Book Review

Published: November 22, 2007

Angela’s Ashes
A Memoir
By Frank McCourt
363 Pages. Simon & Schuster. $14.00

After numerous years of teaching creative writing to young students, Frank McCourt wrote a masterpiece of art in the Literature world. A memoir by the name, Angela’s Ashes. A childhood experience through the eyes of an Irish Catholic and a dedication to his beloved brothers, Malachy, Michael, and Alphonous. Written in the voice of a child, this award winning piece of art has sold over 4 million copies, has been published in 27 countries and translated into 17 different languages.

No ordinary memoir at all, Frank McCourt took his story to the limits and broke all literature boundaries. His writing alone is unique. The only punctuation that you will find through the 363 pages of reading is a period. Though this may seem strange it actually keeps the reader tuned in on the story. It gives you the sense that the story is alive all around you, that you are at the very moment in which the events are unfolding. The Irish accents truly top off the memoir by adding more visualization to every scene. It is truly a learning experience of the Irish culture from customs to techniques. Medicinal tales such as milk and onions help cure a cold. Being of Irish descent myself, this book captured me whole. I was able to comprehend and at the same time made me curious. I pondered on the thought of my ancestors possibly struggling as the McCourts had done so.

The time period was around World War II and a Irish potato famine had struck a blow to the country and its fellow citizens. The McCourts were devastated and a bounty was on Frank’s father’s head for association with the IRA. These two difficulties lead the McCourts to the wonderful land of opportunity, America. America faced its own problems though while they endured the Great Depression. Times were rough in America but even worse for an immigrant who was Irish and Catholic. Placed at the bottom of the social status, life was far worse in America than Ireland. A loss of their only female child, Margaret, sealed the deal and sent the McCourts back to their native land, Ireland.

Life in Ireland was extremely painful on the McCourts. The father, Malachy, a drunkard, worthless man does little to help the situation. The mother turns to begging, an all time low status in the community but it was necessary in order to survive. She must put aside all her desires and remember that, "...beggars can’t be choosers"(pg. 92). This leaves Frank the oldest brother to fend for the family and himself. His maturity influences his actions and he finds work by carrying coal bags. He thrives to become a man, "...I feel like a man, a man with a shilling in his pocket, a man who had a lemonade in a pub...I’m not a child anymore..." (Pg. 261). Frank begins to steadily earn a large sum of currency, providing food for his family and being able to see a film in the local theater. As he begins to become a man he begins to dream. He dreams about having enough money to buy himself a ticket to go back to that land of America. The land that he believes is great in so many ways. That no one is poor, no one begs, and everyone has food to thrive upon. But his desire would be at the cost of his family, they would be left behind. His escape though would be another life not wasted in the slums of Ireland.