rE-view: Angela's Ashes

Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Despite a lot of the hatred that seems to be around for this book, I found it quite humbling and powerful. Personally, I read it as a story of poverty, growing up and dealing with hardship instead of the "half-assed melodramatic Irish-American story" many other people define it as. It happened to take place in Ireland for most of it, yes, but the vehement rejection of this book as an "Irish book" seems to be missing the point.

McCourt deals with his father's alcoholism, and the odd complacency everyone seems to have for it, his own sense of manhood, identity, poor health, poverty, religion and sexual awakening (AKA: it's a book about growing up). There are times when I can see the dreariness of his life can be overwhelming--hell, there were times I had to put the book down myself because it was just so frustrating and depressing. But I found a sense of humility in the book, and it made me look at my own life through his lens; a lot of my "problems," I found, were quite trivial and didn't really matter in the long run. Isn't that what makes a book good and powerful, if it can affect you even through other veins of your life?

McCourt tells the story of his childhood in the delightful voice of a child, with run-on blabbling and hilariously naive logic, but he reflects on it like an old man, worn and weary with age through the passages he chooses to tell. Not all of this book is flattering to McCourt, and there are times when he deserves no pity, and yet he is still honest enough to include it. I also found the prominence and interpretation of religion interesting. I am not that religious myself, but I could almost feel the sense of hope and rejuvenation McCourt found from it, and near the end, when he recalls being broken down in one of his hometown churchs, I was nearly brought to tears. It was quite a powerful moment. I don't know if I would count this book as "one of the great classics of the last century" but it is definitely a worthwhile read and a great lesson in humility and appreciation of who you are and what you have. In the end, it's hopeful, youthful and uplifting and we all need reminders of that once in a while.

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