nerd teacher [books] reviewed Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt (Frank McCourt, #1)
Could've been interesting, but I don't know.
1 star
First, as a memoir, I always take the stories with a grain of salt, especially when they include 'memories' prior to the years where most people are likely to remember more than general feelings. Perhaps it's largely because I can't remember events clearly prior to 10 years of age, so I'm not inclined to believe someone really remembers what happened when they're 4 or 5 years old.
Second, once he got to puberty and started talking about wanking everywhere, I sort of got bored. "I wanked in a park! On a castle! On a wall! Near a cow! Next to my uncle who was dropped on his head as a child!" It was sort of boring to read passages about boys talking only about wanking, how all they could do was wank, how they'd shirk their work and go wank in the bathroom to scantily clad women in magazines, etc. …
First, as a memoir, I always take the stories with a grain of salt, especially when they include 'memories' prior to the years where most people are likely to remember more than general feelings. Perhaps it's largely because I can't remember events clearly prior to 10 years of age, so I'm not inclined to believe someone really remembers what happened when they're 4 or 5 years old.
Second, once he got to puberty and started talking about wanking everywhere, I sort of got bored. "I wanked in a park! On a castle! On a wall! Near a cow! Next to my uncle who was dropped on his head as a child!" It was sort of boring to read passages about boys talking only about wanking, how all they could do was wank, how they'd shirk their work and go wank in the bathroom to scantily clad women in magazines, etc. I was tired of hearing about poor, sick Theresa Carmody who must've been in hell because they had "the excitement" on the green sofa and she died; it wasn't so much about her that I was tired, but it was getting old to read a sentence that basically kept repeating how it bothered him that she was in hell because of him screwing her on the green sofa.
Third, I wasn't fond of how he talks about his mother with Laman Griffin "having the excitement" in the loft. It really was uncomfortable that, at no point, does it feel like he shows his character (himself, rather) having ever come to terms with why she did it and how it could've made her feel.
