Angela's Ashes - Frank McCourt

My husband is generally very accomodating of my reading/book buying and borrowing obsessions. He always asks for recommendations and only once in awhile will he politely request that I try to keep all my books confined to the bookshelves instead of scattered all over the bedroom, bathroom, office, and living room. But, I have never seen him so excited about something I was reading than when he noticed I had picked up Angela's Ashes. I believe his exact words were, "You're just reading that NOW? EVEN I read that 10 years ago!!!" He then smiled gleefully and went about his business. I think I put off reading this book for so long because I'd heard it was really depressing - which probably doesn't explain why I read all the other depressing books that I read, but this time I can't pretend that I wasn't warned. This is McCourt's memoir about growing up povery-stricken in Ireland with his alcoholic father, multiple siblings, and depressed yet enduring mother. Now that the memoir genre has taken over the bestseller lists, I did feel like reading Angela's Ashes 10 years after its publication was kind of like watching "Star Wars" in 2008, after so many advances have been made in special effects. Yet, McCourt's story is brilliantly written - I particularly appreciated that he told the stories from the perspective of a child, and didn't feel the need to inject too much of an adult's explanations into his perceptions. But, it didn't hold together in a few places, and I would have liked to better understand by the end how exactly he and his brothers ended up so well educated and successful -- despite the fact that they truly came from nothing with parents who were not able properly to supervise and nurture them. The parts that really stuck with me were McCourt's enduring love and admiration for his father - no matter how many times his dad spent his wages on liquor. And, how he hoarded the small pennies he earned to spend on candy - rather than on necessities for his family. These seem to be the qualities of children that no amount of repeated disappointment or scoldings can change. Overall this is a stark window into the lives of families enduring poverty - and a picture of Irish life during a very difficult time.