Angela's Ashes- Have you read the book?

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Has anyone read Pulitzer Prize winning author Frank McCourt’s book Angela’s Ashes? I know there was also a movie which I didn’t see. What are your impressions of either?
 
I read the book. I liked it very much. Autobiographical tale of growing up in the city of Limerick, Ireland in a poor and somewhat disfunctional family.

Very moving at times.
 
Ray Marshall:
I read the book. I liked it very much. Autobiographical tale of growing up in the city of Limerick, Ireland in a poor and somewhat disfunctional family.

Very moving at times.
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Ray, what did you think of the whole Catholic aspect of it & how it played into his life?

I had a little trouble at 1st relating to the Irish aspect of it in that I’m not Irish & didn’t pick up on certain references or behaviors. However, I would read something & tell myself, “this must be an important aspect of life for the Irish”. When I did that I could appreciate it a little more.

I could really relate to the very traditional Catholic upbringing. I too lived in a very Catholic area an area so Catholic that people had no idea why they were Catholic but just that that was who you were.
 
The people of Limerick were not happy with Angela’s Ashes. They said it was a book about a dysfuntional family, not a book about Limerick or the Irish.

Frank McCourt is a lapsed Catholic who blames the Catholic Church for the Irish troubles.

At the end of Angela’s Ashes, McCourt explained why he was thrilled to arrive in New York. His initial experience was an orgy with total strangers. McCourt considered that a happy freedom.
 
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Lizzie:
The people of Limerick were not happy with Angela’s Ashes. They said it was a book about a dysfuntional family, not a book about Limerick or the Irish.

Frank McCourt is a lapsed Catholic who blames the Catholic Church for the Irish troubles.

At the end of Angela’s Ashes, McCourt explained why he was thrilled to arrive in New York. His initial experience was an orgy with total strangers. McCourt considered that a happy freedom.
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Interesting! I was wondering how the Irish or those of Irish decent felt about this book. I saw it as one man’s experience and in no way looked down on the Irish people or Ireland or a Catholic upbringing.

I come from a family of story tellers, & they are not always favorable or positive stories. You listen to the stories understanding that they are from one person’s perspective & in no way reflect the entire family, culture, country, etc. Then you enjoy a little peek into the past and into their head. It helps you understand them a bit more. I also enjoy looking at old photos even of those I don’t know & wonder what experiences they had and who they were. I wish those people could speak & tell their stories.
 
I think Frank McCourt is a master storyteller, and Angela’s Ashes should be read from that perspective. However, his anti-Catholic bias is very apparent in the sequel, 'Tis.
While I found Angela’s Ashes interesting and moving, 'Tis left me cold.
 
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ChristineK:
I think Frank McCourt is a master storyteller, and Angela’s Ashes should be read from that perspective. However, his anti-Catholic bias is very apparent in the sequel, 'Tis.
While I found Angela’s Ashes interesting and moving, 'Tis left me cold.
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I agree wholeheartedly–'Tis was a snore but I thought Angela’s Ashes was absolutely magical in it’s ability to convey the despair and anguish of one family’s very troubled experience.
 
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CalledtoServe:
Interesting! I was wondering how the Irish or those of Irish decent felt about this book. I saw it as one man’s experience and in no way looked down on the Irish people or Ireland or a Catholic upbringing.

I come from a family of story tellers, & they are not always favorable or positive stories. You listen to the stories understanding that they are from one person’s perspective & in no way reflect the entire family, culture, country, etc. Then you enjoy a little peek into the past and into their head. It helps you understand them a bit more. I also enjoy looking at old photos even of those I don’t know & wonder what experiences they had and who they were. I wish those people could speak & tell their stories.
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I am of Irish descent and I read both Angela’s Ashes and Tis a few years back when it was popular. It was part of my family history research and I considered it one historical resource, PRECISELY in the manner you have described in your post. It ain’t pretty, so if you don’t like looking at the tragedies of your culture’s history don’t read it.
In the same vein you can also read Trinity, a historical fiction by Leon Uris. Uris wrote extensively on the modern-day Jewish condition and also turned his attention to the Irish struggle. Critics tried to say he was making stuff up in the novel but Uris produced perfectly documented research showing that it WAS true. Like McCourt’s sequel, the Trinity sequel is a snore.
CalledToServe, if you are interested in old pictures and their stories, you might find family history rewarding. I have talked to and met first, second, third cousins scattered all over the USA and Canada. In one case I sent a 120 year old family photo to someone in Michigan. They sent me back a different photo taken in the same spot, with some of the same people. That was really cool. They never dreamed anyone else knew or cared. The rootsweb (ancestry.com) message boards are very rich check them out.
I do find the Catholicism research more rewarding though. People identify with it much easier, and you can talk to more people who are passionate with a similar quest to your own. It seems much more alive.
 
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CalledtoServe:
Ray, what did you think of the whole Catholic aspect of it & how it played into his life?
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I’m half Irish and I wasn’t happy about a lot of the things that I read in the book. And then, I’m not happy about some of the things I read about that happen in the United States.

Once I got over that (well, I didn’t get over it, really), I read the story for what it was, the tale of a poor, somewhat disfunctional family in a poor area of a very poor country during the Great Depression.

I’m sure that some things that McCourt wrote about were exaggerated for effect. And maybe somethings really can’t be appreciated for their traumatic effect unless they are personally experienced.

With respect to Catholicity, I grew up in a city where being Catholic was pretty much a minority (20% or so) and looked down upon by many. I can’t imagine what it might be to live in a country where the Catholics are 96% or so.

It’s been quite some time since I read the book, but I didn’t think that the Church played much of a role in his life, any more than the Policeman would have played in many American cities.
 
no. i was curious, but i also got the feeling that frank mccourt’s somewhat anti-Catholic.

seems i’m right.

but i still might read “angela’s ashes.”
 
I thought the book was an excellent read. I’ve never seen the movie.
I’ve never laughed till I cried as much as I did while reading McCourt’s description of his First Communion day.
Parts of the book also moved me to tears.
So well written.
 
I enjoyed it and I know he is anti-Catholic, but he is also a drunk and so am I so … anyway, it was a wonderful read but nothing about it changed the way I feel about God or my faith.

Neither did seeing the movie The Magdalen Sisters ( I think that’s the name…I need to look it up.). It’s about horrible abuse of girls in convents throughout Ireland - the girls are sent there for real or perceived sexual sins and the nuns who ran the convents were brutal people. Now, from what I understand this movie focuses on one convent and then sort of implies that it happenned in other places as well. I have never read anything more about the issue so I really don’t know if their implication is true or not. I wonder, however, when someone will make a movie about a wonderful nun or convent where children were saved and loved instead of emotionally tortured. gee, everyone - you think that might sell?
 
I’m of Irish descent and from a family that had similar (but nowhere near as bad) problems. I read the book and it had profound resonations - even though my family was here before the Famine. There were many attitudes towards life that he expressed that I had been raised with as well. I am sorry he left HMC.

I’ve read Uris and Morgan Llewellyn (sp?) but I have really enjoyed the book Ireland by Frank Delaney which just came out in March. I laughed. I cried. It is such a great book.
 
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Lizzie:
The people of Limerick were not happy with Angela’s Ashes. They said it was a book about a dysfuntional family, not a book about Limerick or the Irish.

Frank McCourt is a lapsed Catholic who blames the Catholic Church for the Irish troubles.

At the end of Angela’s Ashes, McCourt explained why he was thrilled to arrive in New York. His initial experience was an orgy with total strangers. McCourt considered that a happy freedom.
Click to expand...
There’s a similar themed book called: ALL SOULS by Michael Patrick MacDonald about a dysfunctional family set in South Boston Massachusetts. The life long residents of South Boston (i.e. ‘Southie’) hate it and say it disparages South Boston while deflecting criticism away from the dysfunctional family who moved into South Boston from a different neighborhood.
 
Lost&Found:
CalledToServe, if you are interested in old pictures and their stories, you might find family history rewarding. I have talked to and met first, second, third cousins scattered all over the USA and Canada. In one case I sent a 120 year old family photo to someone in Michigan. They sent me back a different photo taken in the same spot, with some of the same people. That was really cool. They never dreamed anyone else knew or cared. The rootsweb (ancestry.com) message boards are very rich check them out.
I do find the Catholicism research more rewarding though. People identify with it much easier, and you can talk to more people who are passionate with a similar quest to your own. It seems much more alive.
Click to expand...
Lost & Found,

Our family is deep into geneology & finding out about the past to help understand the present. Thanks for the roots web site. I’ll look into it.
 
Lost&Found:
CalledToServe, if you are interested in old pictures and their stories, you might find family history rewarding. I have talked to and met first, second, third cousins scattered all over the USA and Canada. In one case I sent a 120 year old family photo to someone in Michigan. They sent me back a different photo taken in the same spot, with some of the same people. That was really cool. They never dreamed anyone else knew or cared. The rootsweb (ancestry.com) message boards are very rich check them out.
I do find the Catholicism research more rewarding though. People identify with it much easier, and you can talk to more people who are passionate with a similar quest to your own. It seems much more alive.
Click to expand...
Lost & Found,

Our family is deep into geneology. We enjoy looking into the past to help understand who we are - good & bad. Thanks for the we site. I’ll look into it.
 
I read Angela’s Ashes about 5 years ago, after hearing a woman give a book report on it at a book club I belong to. This woman is a “non-theist”–translation, an “atheist”. She is also pretty anti-Catholic. Her book report included all sorts of digs at the Catholic Church and its opposition to artificial birth control and abortion. I found Angela’s Ashes to be extremely depressing, anti-Catholic, and anti-clerical. The incest and the alcoholism depicted were shocking. I felt dirty reading the book and I felt shame for the author’s mother. Poor woman she must have been rolling over in her grave. Any proud Irish man or woman would be mortified to have a family member airing the family’s dirty laundry in such a way. Shame on Frank McCourt for trashing his family in such a public way!
 
La Chiara:
Iand abortion. Any proud Irish man or woman would be mortified to have a family member airing the family’s dirty laundry in such a way. Shame on Frank McCourt for trashing his family in such a public way!
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Thank you, thank you, thank you for saying what was in my heart. No decent Irishman from Limerick would do such. Frank McCourt is a disgrace to Irishmen.

Some defend him but they are those who have adopted the Oprah sickness.
 
I was forced to read it as an English text for school.
It was intersting to see the non-catholic’s reactions to the ideas conveyed by the novel (i go to a public school). They didn’t like it one bit.
I liked it though. It is sad that de didn’t think much of the church, and that he snubbed the idea of the priesthood without even considering it, and the orgy in New York kind of left me a bit sickened, but on the whole, it was a good, and entertaining book.

I wouldn’t write an essay on it, though…
 
I read the book Angela’s Ashes and I have to agree 100% with La Chiara. I too felt sad for his poor Mother. I found the book to be very anti-Catholic as well. If you want to be depressed, that’s the book to read.
 
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