Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt
368 pages
"The man says, I’m very sorry, but beggars can’t be choosers."
"That’s what it is, and ‘tis hard to hold on to the Faith with the snobbery that’s in it."
"I want to tell them I won’t be able to die for the Faith because I’m already booked to die for Ireland."
"It’s lovely to know that the world can’t interfere with the inside of your head."
"He says, You have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can't make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it."
"I think my father is like the Holy Trinity with three people and him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and the prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland. I feel sad over the bad thing but I can’t back away from him because the one in the morning is my real father and if I were in America I could say, I love you, Dad, the way they do in the films, but you can’t say that in Limerick for fear you might be laughed at. You’re allowed to say you love God and babies and horses that win but anything else is a softness in the head."
"We get freedom from England and then we fight her wars."
"Doom. That’s the favorite word of every priest in Limerick."
"One sin, eternity. A dozen sins, eternity."
•••
You know how they say, 'writers are actually storytellers,' if you want proof, read this book. Angela's Ashes is a memoir – which, yes in its nature is pure storytelling – that created a whole new genre in nonfiction writing. The characters are likable, and you can empathize with Frank. Although there is no one climactic point the story builds up to, it's not a book that's easy to put down. It's written with a lot of dialogue and no quotation marks, but don't fret, because, as I said, it's so well-written that it feels as if the book is talking to you. The story itself is sad but McCourt's writing is very honest and humorous and because he is writing from his point of view as a child, the story is very raw and unbiased. Definitely recommend it.
368 pages
"The man says, I’m very sorry, but beggars can’t be choosers."
"That’s what it is, and ‘tis hard to hold on to the Faith with the snobbery that’s in it."
"I want to tell them I won’t be able to die for the Faith because I’m already booked to die for Ireland."
"It’s lovely to know that the world can’t interfere with the inside of your head."
"He says, You have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else but you can't make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it."
"I think my father is like the Holy Trinity with three people and him, the one in the morning with the paper, the one at night with the stories and the prayers, and then the one who does the bad thing and comes home with the smell of whiskey and wants us to die for Ireland. I feel sad over the bad thing but I can’t back away from him because the one in the morning is my real father and if I were in America I could say, I love you, Dad, the way they do in the films, but you can’t say that in Limerick for fear you might be laughed at. You’re allowed to say you love God and babies and horses that win but anything else is a softness in the head."
"We get freedom from England and then we fight her wars."
"Doom. That’s the favorite word of every priest in Limerick."
"One sin, eternity. A dozen sins, eternity."
•••
You know how they say, 'writers are actually storytellers,' if you want proof, read this book. Angela's Ashes is a memoir – which, yes in its nature is pure storytelling – that created a whole new genre in nonfiction writing. The characters are likable, and you can empathize with Frank. Although there is no one climactic point the story builds up to, it's not a book that's easy to put down. It's written with a lot of dialogue and no quotation marks, but don't fret, because, as I said, it's so well-written that it feels as if the book is talking to you. The story itself is sad but McCourt's writing is very honest and humorous and because he is writing from his point of view as a child, the story is very raw and unbiased. Definitely recommend it.