Angela's Ashes Book Review

Angela�s Ashes is a memoir of Frank McCourt. In this book McCourt writes about his experiences during the American Great Depression. Having troubles, his family leaves to return to Ireland believing that life will be easier there. McCourt also shows the reader the hardships that befall his family in Ireland. One thing about the book that I really disliked was that McCourt only states the events and how they happened and does not say how he feels about what is happening, or give his opinion. He explains things in a matter of fact sort of manner. This type of writing can become more like reading a history textbook and you may not understand the author’s feelings about the things happening to him.

McCourt tells about his experiences in America in the first chapter and the rest of the book is about the hardships in Ireland. Among these hardships are the deaths of his sister and twin brothers, poverty, an alcoholic father, and a mother that becomes a beggar in the streets. However there are some happy moments tied into those depressing ones. While he is in the hospital he gets interested in Shakespeare. His father also goes to England and McCourt has to get a job. He enjoys the feeling of giving money to his family and doesn’t mind working, and he works in multiple jobs. However above all, he continues to have the dream of going back to America, become a success and being able to support his family.

Angela’s Ashes is a memoir written only to tell what happened to McCourt during his life. The reader can only guess what McCourt feels about the events that he tells about. To me, that seems like the biggest flaw in the book. One example of the lack of “emotion” is the quote: “Dad tells Mam he’s going out for a walk. She says no. She knows what he’s up to, that he can’t wait to spend his last few shillings in the pubs. All right he says. He lights the fire and Mam makes tea and soon we’re in bed.”