Emily's review
status:
Read in March, 2008
My review:
This book was definitely different from anything that I’ve ever read before. The whole structure of the story and the topic was something that I’ve never really ventured to read before. Throughout the story, there was very little punctuation which made the storyline hard to follow sometimes. McCourt also used a lot of Irish slang that was a little hard to understand at the beginning. However, these two factors definitely added character to the story and added to the feeling of poverty and illiteracy that was present throughout the book. At some points it was difficult to concentrate and continue with the book because it was slow moving. However, throughout the whole book there was a good balance between focusing only on the important parts of Frank McCourt’s life, and summarizing and skimming over the unimportant parts details. I gave this book 4 stars.
Summary:
The story begins with the main character, Frank McCourt, talking about how his parents met in Am...more
My review:
This book was definitely different from anything that I’ve ever read before. The whole structure of the story and the topic was something that I’ve never really ventured to read before. Throughout the story, there was very little punctuation which made the storyline hard to follow sometimes. McCourt also used a lot of Irish slang that was a little hard to understand at the beginning. However, these two factors definitely added character to the story and added to the feeling of poverty and illiteracy that was present throughout the book. At some points it was difficult to concentrate and continue with the book because it was slow moving. However, throughout the whole book there was a good balance between focusing only on the important parts of Frank McCourt’s life, and summarizing and skimming over the unimportant parts details. I gave this book 4 stars.
Summary:
The story begins with the main character, Frank McCourt, talking about how his parents met in America and his version of the story shows us how from the very beginning there was conflict between the couple and their families. We learn that Frank’s mom and dad were married because of the pregnancy, and not necessarily because they loved each other. A bit of history is shared about both of his parents. When Angela’s (Frank’s mother) cousins discover that Angela is pregnant, they force Malachy, Frank’s father, to marry Angela. Malachy is an Irish drunk who tries to escape from marrying Angela by running off to California. However he accidentally drinks his train money away at the pub and loses his escape plan. Frank is born and baptized and a year later is joined by a brother named Malachy. After that, Angela has twin boys, Oliver and Eugene. Throughout the next portion of the book, Frank talks about his hardships in America and how his father always drank away their money at the pub and they had no food or money for clothes. Frank’s father a very patriotic Irishman and when he comes home drunk late at night he tells Frank and Malachy to get up and sing songs and promise to die for Ireland. Soon after, Angela has a daughter whom they name Margaret. Malachy, Frank’s father, loves her so much and she inspires him to stop drinking. However, she dies shortly after and Malachy is devastated. Angela also falls into depression and however much her neighbors try to help her, the situation does not improve. Angela’s cousins eventually write to Angela’s mother and ask for money to send Angela and her family back to Ireland. When they get to Ireland, they meet Malachy’s family, who does not seem to approve of his family. The grandmother tells Malachy that there is no work in Ireland, so they should go ask for money at the IRA because Malachy helped out in the war efforts. The next morning the family takes a bus to Dublin and they find the IRA pension office. However, the man there refuses to give Malachy any money because there is no record of his services. From there, Frank’s family goes to meet Angela’s family, who is no more welcoming. With the help of the grandmother, they find a room to stay in, but soon discover that the mattress is infected with fleas. Angela goes to the St. Vincent de Paul Society for charity, but everyone there is suspicious because she has a ‘Yankee coat’ and ‘Yankee children’. However, she tells them of her baby’s death and they feel for her and are not as rude. Soon, Oliver becomes ill, and he goes to the hospital. Oliver dies, and the next day Malachy spends all the money on drinks at the pub. The family moves again, and Angela starts getting their money from the Labor Exchange because she does not trust Malachy with it anymore. Frank and Malachy start school, and it is a tough place where the teachers are strict and not always reasonable. Soon after, Oliver’s twin brother, Eugene, dies of pneumonia. Malachy drinks himself drunk and Angela needs to take pills for her nerves. They move into a house, but in the winter, the first floor floods and the family moves up into the second floor and calls it ‘Italy’. On Christmas morning, Frank and Malachy attend mass with their father and then they go about the streets collecting coal so that their mother can cook the dinner for Christmas. Soon Angela gives birth to Michael, who is sick with a cold from birth. Frank’s father makes boots for the boys by using pieces of tire, but they are made fun of by the boys. Frank attends mass with his father on Easter. He wants to understand everything, but it is hard and he wants to grow up and become an adult so he can know things. Frank’s father gets a new job, but he eventually loses it because he is too drunk and misses work in the morning. Even though Malachy, Frank’s father, is a drunk and takes all the money, Frank loves him because of his entertaining stories and his fun attitude. Frank experiences his First Communion, and goes for his First Confession. He is worried about his sins, but the priest is amused and says that everything is okay. He throws up the Communion wafer and his grandmother’s celebration breakfast, and she is very worried that ‘God is in her backyard’. That night, Frank sneaks into a movie with his friend. Soon, Frank catches typhoid fever and is in the hospital. He talks to a girl in another room and she tells him stories and poems. He is eventually moved because he is not allowed to talk to her because she has a different sickness than he does. She dies while he is in ward all by himself. His father goes to England to find work and send money back, but he never sends the money. Frank gets a couple jobs and helps out the family. He likes the responsibility and the good feeling he gets when he brings home the money for his mother. Soon, they are evicted because Angela cannot pay the rent anymore and the boys had cut down the walls for firewood. They stay with Laman, Angela’s cousin. Frank doesn’t really like Laman, and after a while, Laman kicks Frank out. He goes to stay with his uncle, who eventually gets annoyed of him. Frank starts stealing food from his uncle. He gets a job as a messenger boy and meets a girl. They begin to have a sexual relationship, and she eventually dies because she has consumption. Frank feels very badly and thinks that he sent her to hell. On his 16th birthday, he has is first pint and comes home drunk and slaps his mother. He feels horrible and starts crying in church. He confesses all his sins. Soon, he has saved up enough money to go to America. He says goodbye to his family, and he is very sad to leave them. He meets a priest on the boat to America, and he meets an American woman on one of the stops. He is very excited to see America, and has great expectations.
Selected quotes:
“The master says it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live. My brothers are dead and my sister is dead and I wonder if they died for Ireland or the Faith. Dad says they were too young to die for anything.”
“This is my own mother, begging. This is worse than the dole, the St. Vincent de Paul Society, the Dispensary. It’s the worst kind of shame, almost as bad as begging on the streets where the tinkers hold up their scabby children.”
“Now I have only two brothers at home and Mam says her family is disappearing before her very eyes.”
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Angela's Ashes 
I liked the part about the grandmother worrying that ‘God is in her backyard.'
