Angela's Ashes Book Review

Title of the Book: Angela's Ashes
Author: Frank McCourt
Number of Pages: 368
Rating: ☆☆☆☆
Review:

There is a reason Angela’s Ashes has so won so many literary awards. When I first got this book I had no clue what I would be reading, and I wasn’t all too excited. Within the first few pages, I was hooked and I wanted to keep reading (which for me is rare). Angela’s Ashes is the story of a young Irish-American named Frank McCourt, born in the United States and the son of two Irish immigrants. His father is a drunk and can’t keep a job in the U.S., so they are forced to move back to Ireland. Frank McCourt recaps his childhood in Ireland, being starved and poor and barely making it by with any money. He and his younger siblings (which vary throughout the book due to several circumstances) do their best to survive with a father who disappears and a mother who is unable to support herself. This childhood story is intense and very much so a story worth telling.

What is so unique about this book is the way the voice of the author, Frank McCourt, changes as he grows up. In the beginning, it's just storytelling, the story of how his mother and father met and how he came along. Then when he is able to talk the narrative changes to the voice of a child, questioning everything and being straightforward. As he gets older and learns what is right and wrong we see the narrative change from a young child to a teenage boy. The narrative follows the maturity of Frank and it was engaging to see how much he changed in only a matter of chapters.

Another unique quality of this book is the lifestyle difference of Frank McCourt’s childhood to modern day. Most kids in this generation grow up with phones, refrigerators, and toilets in their house. In this book, the circumstances are so bleak that they lack basic necessities such as showers, food, and toilets. The state of Ireland during McCourt’s formative years is almost unbelievable. I had to be reminded that this is an autobiography telling the story of a young boy who actually lived through these events. Times have changed a lot since the 1930s-1940s (the time setting of the book), and it is not only interesting to hear the state of the world then, but the state of Ireland and how it was to live as a poor person during those times.

I had low expectations of this book, but when I finished it, I recommended it to most everyone around me. It is a great book for anyone mature enough to understand the content and able to appreciate the simple language of a child growing up. The language and the setting combined creates a sympathetic feeling for a boy growing up with so many questions during a rough time in the world. This book has great character and great writing quality, which is exactly why it won literary awards for years. This is one of the best books I have read in a long time and I recommend it to anyone thinking about reading this.