Angela's ashes door Frank McCourt

Title: Angela’s Ashes
Author: Frank McCourt
Genre: Memoir
Published by Simon & Shuster, 1996 About the author Frank McCourt was born in Depression-era Brooklyn in 1930, the son of poor Irish immigrants. When he was four, the family moved back to Limerick, thinking life might be better there. But poverty, an alcoholic father who abandoned the family, and a repressive church made for a wretched childhood for young Frank. At age 19, Frank McCourt went to New York, where he eventually made a career as a teacher. Frank McCourt was 66 when he published Angela's Ashes. Angela's Ashes went on to win a Pulitzer Prize and sell more than 2 million copies worldwide. Motto There is no motto in the book. It is dedicated to a few people: This book is dedicated to my brothers

Malachy, Michael, Alphonsus
I learn from you, I admire you and I love you. “Dit boek opgedragen aan mijn broers
Malachy, Michael, Alphonsus
Ik leer van jullie, ik bewonder en houd van jullie” Plot Francis (Frank) McCourt moves from New York to Ireland when he’s four years old with his brothers Malachy Jr. and the twins: Oliver and Eugene. His little sister Margaret is already dead by then. Starvation and poverty eventually drives the McCourts to Limeric, where it always rains and the Catholic Church makes life miserable for everyone. Frank’s father, Malachy Sr., is a man with a drinking problem but a heart in the right place. Angela is Frank’s mother. She’s a strong woman; she refuses to admit she’s poor and tries to make the best of everything. As soon as Frank and his family move to Limerick, there is no stopping to the problems they have. At first, they have to live with Angela’s sister, Agnes, until they find a place of their own. When they do, they find out they live opposite of the community bathroom (which spreads diseases and an unbearable stench), and that the first floor floods when there’s rain. The McCourt’s move to the second –much warmer- floor, which they call “Italy”. But there is still no money to buy food or clothes. The situation gets worse when Angela finds out she’s pregnant again, and she gives birth to a little boy: Michael (Mikey). But then, Oliver dies of pneumonia. The damp and the starvation get the best of him. Oliver’s death leaves Eugene in shock. Shortly after that, Eugene dies too. This makes Angela even more depressed and sad than she already was. But meanwhile, Frank experiences a lot of things that are new to him: like going to school and getting his First Communion. Angela gets pregnant for the last time. Frank’s new brother is called Alphonsus (Alphie). Frank grows up and has a dream of returning to America. Malachy goes to England to join the army. His father joins him, he wants to help make weapons, although he always talked about England like it was his worst enemy, and about how he would always fight for Ireland. This proves how little money they actually have. Malachy Sr promises to send money home. He never does, and he never returns. Angela, Frank, Alphie and Michael go to live with Angela’s brother: Pat (short for Patrick). He treats the McCourt’s badly; he makes Angela have sex with him and bring him steak. Frank hates Pat more than he hates Limerick. When he and Angela get into a fight when he comes home drunk, and he hits his mother, Frank decides to leave for America. He doesn’t want to turn into his father. Explanation of the title Angela’s Ashes stands for a lot of things. First of all: Angela’s Ashes is a memoir which is partly about Angela. These are her remains, her ashes. Second of all, Angela smokes a lot of cigarettes. And in the end, everyone leaves and Angela is left with nothing but her mother’s ashes. Theme The theme in Angela’s Ashes is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood. Catholicism plays a big part in the book, because the whole family and all of Limeric is very religious. The book is written from Frank’s point of view, and he only begins to realise his poverty when he’s already in school and learns that it’s not normal to be starving all the time. The fact that Frank’s not very aware of how bad things are, makes the book funny in a really strange sort of way (the things that happen aren’t funny at all). Frank sees everything in his own unique point of view: careless and gullible. I think a second theme could be that people can survive anything. Starvation, death of siblings, damp, Limerick and even the Catholic Church. My opinion I loved reading Angela’s Ashes. So many people recommended it that I just had to read it, and I wasn’t dissapointed. Angela’s Ashes is written in a style that I have never read before (except maybe in Roddy Doyle’s books, which in a way are similar to Angela’s Ashes). Terrible things happen in the book, and I sometimes felt guilty for laughing. Little Frank McCourt’s view of the world he lives in is sometimes hilarious. He goes to the bottom of things, because he wants to understand everything. I don’t plan on reading the sequel:‘Tis. It wasn’t recommended very highly. And I don’t think it can live up to Angela’s Ashes