Comments (40)

What did you think about this title?
1 to 25 of 40 items
Jun 02, 2023parmmi rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
"Are you reading the sad Irish book again?" "Yes." "And?" "Still sad."
Nov 05, 2022Anita_Dickey rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I read this book as part of the 52 books in 52 weeks reading challenge. I used the 2022 reading challenge prompt read a book that starts with the same letter as your first name. It is also on listopia's 300 books everyone should read once…
spudwil
Aug 04, 2022spudwil rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Funny, lots of stream of consciousness prose, very well written. It reminded me a bit of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.
Apr 28, 2022kathylock rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
Well written but I am not that interested in reading Irish folklore and limericks which were heavily dispersed in the book.
Jan 03, 2022maiki69 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Abject poverty at the hands of Irish Catholic "charity."
Dec 01, 2021Einer2 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed the book, especially the audio! Sad to think of the family being ever hopeful in plight they were in and that there was no help for either the poverty or alcoholism. I felt like it ended strangely until I saw that it is a part…
Jun 08, 2021BAE322 rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
It was great fun to revisit this book after so many years. I don't remember laughing this much first time around. It's a treasure. I attended a lecture by him in Halifax 2001 in a hall at Dalhousie. An audience member asked him, "Did you…
Nov 20, 2020
Hated it. Racism and classism at its absolute worst. This guy needed to process his childhood poverty and father’s drinking and criminal neglect from both parents - but no way should it have been published as nonfiction. …
Nov 17, 2020
We really enjoyed this reading project book. The stream of consciousness internal dialog during stressful times was excellent. My maternal grandfather broke his leg in a workplace accident during the Depression and his job was not held…
Oct 02, 2020mikey69 rated this title 3.5 out of 5 stars
ANGELA'S ASHES (Scribner), is 363 pages of pure Irish yarn. McCourt won a Pulitzer for this muck-strewn tale about his experience growing up poor, Catholic and Irish. Poverty has never been written about with such aplomb.
Sep 24, 2020bordiaradha rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Only one of the series which is a hilarious but painful account of Ireland and Irish lives in the time.
Feb 04, 2020humbleworm rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I quite liked Angela's Ashes in book, audiobook (read by the author) and film form. The sequel 'Tis (1999) was not quite as entertaining, but Teacher Man (2005) was the disappointing rambling of someone I could no longer empathize with.
Jul 16, 2019esmom1 rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
This is one of my all time favorite reads. The humor he puts into the text really brings through a silver lining on the desperate times he grew up in. The two books that follow are also well written and makes you feel like you know Frank.
Jan 29, 2019pam54reedy rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
the book talks about Frank growing up but doesn't explain the ashes unless it's from the fires in the stove
Sep 14, 2018
Published in 1996, this memoir is the first of the trilogy, with the following books being “‘Tis” and “Teacher Man,” being published in 1999 and 2005. With “Angela’s Ashes,” the narrator, Frank McCourt talks about the challenges he has…
Jul 01, 2018kwsmith rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
Frank McCourt's rambling memoir about growing up a poor Catholic on the streets of Limerick won a Pulitzer Prize in 1997. I was surprised to find that the amount of humour in this book by far outweighed the amount of sorrow. I suspect that…
Jan 25, 2017LovieBooker rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
Frank McCourt is able to recount a life of abject poverty without becoming maudlin. While I'm not a fan of his prose style, he manages to capture the famous Irish sarcasm perfectly. After reading the synopsis, I was surprised by how much I…
Aug 09, 2016ArapahoeAlicia rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
After living in Ireland as a child, I was always confused when people talked about Irish poverty in recent history as the country I knew was so vibrant. This book really opened my eyes to a world of poverty I had never really considered. …
Jul 14, 2016jeprokx_ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
Was this a good book? Tis. Tis indeed.
fatimax
Apr 12, 2016fatimax rated this title 5 out of 5 stars
I wouldn't reread this book but it did take me a few tries to finish it. We read this for my English class and it honestly made me cry more times than I can count.
Apr 05, 2016Gensc rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
I don't want to say I enjoyed this book because I feel like that's the wrong term for this book. It is depressing, gut-wrenching, and overall sad. That being said, I liked the book. I am currently living in Ireland (about 30 minutes from…
Mar 20, 2016IV27HUjg rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
I cannot imagine this as a 'light-hearted' read, audio or DVD. Thanks to McCourt he can make the most horrible childhood almost pleasant due to his humor. I'd read it in 2000 & watched the DVD recently because I'd forgotten just how…
Jan 27, 2016julia_sedai rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
What an amazing book. Frank McCourt grows up in poverty but somehow manages to keep the book humorous enough despite the misery. That being said, I definitely cried at points. It just struck me so much because it's all a true story. I…
Nov 24, 2014
This is about as good as a memoir gets. For a real treat, listen to the audiobook, read by the author. When he recounts his father singing old Irish songs, McCourt sings them. This made the audio especially wonderful.
May 31, 2014vikingmama rated this title 4.5 out of 5 stars
A dark, honest account of the author's upbringing in Irish poverty.