angelas ashes
... and poverty Frank McCourt through it all was able to keep an amazing sense of humor which makes the book the great story it is. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The thing that I liked most about the book is that despite the poverty he was raised in, Frank McCourt does not try to be seen as a victim but just as a storyteller. We know from reading it that his childhood was sad and cruel yet he is a person who never dwelled on it so much that he forgot about the humorous things in his past. In fact although you can read a page and almost cry for the children a few pages later Frank makes you laugh till you cry. Another think about the novel that I enjoyed was the fact that Frank McCourt was not afraid to tell the world about the miserable childhood he had. It’s not just the story he told, it’s how he told it. He was very descriptive and when he described a damp cold Limerick morning it gave you cold shivers. I also enjoyed the fact that even though his life was one of hardship he doesn’t assign blame to his alcoholic father or his weak minded mother and so you know he did not grow up feeling bitterness towards them. You see in the book he loved them both. Frank McCourt had no desire for the reader to see him as a victim he becomes a heroic character in the book and an author who won a Pulzer prize in 1997. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What I didn’t like about the book was that it was really hard to read about children living in poverty and almost starving and being powerless to do anything about it. It made me realize how unfair life can be through no fault of your own. I cannot write a full page on what I didn’t like because I truly really liked it. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This novel is similar to the short story “A field of wheat”. This is because at the beginning of the story both main characters Frank and Ross start off in a hard time. Both characters are struggling to survive and seem hopeless at the start. Eventually both characters encounter events which seem like it is the end of happiness. Frank McCourt happens to deal with the hardships and eventually he lands in America like he planned all along. In the short story “A field of wheat” Ross is distraught due to the hail killing his field. At this point he breaks down and his wife sees this. Ross’s character is one of few emotions and only focused on making his business work. When the reader thinks that it is the end the author throws a curveball that takes the reader by surprise. The wife sees her husband letting go of his emotions and she realizes this is when she has to be there for him. It starts from an extreme bad to an extreme good just like Angela’s ashes. Both stories show the elements of social breakdown and extreme agony. Both stories also show how a good can come from a bad. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I would definitely recommend this novel to everyone because it’s a book you want to keep reading. Frank McCourt is such a good storyteller that you feel like you are living with them in the dark cold apartment in Limerick. Its not as if you are reading a story, it is like you are feeling the hunger pains, the fear of the unknown. You tend to think of Frank as a friend who can make you laugh very easily. For example when Frank had to deliver a telegram to husband of a dead protestant woman the husband told Frank to watch the lady w...