ANGELA'S ASHES by Frank McCourt ~ September 2008

Captive Thoughts Book Club began our second year by reading Angela's Ashes: A Memoir by Frank McCourt. Our theme for this year is books about women with an emphasis on the classics. While this is the story of Frank McCourt and only indirectly that of his mother Angela, many women feature prominently in his young life. We used the discussion questions found here, which provided many topics for the seven of us to explore.

The memoir begins with the poignant statement, "Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." The extent of poverty and deprivation that the McCourt family endured in Limerick, Ireland is truly tragic, especially because their father drank away his infrequent wages as well as the public assistance they were granted. Yet Frank McCourt has captured the humor, fortitude, and ingenuity that sustained them even in the most destitute of circumstances.

On the topic of the Catholic Church, we found the story of Frank's First Communion just hilarious. Shortly after receiving the host, Frank loses his breakfast in his Grandmother's backyard. She is just horrified, crying "I have God in me backyard," and hurries him off to confession to find out what to do. On a more serious note, there was something of a dichotomy between Catholic piety and true Christian charity. The schoolboys simply learned their lessons and did their duty to conform to social expectations, but even the priests were tainted with social prejudice, turning Frank away from being an alter boy and continuing his education because of his poverty and ragged appearance.

We briefly discussed genre and style, commenting that memoirs, especially those of early childhood, must contain an element of fiction or embellishment. (Maya Angelou's autobiographies have been described as autobiographical fiction.) At the same time, it's possible that family histories were more easily remembered in a largely oral society as Ireland was and is, and there are indeed some remarkable examples of memorization and story telling in the book. The style of Angela's Ashes is unique, for though there is a lot of dialogue, there is nary a quotation mark in the whole book! Run-on sentences and shifts in tense contribute to the childish, stream of consciousness narration. (This only seemed to bother the grammar/punctuation snob known here as The Editor!) Overall, McCourt captures the thoughts and reactions of a child in honest, unpretentious prose.

We speculated quite a bit about the meaning of the title Angela's Ashes. There are several instances in the narrative when Frank's mother Angela stares into the ashes of the fire, usually when she has to endure yet another instance of neglect or injustice for her family. Was she pondering her life, her regrets and lost dreams, or simply resigning herself to her circumstances? Was she falling into the depression to which she was prone after losing three children? And what does Frank intend to communicate with these references? Did he blame or resent his mother's lack of interest more than his father's irresponsibility?

In spite of his father's drinking and neglect, Frank obviously maintained a child-like reverence and love for his father. He knew that he did "the bad thing," but it was easy to forget that when his father shared the paper with him over bread and tea in the morning and helped him with schoolwork in the evenings. Ironically, his father seemed to be the more nurturing of his two parents, and certainly his story-telling, reading, and emphasis on education made a lasting impression on Frank, who went on to become in teacher in America.

Angela is a rather enigmatic figure in Frank's life. In contrast to other very strong and bossy women in the story (his grandmother, aunts, and mother's cousins), Frank's mother often seems to be just a shadow in the corner of the house, waiting for the next good or bad event to befall them. Conversely, whenever they are in the most dire need, she is not too proud to gather bits of coal from the roads, stand in line for public assistance, or even beg at the door of a priest. It seems as if she does barely enough to survive while struggling with depression and despair. Certainly the poor of Ireland had inherited something of a culture of hopelessness after years of oppression and occupancy by England and the potato famine of the 19th century. For many families, poverty and disease were the expected way of life.

The book begins and ends in New York, where the first five McCourt children were born and one died. Though he was ridiculed in Ireland for being a Yank, Frank always had a certain nostalgia for America. Certainly his family was not as wretchedly poor in America, and the thought of returning always held a promise of a better life. After working from age 14, he finally saved enough for his passage and sailed away from his family and Ireland when he was 19. His story continues in 'Tis: A Memoir and Teacher Man: A Memoir.

Most of our members found this memoir to be enjoyable, even if it was at times a bit course and gratuitous (especially during his teen years). Hopefully, they will post their personal comments and critiques. More critical and harsh assessments of Frank McCourt and Angela's Ashes by Limerick natives Gerard Hannan and Richard Harris can be found here and here.

Other books on Ireland that our members have read:
How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History) by Thomas Cahill. A fascinating and very readable history of Ireland and the monks who preserved classic literature when the rest of the Western world was reeling from the fall of Rome and barbarian invasions. This provided some interesting background information to the Irish psyche that was helpful for understanding parts of Angela's Ashes.

For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers by Susan Cahill. A good introduction to Irish literature and great for planning a trip, too!