Angela's Ashes: Irish I was Reading This!
Imagine being crammed into a one bedroom home with two siblings, an alcoholic father, an exhausted mother, a flooded downstairs, and the constant threat of tuberculosis, or even worse, death knocking at your door. On top of it all, imagine being so poor that going days without food is normal and an egg can be considered a delicacy. No matter how difficult that is to imagine, it was nevertheless the life of young Frank McCourt.
Frankie grows up in the slums of Ireland where begging is commonplace and children must find jobs at the age of 14 in order to support their entire family. Frankie struggles to overcome his destitute life, the death of three siblings, and a father who drinks away all of the money needed in order for the rest of the family to survive. This is the world that you experience as you begin reading Angela's Ashes, a true-life memoir of Frank McCourt.
Angela's Ashes takes place during the Great Depression where poverty runs rampant through the streets and even the most proud of families is reduced to begging in order to get a simple lump of coal. However, Frankie has the seemingly unrealistic dream of eventually travelling to America and starting his life anew. Throughout the course of the novel you are left wondering how Frankie can gain the physical or mental power to accomplish his goal.
One aspect of the novel which I found very intriguing is Frank's use of "comic relief" in order to keep his otherwise depressing life hopeful and at least somewhat upbeat. Mikey Molloy, a cross-eyed friend of Frank who suffers from "fits" (seizures), is one such example of this sporadic humor. Frank even recounts one time when Mikey fakes one of his fits in order to sneak into the movie theater. "...I'll pretend to have the fit and the ticket man will be out of his mind and you can slip in when I let out the big scream...That's what I do to get my brothers in all the time." Scenes like this really kept me smiling throughout the sadness in Angela's Ashes.
McCourt's writing style also provides a relieving mixture of both comedy and sorrow. At one point, Frankie contracts typhoid fever and describes his experience with the doctor in charge. "It's dark and Dr. Campbell's sitting by my bed...He tilts over on the chair and farts and smiles to himself and I know now I'm going to get better because a doctor would never fart in the presence of a dying boy." Through the innocence and naivety of Frank's voice, I felt as though I could really understand and feel what the author was feeling while recounting his life.
Despite all of the comedy throughout this novel, the author never loses sight of the main aspect of the story: the sorrow. Frank basically has to support his entire family by himself at a very young age because his dad is always at the bar drinking away every penny he earns. From the age of three to nineteen, Frankie moves from one house to the next, and each time the conditions get worse and worse to the point where Frank and his family have to live next to an outhouse which is shared by the entire street they live on. Not only that, but Frank's mother, Angela, has to spend all day scrounging the streets for whatever scraps she can find to help her family survive.
Angela's Ashes has become one of my favorite books. Although I would suggest it to a more mature audience due to some of its scenes, I would still recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Frank McCourt's struggle growing up in Ireland. I would easily give this book an "A." I never lost interest in the plot no matter how depressing it was and the characters always kept me compelled to learn more about their plight and hardship. You'll laugh, you'll cry, and most importantly this book will make you appreciate what you have and realize that we have it pretty good here in America.

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