Book Title: 'Tis a Memoir
Author: Frank McCourt
Publisher/Year: Quality Paperbacks Direct London, 1999
Book Type: Autobiography
Pages: 385
Summary:
'Tis, is the sequel to the Pulitzer prize-winning Angela's Ashes. It starts with the arrival to New York of Frank McCourt, a 19 year old boy from Limerick, Ireland. He tries to survive in the country of the opportunities escaping from his little village, Limerick, where he left his mother and his 3 brothers: Alphie, Malachie and Michael. But he will discover it’s not easy to find a job, especially when you are an Irish immigrant with black teeth and red eyes “like pish holes in the snow”.
He gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel lobby, where he works with people from other countries like Puerto Rico and then is drafted into the army and sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks but he realises that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with a beautiful long-legged blonde, and tries to live his dream. He marries the beautiful New Englander but the relationship breaks down leaving behind a child because of his problems with the drinking, and it is not until he starts to teach that Frank finds his place in the world.
Opinion:
Although I haven’t read “Angela's Ashes” I enjoyed this book because the author, who is the main character, has got the ability to tell the story with a unique perspective, the perspective of a man who has got a difficult childhood in a poor home with a drunk father. McCourt is the kind of person who has learned to overcome his difficulties and succeed in his life and moreover he narrates the story with the innocence of a young man fearful and alone in the world.
It has got a lot of humorous anecdotes which make the book very funny and entertaining so you won’t find many problems to read it because when you start it you can’t wait to find what’s going to happen next and when you realise you have finished the book, though I didn’t liked very much the ending, but never mind, it’s a good book to read and I recommend it to everyone.
Language/Style:
The language used in this book is quite informal and the author uses a lot of slang and expressions that sometimes are a bit difficult, but it’s easy to understand if you know the main character belongs to a very poor area and they are used to talk this way.
The book is an autobiography, so there are many real places like New York or Limerick the author describes from his point of view, which is sometimes funny, for example when he compares the differences between Irish and American English (“In America a torch is called a flashlight. A biscuit is called a cookie, a bun is a roll. Confectionery is pastry and minced meat is ground. Men wear pants instead of trousers…The lift is an elevator and if you want a WC or a lavatory you have to say bathroom even if there isn’t a sign of a bath there. And no one dies in America, they pass away or they ´re deceased and when they die the body is taken to a funeral home…”).
If your mother tongue is not English you will probably need a dictionary near the book before you start reading, but you can also understand many words by its context, but in the other hand it’s a good opportunity to enlarge your vocabulary.
'Tis, is the sequel to the Pulitzer prize-winning Angela's Ashes. It starts with the arrival to New York of Frank McCourt, a 19 year old boy from Limerick, Ireland. He tries to survive in the country of the opportunities escaping from his little village, Limerick, where he left his mother and his 3 brothers: Alphie, Malachie and Michael. But he will discover it’s not easy to find a job, especially when you are an Irish immigrant with black teeth and red eyes “like pish holes in the snow”.
He gets a job at the Biltmore Hotel lobby, where he works with people from other countries like Puerto Rico and then is drafted into the army and sent to Germany to train dogs and type reports. When Frank returns to America in 1953, he works on the docks but he realises that he should be getting an education, and though he left school at fourteen, he talks his way into New York University. There, he falls in love with a beautiful long-legged blonde, and tries to live his dream. He marries the beautiful New Englander but the relationship breaks down leaving behind a child because of his problems with the drinking, and it is not until he starts to teach that Frank finds his place in the world.
Opinion:
Although I haven’t read “Angela's Ashes” I enjoyed this book because the author, who is the main character, has got the ability to tell the story with a unique perspective, the perspective of a man who has got a difficult childhood in a poor home with a drunk father. McCourt is the kind of person who has learned to overcome his difficulties and succeed in his life and moreover he narrates the story with the innocence of a young man fearful and alone in the world.
It has got a lot of humorous anecdotes which make the book very funny and entertaining so you won’t find many problems to read it because when you start it you can’t wait to find what’s going to happen next and when you realise you have finished the book, though I didn’t liked very much the ending, but never mind, it’s a good book to read and I recommend it to everyone.
Language/Style:
The language used in this book is quite informal and the author uses a lot of slang and expressions that sometimes are a bit difficult, but it’s easy to understand if you know the main character belongs to a very poor area and they are used to talk this way.
The book is an autobiography, so there are many real places like New York or Limerick the author describes from his point of view, which is sometimes funny, for example when he compares the differences between Irish and American English (“In America a torch is called a flashlight. A biscuit is called a cookie, a bun is a roll. Confectionery is pastry and minced meat is ground. Men wear pants instead of trousers…The lift is an elevator and if you want a WC or a lavatory you have to say bathroom even if there isn’t a sign of a bath there. And no one dies in America, they pass away or they ´re deceased and when they die the body is taken to a funeral home…”).
If your mother tongue is not English you will probably need a dictionary near the book before you start reading, but you can also understand many words by its context, but in the other hand it’s a good opportunity to enlarge your vocabulary.
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