Rate this book

Clear rating

1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood (Frank McCourt #1)

4.01 of 5 stars 4.01 · rating details · 212,197 ratings · 6,497 reviews

“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 Bro...more

Paperback, 426 pages

Published 1997 by Flamingo (first published 1996)

more details... edit details

Get a copy:

Friend Reviews

To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.

Lists with This Book

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West by Cormac McCarthy

Books to Read Before You Die!!! (In No Particular Order)

18th out of 38 books — 3 voters

More lists with this book...

Community Reviews

(showing 1-30 of 3,000)

filter | sort: default (?) | rating details

Sep 13, 2007 Eric Althoff rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before I get too deep into my review, let me just say this: "Angela's Ashes" is one of the most depressing books I have ever read. That said, it is also fascinating, heartbreaking, searingly honest narration told in the face of extreme poverty and alcoholism. This absolutely entrancing memoir follows an Irish-American-Irish-American (more on this later) boy who comes of age during the Depression and the War years in a country gripped in the stranglehold of the Catholic Church, tradition, rampant...more Before I get too deep into my review, let me just say this: "Angela's Ashes" is one of the most depressing books I have ever read. That said, it is also fascinating, heartbreaking, searingly honest narration told in the face of extreme poverty and alcoholism. This absolutely entrancing memoir follows an Irish-American-Irish-American (more on this later) boy who comes of age during the Depression and the War years in a country gripped in the stranglehold of the Catholic Church, tradition, rampant poverty and unemployment, and the seemingly ubiquitous curse of the Irish: alcohol.

Young Frank McCourt is born in American barely five months after his parents were wed. (Naturally, he will ask later about the math.) His father squanders the family's wages at the pubs and soon the family (with new children seeming to drop on a regular basis) moves back to Ireland. Frank and his family move from slum to slum as his father drifts aimlessly from one job to the next and from one pub to the next, coming home at midnight to rouse his boys from bed, making them promise to die for Ireland. Everywhere for Frank is misery: at school, at home, in the weather, in the dreary conditions of Limerick, and in a fiercly pious populace. Forced to be a man long before most kids even have a paper route, Frank is soon working to supplement whatever his mother can get handed from the government or begging while his father is off working and drinking in England's wartime industries. Frank dreams only of returning to America, where "everyone is a movie star."

This novel is so incredibly heartbreaking not only because it is true, but because it highlights the devastating conditions faced by millions (and which sadly continue). The work is a stinging indictment of alcoholism without being a polemic, merely a recollection of what was everday life of the narrator's family, courtesy of his father's drinking. McCourt's supreme strength is in narrating the book through the eyes of his younger self rather than as an adult commentating or proselytizing about what he saw and did as a young man. The young Frank makes choices out of survival instincts and simply because they seemed right at the time (i.e. stealing to eat while promising himself to pay it all back later). On top of the normal perils of adolescence--sexual awakening and social awkardness--Frank, and countless young people like him, needed to grow up far too early to stave of homelessness for himself and his family in the absence of his drifter, drinking father. And ultimately, it is also the quintessential immigrant story of saving up enough to leave the Old Country behind in pursuit of a better life in America.

Approach "Angela's Ashes" with both caution and an open mind. Bring tissues and try not to condemn. Be like young Frank: Observe without damning.

(less)

93 likes · like · see review

Jul 15, 2007 David rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: utter-dreck, hideously-vile-protagonists, embarrassed-to-own, mind-numbingly-boring, intellectual-con-artist-at-work, emotionally-manipulative

But the worst offender of the last twenty years has to be the uniquely meretricious drivel that constitutes "Angela's Ashes". Dishonest at every level, slimeball McCourt managed to parlay his mawkish maunderings to commercial success, presumably because the particular assortment of rainsodden cliches hawked in the book not only dovetails beautifully with the stereotypes lodged in the brain of every American of Irish descent, but also panders to the lummoxes collective need to feel superior becau...more

59 likes · like · see review

May 29, 2007 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

In Angela's Ashes, Frank McCourt paints a picture of a childhood mired in poverty. He manages to be humorous and heartbreaking, and hopeless and triumphant all at once. I laughed, I cried, I felt dearly for the disadvantaged McCourt family that struggled against all odds.

The memoir borrows heavily from the art of realism -- as tales of impoverished childhoods usually are. McCourt was born in depression era Brooklyn to an alcoholic father who spent all his wages at the bar, and a mother disgraced...more

26 likes · like · see review

Mar 16, 2008 George Bradford rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ireland

“If you had the luck of the Irish
You’d be sorry and wish you was dead
If you had the luck of the Irish
Then you’d wish you was English instead”

How can ONE book be so WONDERFUL and so HORRIBLE at the same time? I have no idea. But this book is both. Big time.

It’s difficult to imagine anything worse than a childhood crushed under the oppressive conditions of abject poverty, relentless filth and unmitigated suffering. The childhood described in this book is the worst I’ve ever encountered. The “luck...more

49 likes · like · see review

Aug 22, 2007 Angela Paquin rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: haveread

It's been ten years since I've read this book. Like everyone else I was floored by it when it first came out. But time and age have made me wiser.

I don't think it's stood the test of time and the more I think of it... my grandmother is right. It's a one-sided, depressing view of life in Ireland.

"Woah is me..." is the book in a nutshell. This book simply has you marinate in negativity. Maybe I've read too much Phillip Roth in the meantime and compared to his characters this book seems too whiny...more

19 likes · like · see review

Feb 27, 2011 Dervishi rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Angela's Ashes was really not the sort of book I would enjoy. In fact, I found that the further it progressed, the less enthusiastic I became. McCourt uses the modern technique of describing the protagonist's struggles and life day by day. The intention is to make his own unique experiences feel universal because people look past each individual day and look at it as a whole, and see the supposedly universal themes.

However, I am not a believer or practitioner of this contemporary writing style....more

5 likes · like · see review

Apr 13, 2009 Beth F. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography-and-memoir, nonfiction, pulitzer, 2009, tnbbc-spring-2009

I ended up really enjoying this book, in spite of my earlier frustrations with it.

To say this book is depressing is one of the grossest understatements I've made in the past year. The book is narrated by the very young Frank McCourt and follows a child's stream of consciousness to describe the things he sees but doesn't always understand. As he gets older, the narration implies less and becomes more stark as Frankie develops the ability to see and understand what is happening in his family.

Ther...more

13 likes · like · see review

Oct 19, 2008 Louise rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Though this book was a bit gritty in its portrayal of the poverty in Ireland, I felt I caught a real glimpse of how desperate the times must have been. It made me think again of all that I enjoy. I can't even imagine how the people could live on so little. The writing style is different, but it felt natural, like he was telling you the story, first hand. It was easier to read, even for the awful circumstances described. It was this description that was hard to digest, not the style of writing. I...more

5 likes · like · see review

Feb 06, 2008 Alicia rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are not words to describe how horrible I felt this book was. First, I was somehow under the impression that it was a WWII novel, so that was a disappointment to begin with. I really felt like the theme of this novel was how to survive life's trials and difficulties by masturbating. Someone please tell me if I am way off here.

18 likes · like · see review

Apr 22, 2008 John rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Overpraised and insubstantive, the first installment in Frank McCourt's memoir cycle, Angela's Ashes, is mostly based around such an obvious cycle that its mind-numbing: "Times were tough and we were on the dole. Me father drank and came home late at night waking us up and making us swear we'd die for Ireland. Me mother and me father fought and he shaped up. Got a job, but nobody liked him because he was from the dirty north. So he drank his first Friday's paycheck, was late to work on Saturday,...more Overpraised and insubstantive, the first installment in Frank McCourt's memoir cycle, Angela's Ashes, is mostly based around such an obvious cycle that its mind-numbing: "Times were tough and we were on the dole. Me father drank and came home late at night waking us up and making us swear we'd die for Ireland. Me mother and me father fought and he shaped up. Got a job, but nobody liked him because he was from the dirty north. So he drank his first Friday's paycheck, was late to work on Saturday, and the boss fired him. So we was back on the dole. Times were tough." Seriously, 300-odd pages of this, on loop. The more gripping sequences are in the beginning, when the McCourts first arrive in Ireland and are so sickly that it seems like at least two children die per chapter. You almost had to wonder why they don't, I dunno, just STOP REPRODUCING, but I guess I'm not that Catholic and thus can't understand. Anyways, it's harrowing and heavy, and most important, hasn't become a pattern yet. I was able to hang with this part. But once the last child dies, about 70 pages in, and the story shifts moods from ultra-depressing to whimsical for a while ("me neighbor wanted me to dance for a few pence, but I was so poor I only had one shoe, so I could not dance properly. Och, it was a jolly spectacle!"), and it's just the above sequence on repeat, I simply had a struggle understanding why the bloody hell this book won a Pulitzer. I suppose it presents a brutal picture of poverty in Ireland in the early 20th century, the prejudices and sufferings that result from it. And it subtly comments on the senseless bitterness of the IRE / UK divide. But, really, I've read Frank McCourt derivatives (Damian McNichol, for example) who are more poignant and less didactic than this novel. Worst was the conclusion; young adult Frank arrives back in the U.S., and sleeps with the neglected wife of a WWII vet on his first night in the country. "Isn't it great, this America?" his travel companion asks. "'Tis." Frank responds. What the hell? (less)

12 likes · like · see review

Nov 11, 2007 Ryan Dietz rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

I am currently touring Ireland. I have been here for two months and I leave in a few days. Since I have been here a while I have become more and more interested in Irish life. I have a few Irish friends and I have been fascinated in Ireland's rich and tumultuous history. This book is a heartbreaking and at times humorous story of Frank McCourt's impoverished childhood, the atrocity's the Catholic Church reigned upon the very people they were to be helping and the determination for a better life....more

5 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2008 Gail rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: memoirs, 2007, irish-themes

What, did NO one find this book funny except me??? I must be really perverse.
Although the account of Frank's bad eyes was almost physically painful to read, the rest of the story didn't seem too odd or sad or overdone to me. My dad's family were immigrants; his father died young of cirrhosis of the liver, leaving my grandmother to raise her six living children (of a total of 13) on a cleaning woman's pay. So? Life was hard. They weren't Irish and they lived in New York, but when you hear that yo...more

36 likes · like · see review

Oct 09, 2007 M is for Mallory rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I can't put this down! I'm getting such a dark kick out of Frank McCourt's childhood. Favorite line that had me laughing out loud: "Oy, you Irish. You'll live forever but you'll never say challah like a Chew." I'm devastated this book is ending; it's been the most pleasurable part of my days over the past week. It's of course depressing, I mean, like he says in opening "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhoood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic ch...more

18 likes · like · see review

Apr 30, 2008 MadMelvina rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of my most favorite books and authors of all time. I can't get enough of Frank's stories. I also listened to him tell it on an audio recording, and it's even more awesome listening to his Irish accent. The most compelling characteristic of his writing is the ability to write about a subject as dire and despairing as poverty and neglect, and make it so blisteringly funny, I'm in tears. Then in another chapter, I'm crying with grief over the loss of his siblings and the humiliations of his mot...more

15 likes · like · see review

May 10, 2007 Kecia rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: inhabitants of suburbia

Shelves: pulitzer_prize, life_stories

I read an interview with the author who said he was surprised by the number of American students who said they wished they had had a childhood like his. After reading his story of extreme poverty and loss I think I understand his students. McCourt had a childhood, that while extreme and difficult, was at least filled with spiritual grace. An American middle class child of strip malls, Chuck E Cheese parties, and television is certainly more comfortable but can leave one with a deadened soul. A w...more

6 likes · like · see review

Feb 01, 2009 Jan C rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ireland, biography

I loved this book. I started out buying it as a gift for my mother. That might have been the last time I visited her at Christmas time (I'm not crazy about driving trips in the winter). And while there, I started reading it. I knew it I had to buy it for myself when I returned home. I did. And I read the book in about a week, if that long.

I'm part Irish. But you don't have to be Irish to like this book. Matter of fact, a lot of the Irish didn't like it because it exposed just how poverty strick...more

10 likes · like · see review

Jan 15, 2009 Carolyn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Angela’s Ashes is the first of three memoirs written by Irish author Frank McCourt. Angela’s Ashes was published in 1996, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. The story was made into a film directed by Alan Parker in 1999.
Frank McCourt begins his story with the tale of how his parents meet in Brooklyn, New York. When Malachy gets his mother Angela pregnant with Frank, she marries him and the two start their life together in a small apartment in Brooklyn. Angela gives bir...more Angela’s Ashes is the first of three memoirs written by Irish author Frank McCourt. Angela’s Ashes was published in 1996, and won the Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. The story was made into a film directed by Alan Parker in 1999.
Frank McCourt begins his story with the tale of how his parents meet in Brooklyn, New York. When Malachy gets his mother Angela pregnant with Frank, she marries him and the two start their life together in a small apartment in Brooklyn. Angela gives birth to three more sons while in Brooklyn; the second son is Malachy, followed by twins Oliver and Eugene. Malachy Sr., Frank’s father, proves to be a hopeless alcoholic who cannot hold onto a job for more than a few weeks at a time. Some motivation to improve his behavior comes with the birth of a daughter, Margaret. When Margaret passes away in their Brooklyn apartment, only a few weeks old, the McCourt family moves back to Ireland, where twins Oliver and Eugene both die within a year. Two more sons Michael and Alphie are born in Limerick, into a gritty world of discomfort and suffering.
Frank McCourt’s story is an absolutely miserable one. He opens the novel explaining the extent of the misery that was his childhood. “When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived 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.” The McCourt family eventually settles into a less-than-comfortable house on a sorrowful lane in Limerick. The lane shares just one lavatory among all the houses, which happens to be located in the McCourt’s backyard. In addition to the cold and the rain, the McCourt family has to endure the stench of their neighbors dumping their sewage on windy days. Angela McCourt is left with no other option than to beg for the dole and handouts from the St. Vincent de Paul Society. Malachy manages to drink away all of his wages in the pubs, and still cannot hold onto a steady job. During World War II, Malachy travels to England to work at a defense plant, yet he still manages to waste all of his money, and only sends wages home once. The McCourt children have one set of clothes and a pair of patched shoes each, struggling to live off of very little in their damp, cold climate.
Although Frank’s story is desperate and sometimes unbelievable, it is full of good humor and adventure. The reader is certain to find themselves laughing out loud many times throughout the course of the book, and there are countless quotable passages between the covers. As a memoir, this book is particularly interesting because it is McCourt’s real account and interpretation of his childhood. He paints a beautiful picture with his words, telling what was going through his mind as he grew up in brutal conditions in New York and Limerick. McCourt recounts the days when having an entire egg to himself for breakfast was an exciting and noteworthy luxury, and his clothes were held together by his mother’s obvious stitch work, while some children in his class had no shoes at all. McCourt’s voice and rhythm are very distinctive, and I would definitely rank him among my favorite storytellers. Angela’s Ashes is a powerful masterpiece which tells a true story about pain, hunger, desperation, love, heartbreak, and, above all, strength. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a good read which is full of humor, but also very meaningful.(less)

8 likes · like · see review

Mar 03, 2013 Liane rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012-reads

I thought I'll be bored with this book. But I was totally wrong. The flow of the story goes well that it made me wanna read it more. Frank's life when he was a child was so bad that he lost his sibling , didnt have what a child needs to have because of poverty & I just hate his dad for being so alcoholic.
But I admired him for being a strong kid, a strong brother & son!
This book is worth the read & worth to be read again in the future!

2 likes · like · see review

Apr 24, 2011 Elisa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: letteratura-americana, preferiti

Dal camposanto vedo le alte rovine del castello di Carrigogunnell e ho ancora un sacco di tempo per risalire la stradina in bici, sedermi sul muro più alto, guardare lo Shannon che scorre verso l'Atlantico sulla via per l'America e sognare del giorno in cui anch'io prenderò il largo.

Ci sono i romanzi in cui i personaggi sono fittizi. Concentrati di vizi, virtù e miserie partoriti ad hoc per le pagine di un libro. L'autore è un creatore: con due miseri ingredienti, carta e penna, ha definito e...more Dal camposanto vedo le alte rovine del castello di Carrigogunnell e ho ancora un sacco di tempo per risalire la stradina in bici, sedermi sul muro più alto, guardare lo Shannon che scorre verso l'Atlantico sulla via per l'America e sognare del giorno in cui anch'io prenderò il largo.

Ci sono i romanzi in cui i personaggi sono fittizi. Concentrati di vizi, virtù e miserie partoriti ad hoc per le pagine di un libro. L'autore è un creatore: con due miseri ingredienti, carta e penna, ha definito e riempito un individuo in carne e ossa. Poi ci sono i romanzi in cui i personaggi sono persone. Hanno passeggiato per le strade del tuo mondo e sentito i tuoi stessi brividi sulla pelle. L'inchiostro fa loro da eco: l'autore non è più creatore, ma ritrattista.

Frank McCourt è molto più di un semplice ritrattista. Il suo romanzo ha la stessa ampiezza di quelle enormi tele che addobbano i palazzi reali sparsi per l'Europa, rappresentanti re e regine, corti e militari con le piume sul cappello. I personaggi della tela di McCourt, però, sono ben lontani dall'esser nobili. McCourt ci porta nell'Irlanda impantanata tra il primo dopoguerra e il secondo, posa uno specchio davanti a sé e ai suoi amici, parenti, compaesani, compatrioti e comincia a dipingere. Irlandesi cattolici appartenenti al sottoscala della società, altalenanti fra la povertà e la mendicità più estrema; preti e associazioni religiose dimentiche degli insegnamenti evangelici; ragazzini pieni di speranze per il futuro; uomini combattuti tra l'amore paterno e l'alcolismo; madri che mordono la vita con i pochi denti che rimangono loro e adulti che vedono la speranza seppellirsi lentamente tra le ceneri del camino spento.

Il racconto ha la durezza e la brillantezza del diamante. La voce narrante è quella di Frankie: pare che i settant'anni che Frank McCourt aveva sulla schiena al momento della stesura non abbiano avuto alcun effetto sul candore delle riflessioni che gli arricchivano la mente da bambino. Frankie osserva il mondo che lo circonda, come un circo di animali da comprendere, e in due parole è capace di demolire un intero sistema creato a prova di bambino. I dogmi della religione, gli insegnamenti degli adulti disattesi da loro stessi, l'insensatezza dell'orgoglio e della cattiveria quando si sguazza nella stessa melma: tutto viene colpito con una leggera stoccata, ed ecco una società intera accovacciarsi sotto il peso delle sue stesse debolezze.

In questo romanzo non esistono personaggi positivi e personaggi negativi. Ognuno ha il suo carico di ombre e sofferenze: i più fortunati possiedono un carretto per trasportarlo, gli altri si trascinano a piedi sotto il suo peso, attanagliati dalla rabbia. Strada facendo la perdono per strada, la vomitano su chi gli passa vicino. La zia Aggie, terribile despota con i bambini, in cuor suo si dispera per la sua sterilità; il padre Malachy si beve la paga al pub e fa vivere la famiglia di tè e pane imbevuto, ma poi rinuncia alla sua porzione per dividerla con i figli, racconta loro delle storie emozionanti, li ama. L'analisi psicologica è leggera come una bolla di sapone proprio perché nasce dalle mani di un bambino.

Qualsiasi altra indicazione è sprecata: leggete il libro e lasciatevi trascinare da Frankie lungo le rive del fiume Shannon, che a volte canta e altre ti soffoca con il suo respiro.(less)

6 likes · like · see review

Sep 04, 2008 Julie H. rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: biography

What a beautiful book. You will never look at your home's second story the same way again after reading of the flooding incident and how the family retreated to the upper story. I add this to the long line of reasons for wishing my Grandmother were still around so that I could ask about stories of our family's past in Cork. Read. This. Book.

7 likes · like · see review

Mar 21, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: pulitzer-prize-winner, memoir, british-lit

So I remember when this engrossing memoir was all the rage back in the late 90's, around the time Ireland was experiencing an economic resurgence and trends like Riverdance and pubs were becoming popular in America. All I heard about this book was that it was "sad".

So imagine my surprise when I didn't find the novel to be merely "sad". Although the author tells the story of a childhood riddled with poverty, loneliness, and saddest of all (in my eyes), little kindness, encouragement or affection;...more So I remember when this engrossing memoir was all the rage back in the late 90's, around the time Ireland was experiencing an economic resurgence and trends like Riverdance and pubs were becoming popular in America. All I heard about this book was that it was "sad".

So imagine my surprise when I didn't find the novel to be merely "sad". Although the author tells the story of a childhood riddled with poverty, loneliness, and saddest of all (in my eyes), little kindness, encouragement or affection; in spite of all this, he tells his story with humor of all things! It reminds me of a wise woman who said that life will either make you laugh or cry, and why not laugh because crying gives you a headache.

The book makes you feel as if you're living with the McCourt household in 1930's New York and later Ireland as they beg a pig's head for Christmas dinner, nail tires to their shoes when they start to wear out, experience typhoid fever, consumption and tuberculosis, and watch their father drink away his wages again, and again, and again. It sounds pretty dark on paper, but somehow McCourt made me chuckle and smile at every turn.

If you have experienced the nature of addiction (and remember that the author's alcoholic father can't exactly join AA back in those days, and don't forget the worshiped role of booze in Irish culture), it isn't surprising but no less astonishing that a person can be so supremely selfish. Indeed, McCourt brings out one of the tragic truths of humanity - that you can love someone for the good that's in them, despite the fact that they are incapable of loving you back. (LOVE, of course, is an action, not just a feeling).

I don't feel that I necessarily admire the author, despite his ultimate victory over poverty, but neither do I begrudge him his financial success through his writing. People have criticized him for making money off of his misfortunes, of falsifying events and so on. Since MccCourt wrote his memoir while in his 60's, I take it for granted that unless he has a photographic memory, the novel reflects his feelings and impressions of his upbringing, uses liberal creative license, and is not a verbatim report of past events.

But I think he is honest to the spirit of things. He makes no qualms about admitting that he was many times dishonest and shady in order to reach his goals, whether it was finding bread to eat or scraping up the fare to immigrate back to America, the land of his birth. The author himself recognizes that he is an unscrupulous opportunist; are we really surprised that this disadvantaged boy would grow up to make a fortune off of the misery of his past life? I'm happy for the guy and hope he's finally at peace now, having passed away in 2009.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Dec 17, 2009 Truly rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Jika bisa memilih, setiap anak pasti ingin dilahirkan dengan memegang sendok emas! Dilahirkan oleh seorang ibu yang berada dalam kehidupan yang mapan. Tidak perlu memikirkan apakah nanti malam mereka masih bisa makan, dimana bisa mendapatkan uang.Tidak mengenal rasa lapar dan kedinginan, tidak perlu memakai potongan ban untuk sol sepatu. Semua serba tersedia.

Frank Mc Cournt harus menerima takdirnya, dilahirkan di Bulan Agustus, akibat Peristiwa Lutut Gemeretar yang terjadi antara ibunya, Angela...more

3 likes · like · see review

Apr 06, 2009 Peter Namtvedt rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Those who love romanticist fiction but have some tolerance for naturalism.

This is the unfinished story of Angela, the mother of Francis McCourt (aka Frank McCourt, the author). Many readers may feel it is written in bitterness, but they must be wrong. The book bubbles with wit. Readers may feel it is a tale of despair, but it leads to a future not yet told. Some may feel it is shot-through with cruelty, gilding grime and polishing puke, praising primitiveness and lauding ill health and death.

McCourt certainly draws the reader into the hollowness of poverty, disease, a...more

8 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2009 Patrick rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: audio-book

Entertaining and amazing story. I'm a bit biased, perhaps, being part Irish. And having been to Ireland on vacation last year. I'm now dying to read 'Tis.

6 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2009 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is not typically the type of book that I would read. Yet, I felt myself drawn into the story of this Irish family and their daily struggles. When you read stories about real life, there is the heartache- which always makes me hesitate. My own life and the lives of those around me contain enough heartache and struggle where I feel like I don't need to read further about it. However, this book also contains a profound story of hope that continues to persevere through desperate circumstances....more

1 like · like · see review

Feb 05, 2013 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Lisa (Harmonybites) by: The Ultimate Reading List - Biography

Shelves: biography, memoir, non-fiction, ultimate-reading-list, literary-fiction, 2013-around-the-world

I wanted to love this book--so many whose opinions I respect adored it beyond words. I actually saw the film and remember liking it a lot. At first I thought I would love it. The book is McCourt's memoir of his miserable childhood in Ireland. With an emphasis on misery. The first pages really pulled me in. It had the kind of prose that makes you think, "this is a great book." It reads likes a novel, is crafted like a novel. But the book has lots of modernist touches such as long passages reporti...more I wanted to love this book--so many whose opinions I respect adored it beyond words. I actually saw the film and remember liking it a lot. At first I thought I would love it. The book is McCourt's memoir of his miserable childhood in Ireland. With an emphasis on misery. The first pages really pulled me in. It had the kind of prose that makes you think, "this is a great book." It reads likes a novel, is crafted like a novel. But the book has lots of modernist touches such as long passages reporting the speech of people--without quotation marks and sometimes without even paragraphing--minimalist punctuation, use of the present tense, parts that could be called stream of consciousness... I admit this is a style I find off-putting, in spite of it being rather appropriate for a book set in the land of James Joyce.

But I think it was the sheer numbing misery, combined with the creative non-fiction embellishments that eventually really got to me. McCourt began by writing, “When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all.” Given what he related, I did too. And it's not very credible as non-fiction given McCourt purported to remember in detail events in his early childhood fifty years later--which along with the consciously literary style undercut for me a lot of his credibility, making me wonder how much of the account was exaggerated. (Those who knew the McCourts in Limerick also fiercly dispute a lot of his stories.)

I know for a lot of people it was precisely the style they loved. I know for a lot of people, despite the dire poverty related, they found this book uplifting rather than depressing. They found lots of humor in it rather than finding it relentlessly grim with people (characters?) impossible to like. I detested Frank's father--and his mother wasn't a prize either. And I found Frank more bitter and whiny than charming. I've long given up trying to give objective ratings. Maybe the book deserves its acclaim, but if anything, my rating is generous. I didn't find it "OK" as befits a Goodreads two stars. I disliked it. I started it thinking it a joy to read but I quickly found it a chore to read.(less)

2 likes · like · see review

Feb 16, 2013 Vidi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Apa yang membuat kisah tentang kemiskinan menjadi menarik? Bukankah kemiskinan terjadi di mana-mana? Tidak usah kembali ke jaman perang, jaman sekarang pun kemiskinan itu ada di mana-mana, berserakan di sekitar kita. Kemiskinan akut yang diceritakan oleh McCourt masih memiliki jaring pengaman yang mencegah keluarganya dari kelaparan. Mereka masih mendapatkan tunjangan pengangguran dari pemerintah dan bantuan-bantuan sosial dari organisasi gereja. Di Indonesia, kemiskinan telah jatuh ke titik das...more Apa yang membuat kisah tentang kemiskinan menjadi menarik? Bukankah kemiskinan terjadi di mana-mana? Tidak usah kembali ke jaman perang, jaman sekarang pun kemiskinan itu ada di mana-mana, berserakan di sekitar kita. Kemiskinan akut yang diceritakan oleh McCourt masih memiliki jaring pengaman yang mencegah keluarganya dari kelaparan. Mereka masih mendapatkan tunjangan pengangguran dari pemerintah dan bantuan-bantuan sosial dari organisasi gereja. Di Indonesia, kemiskinan telah jatuh ke titik dasar tanpa ada jaring pengaman lagi.

Saya jadi teringat dengan apa yang ditulis Neil Gaiman dalam novel American Gods. Gaiman menulis:

'...Kita membangun pertahanan di sekelilingnya seperti tiram yang mengatasi partikel pasir yang menyakitkan, menyelimutinya dengan lapisan-lapisan mutiara yang mulus untuk bisa bertahan. Ini adalah cara kita berjalan dan bicara dan berfungsi, setiap hari, kebal terhadap kesakitan dan kehidupan orang lain. Tapi saat kesakitan itu menyentuh kita, itu akan melemahkan kita atau membuat kita menjadi seperti orang suci; tetapi, yang lebih sering terjadi, kesakitan itu tidak menyentuh kita. Kita tidak membiarkan itu terjadi.

Malam ini, selagi kau makan, bayangkan ini jika kau bisa: ada anak-anak yang kelaparan di dunia ini, kelaparan dalam jumlah terlalu besar daripada yang bisa diatasi oleh pikiran, berada di deretan angka-angka besar dengan kesalahan berjumlah sejuta di sini, sejuta di sana, bisa dimaafkan. Mungkin kau merasa nyaman membayangkan ini atau mungkin juga tidak, tapi tetap saja, kau akan makan.

Ada jutaan cerita kemiskinan dan kelaparan di tempat kita hidup ini. Hampir semua cerita kemiskinan itu tidak dapat menembus benteng pertahanan kita. Kita tetap makan, minum dan menikmati hidup ini seakan-akan itu semua tak pernah ada. Jutaan kemiskinan dan kelaparan tersebut hanyalah menjadi statistik mati. Tetapi apa yang terjadi bila kita memberikan sentuhan pribadi pada satu saja dari cerita kemiskinan itu. Ketahuilah namanya, kehidupannya. Pahamilah mimpi-mimpinya. Statistik itu menjelma menjadi orang. Itulah yang terjadi dalam novel ini. Untuk sesaat, kesedihan itu menyelinap dalam kepala kita.

Buku ini menceritakan kehidupan masa kecil si pengarang. Saya lebih cenderung menyebut buku ini sebagai novel berdasarkan kisah nyata bukan sebagai otobiografi karena sangat sulit membayangkan seseorang memiliki ingatan untuk menceritakan apa yang terjadi pada saat dirinya berusia tiga atau empat tahun.

Kekuatan lain dari buku ini adalah McCourt mampu untuk menulis setiap fase kehidupannya melalui kaca mata dirinya pada usia tersebut. Ketika McCourt kecil akan melakukan pengakuan dosanya yang pertama, ia merasakan kebingungan yang polos tentang apa itu dosa. Bagaimana ia dapat melalukan sakramen pengakuan dosa bila ia sendiri tidak tahu dosa itu apa. Ia tidak merasa berdosa ketika ia berumur tiga atau empat (saya lupa) pernah mencuri pisang karena adiknya kelaparan. Kepolosan-kepolosan anak-anak dan optimisme yang tak kunjung padam membuat buku ini sangat layak untuk dinikmati.(less)

1 like · like · see review

Jan 25, 2011 Josh Ang rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

A sad yet humorous memoir of Irish childhood... Frank McCourt gives a no-holds-barred account of growing up in a family riddled with domestic tragedy - dead siblings, poverty, drunkard good-for-nothing father who drinks his dole money while his children starve, desperate and helpless mother, less-than-sympathetic aunt and grandma - amid tyrannical schoolmasters and the ever-oppressive Catholic priests in the background.

But to pare the cast that informs McCourt's growing years down simplisticall...more

2 likes · like · see review

Jun 05, 2011 Spencer rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reading-2009-2010

<< Life-Through a New, Refreshing Lens (Review of Angela's Ashes)

A family, deeply weakened by death, alcohol, and poverty. If you feel like your life has gotten into an uncomfortable groove, you must read this, for this book will add some spice to your life for sure; “Angela’s Ashes”, a truly stunning and heart-wrenching memoir about the author, Frank McCourt’s childhood in the poverty-stricken city of Limerick in Ireland, will hit you like a tidal wave. Optimistic and hopeful, McCourt u...more << Life-Through a New, Refreshing Lens (Review of Angela's Ashes)

A family, deeply weakened by death, alcohol, and poverty. If you feel like your life has gotten into an uncomfortable groove, you must read this, for this book will add some spice to your life for sure; “Angela’s Ashes”, a truly stunning and heart-wrenching memoir about the author, Frank McCourt’s childhood in the poverty-stricken city of Limerick in Ireland, will hit you like a tidal wave. Optimistic and hopeful, McCourt uses graphic realistic details, characterization, and the enchanting theme of childhood to craft this wonderful story about poverty, perseverance, and just being a kid, gracefully.

It think it is very easy to say that watching a movie is considerably less difficult than reading a book. All you do is watch images and hear sounds. Passionate and heart filled, the way Frank McCourt writes this book, with awing and lifelike details makes the words pop out into a movie. You can envision the drunken dad coming home every day without money and singing his usual songs. You can envision impoverished people begging outside the local church. You can hear the babies wailing in the streets, the mothers crying over deceased loved ones. Frank McCourt writes with telling details put insane, high-definition, 50-inch flat-screen TVs in the reader’s head. Readers that have never been to Ireland will surely know what it looks like after reading Angela’s Ashes!

Distinct and diverse, the people surrounding Frank McCourt’s life are all unique in their own way. The extremely alcoholic father who would rather buy a beer than pay for his little baby’s funeral and casket, the weeping mom, the spirited little brother, the extremely inquisitive classmate...and the list of characters simply just goes on. All the characters have an affect on Frank McCourt, and soon enough they start to affect your life, and the way you think.

We all remember our childhood days. Ahhhh, those days of freedom and innocence! Well, Frank McCourt writes as if he is a child, and throughout the entire book you visit the mind of a very curious and innocent child. Quiet and observant, he writes of things like seeing his mother beg for food, and his father waste away from alcohol, very innocently. And as the book goes on, and more and more tragic and mind awakening experiences happen, you may observe that he slowly starts to lose that innocence. You see him age not only physically, but mentally. This reoccurring theme of childhood pops out at you throughout whole story. There is something that people of all ages can relate to and enjoy about the mind of a child.

It’s amazing how something as small as a book can change a person’s life, and turn it in a whole new direction of thinking. The many components and themes of Angela’s Ashes will click on a luminescent light bulb in your head, and soon you will view everything in a different light. It will be like seeing life through a whole new lens – a refreshing feeling nobody minds.

(less)

3 likes · like · see review

Nov 22, 2008 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this Pulitzer Prize winner some years ago, and when I found the audiobook in the library read by the author, decided to listen again. The audiobook was superb. The author's Irish accent and his singing of the included songs really brings this book to life. The author grew up in the Catholic slums of Limerick, Ireland. He recounts his miserable childhood with openness and clarity, and an astonishing lack of resentment and bitterness. His father was an alcoholic who immediately drank away a...more

5 likes · like · see review

« previous 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 … 99 100 next »

new topic
Discuss This Book

topics	posts	views	last activity
Angela's Ashes	42	287	Apr 30, 2013 01:47pm
Stereotypes	31	169	Apr 09, 2013 12:01pm
Book Review- Angela's Ashes	31	183	Dec 02, 2012 02:33am
Brown Bag Book Club: Angela's Ashes	13	9	Oct 09, 2012 05:07am

combine
Other Editions (126)

More editions...

Genres

Non Fiction

1,643 users

Autobiography > Memoir

1,165 users

Biography

768 users

Cultural > Ireland

246 users

Classics

220 users

Biography > Autobiography

215 users

Biography Memoir

178 users

European Literature > Irish Literature

151 users

History

147 users

Adult

106 users

See top shelves...

Readers also enjoyed similar books

About Frank McCourt

Francis "Frank" McCourt was an Irish-American teacher and author. McCourt was born in Brooklyn; however, his family returned to their native Ireland in 1934.

He received the Pulitzer Prize (1997) and National Book Critics Circle Award (1996) for his memoir Angela's Ashes (1996), which details his childhood as a poor Irish Catholic in Limerick. He is also the author of 'Tis (1999), which continues t...more

More about Frank McCourt...

Books by Frank McCourt

More…

Share This Book

Facebook Twitter Your website

Trivia About Angela's Ashes: A...

49 trivia questions
3 quizzes

More quizzes & trivia...

Quotes from Angela's Ashes

“You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” — 2,451 people liked it

“He says, you have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can’t make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. You might be poor, your shoes might be broken, but your mind is a palace.” — 242 people liked it

More quotes…

title link	preview: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood
avg rating	preview: Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood Goodreads rating: 4.01 (212197 ratings)
small image	preview: click here [close]
med image	preview: click here [close]
BBCode	[url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/856990.Angela_s_Ashes?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book][img]http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1363569000l/856990.jpg[/img][/url] [url=http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/856990.Angela_s_Ashes?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_book]Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood by Frank McCourt[/url]

Angela's Ashes: A Memoir of a Childhood (Frank McCourt #1)

Friend Reviews

Community Reviews

Share This Book

Share This Book on Your Website