One of the best, 15. Juli 2007

One of the best books I have read so far. Frank McCourt wrote an astonishing story about his awful childhood full of desperation from the extreme poverty - the starvation of the whole family, the death of his little brothers and sister lack of proper nourishment and the alcohlic father who drinks away his wages and the dole money. It is also a story about the hypocrisy of the Church who keeps praising our God in front of the public but forget His most important message - love. Only the rich can enjoy the privileges from the Church while the poor are always being ignored. The disrespectfulness of being a lower class in the society is another important issue of the memoir - the mother being barked at by the public assistance officers, Frank McCourt being humiliated at the post office when applying for a job there as a telegram boy and the mistreat by an Englishman mourning for his wife at home. By reading the book, we also experience the extreme authority of the school in those days, where pupils were not allowed to raise questions but had to accept and learn by heart what they were being told by the teachers or they would be yelled at and sometimes even physically punished.This memoir touches me a lot because I am not only reading about the childhood of Frank McCourt but somehow, of my own. One big difference is that I have a hardworking, responsible and non-alcohlic father.

       A wonderfull book about an awful childhood!, 2. Januar 2007

If you like to read a wonderful, very often amusing book about a bitter and sad childhood in Ireland during the first half of the last century, narrated through the eyes of a young catholic boy, you are on the right path. The autobiography "Angela's Ashes" by Frank McCourt tells the story of the young Irish boy Frank McCourt, born in Brooklyn, NYC, but grown up in the Irish town Limerick with his drinking and usually unemployed father, his mother and his brothers and sister. It is a childhood between starvation, waywardness and draconic catholic traditions on the one hand and the nice, amusing experiences of a young boy, when he steels his first apple from a tree or wins his first soccer match on the other hand. Sometimes you won't be able to believe what you read when he narrates about the disgraceful situation during his childhood but most of the time you will have a small or even bigger smile on your lips because of the amusing way, the author describes his life as a young boy. So I can recommend this book without any reservations.

       Unbedingt lesen!, 5. August 2006

Gibt es ein trostloseres Buch als dieses? Mailen Sie mir und sagen Sie mir doch, welches. Ich habe das Buch erst Jahre, nachdem ich den Film gesehen hatte, gelesen. Schon der Film hat bei mir großes Unbehagen ausgelöst. Es ist ein unvorstellbares Elend, in dem Frank McCourt aufgewachsen ist. Angela lernt ihren Mann Malachy in New York kennen, der erste Abend endet mit einem "Knee-Trembler" an einer Mauer und der Zeugung von Frank McCourt. Mehr Kinder werden geboren. Der Vater bringt durch Gelegenheitsjobs ab und an ein paar Cent nach Hause, meistens vertrinkt er das Geld jedoch am Zahltag. Die Geschwister wachsen völlig verwahrlost auf, werden mit Zuckerwasser ernährt, wenn nicht gutmeinende Nachbarn Lebensmittel bringen. Der Vater, ein patriotischer Nordire, lässt besoffen die Kleinkinder nachts antreten, um auf das Heil von Nordirland zu singen. Die Familie kehrt zurück nach Limerick, auch dort lebt die Familie von der Hand in den Mund, der verhasste nordirische Vater hat praktisch keine Möglichkeit, in der Republik Irland Arbeit zu finden. Während dem zweiten Weltkrieg geht er nach England, um in der Rüstungsindustrie zu arbeiten, was viele Iren getan haben, dort wurde gutes Geld bezahlt, und die Männer konnten ihre zurückgebliebenen Familien mit dem wöchentlichen Scheck sehr gut versorgen. Aber McCourts Familie ist die einzige in der Straße, die samstags vergeblich auf den Scheck wartet, denn auch in England vertrinkt der Vater den Lohn. Das Leben ist geprägt von Demütigungen, Dreck, Gestank, Hunger, durch Mangelernährung oder Kälte sterbende Geschwister, Wanzen, Ohnmacht, Abhängigkeiten von denen, die ein Dach über dem Kopf zur Verfügung stellen, you name it. Ich habe ab Mitte der 70er Jahre viele Jahre lang immer wieder Irland bereist, damals war das Land für uns Späthippies eine Art Mekka mit seiner Stille, Kargheit, schönen Landschaft und den freundlichen Iren. Ich merke, dass ich nun überhaupt nichts über dieses Land wusste und Romantik meinte gefunden zu haben, wo nun wirklich keine war. Dieses Buch hat zu Recht den Pulitzerpreis gewonnen, und ich empfehle es jedem Leser.

      Great Film, 11. Juli 2005

Frankies family goes to ireland to have a better live, but when his brothers die and his father goes to England, he lokks for work to help his mother to survive. He meets a girl and falls in love. They have a love affair and when she dies because she has consumption he feels guilty. When Mrs. Finucane dies, who Frankie has written letters for, he steals her money an goes to America.

I liked the film because it was realistic and exciting

      Awful childhood, 24. Juni 2005

The book is about a boy who experienced a terrible childhood. It's written from the point of view of young Frank McCourt, and it's mostly autobiographical. The style is very authentic and simple but the content is all the more miserable. It's astonishing how detailed he's able to remember and how much he was able to bear at the time. The family had nothing to eat, the father lost his job after the second week if he managed to get one because he drank all the wages and missed work. The family wasn't welcome either in America or in Limerick, they were just troublesome appendices because, they were spongers. Frank had to go through and endure the stern and intense school of everyday life and the malicious treatment of his grandmother and the hypocritical Catholic traditions. All in all it's amazing how he managed to survive despite the harsh and brutal circumstances. I would recommend people to read this book although it's quite a long read.