed it quite a bit. Some parts were extremely sad, leaving me near tears while others had me laughing (his first Communion and his Grandmother's dress were a riot) but at all times it gripped my heart. I just kept wanting something good to happen to this family. A great story on the struggle of life and overcoming that struggle against all odds. I look forward to the continuation, 'Tis, to see what becomes of the young man named Frank McCourt.
Frank McCourt lived a remarkable life, overcoming incredible poverty to become the man he now is. I think this is a great book to teach a reader compassion and understanding for those brought up in lesser cicrumstances.
I was shocked at the circumstances in which he lived as a boy. It is so foreign it is unimaginable.
Well worth the read.
I was shocked at the circumstances in which he lived as a boy. It is so foreign it is unimaginable.
Well worth the read.
Angela's Ashes tells of the hardscrabble upbringing of Frank McCourt who was born in America but returned to Ireland with his family in the 1930's. Frank McCourt was raised in Ireland in poverty in squalid conditions. 3 of his siblings died before their 5th birthday and his father was an alcoholic who preferred drinking in pubs to supporting his family. Although, his life was a struggle McCourt's memoir doesn't lament about how tough his childhood was, he merely states the facts as they are. The memoir is bleak but it is not without its humorous and heartwarming moments. It was inspirational to see someone overcome such meager beginnings and go own to have a successful career in teaching and writing.
Very well-written, sad and moving story.