|
Tis: A Memoir (Audio CD)
by Frank McCourt
| Category:
Memoir, Fiction |
| Market price: ¥ 168.00
MSL price:
¥ 158.00
[ Shop incentives ]
|
| Stock:
Pre-order item, lead time 3-7 weeks upon payment [ COD term does not apply to pre-order items ] |
MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
The perfect follow-up to "Angela's Ashes". You are taken from the childood of the McCourt boys into their Adult lives, relationships, professions, happy times and dissapointments. |
| If you want us to help you with the right titles you're looking for, or to make reading recommendations based on your needs, please contact our consultants. |
|
| |
AllReviews |
1 2   | Total 2 pages 15 items |
|
|
Mary Ann Gwinn (The Seattle Times) (MSL quote) , USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
McCourt establishes himself as a Dickens for our time, a writer who can peel the many layers of society like an onion and reveal the core. |
|
|
Gail Caldwell (Boston Sunday Globe) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
That magnificent voice is back in full, as captivating and soothing as an on-stage hypnotist. Regaling you from a bar stool or teacher's lectern, McCourt is utterly and always in charge of this tale....A sweet, sweet ode to memory: to the moment-to-moment experience of a real, then reimagined, life.
|
|
|
Maureen Howard (The New York Times) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
'Tis a success story, after all.
|
|
|
Jackie Jones Bleecker (The San Diego Union-Tribune) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
'Tis is, finally, a triumphant American story - the triumph of a teacher...of a writer whose words we can't wait to read.
|
|
|
Henry Kisor (Chicago Sun-Times) (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
'Tis a grand book. 'Tis indeed! |
|
|
Erika Mitchell (MSL quote), E. Calais, VT USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
This book continues the story of Frank McCourt's life, from his return to American shores at the age of 19 through his middle age, as he finally makes peace with his parents. McCourt tells us about his work history and his romantic involvements, and how he became a writer (or at least a writing instructor).
I didn't find this book as engaging as Angela's Ashes. Perhaps the struggles of adult life, deciding whether to stay at a lousy job or quit, or how to keep a relationship alive, just aren't as immediate as those of childhood -where will your next meal come from? Will your father get up you up in the middle of the night again to make you swear you will die for Ireland? Or maybe the American characters in this tale lack the spirit of the Irish ones in Angela's Ashes. This book seemed to drag a bit, as McCourt details the slow meandering path that he took while pulling himself up from work cleaning ashtrays in a hotel lobby to becoming a teacher and a father. One trait that McCourt seemed to inherit from his father was the propensity to let drink get in the way of his family life. In this sense, it seems that McCourt didn't take all the lessons of his childhood to heart. As a result, his upward progress is perhaps a bit more bumpy than it needed to be.
Nevertheless, McCourt can still tell stories, and as he relates the events of his wedding or first day in school, the reader is there with him in the scene as it unfolds. I also enjoyed his description of how he found and developed the particular teaching style that suited him. No, it's not easy to walk into a classroom as a new teacher in a tough school and establish a sense of order, let alone motivate students to learn. But when you're trying to get the students to read moldy old classics simply because they're part of the assigned high school curriculum, and the kids find out that you never had to read these books in school yourself because you didn't even attend high school, you're in thick soup. It's in such circumstances that McCourt truly comes into his own.
|
|
|
Peggy Vincent (MSL quote), Oakland, CA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
Tis takes up where Angela's Ashes left off, with wide-eyed young Irishman McCourt's arrival in America. The brogue is intact, the sense of wonder and amazement is intact, but a bit of the gloss has been rubbed off the genie's bottle in this sequel. Tis follows McCourt's progress through a series of jobs, chronicles his magical admission to NYU (without a high school transcript), and his the inauspicious beginning of his long and successful teaching career, as well as the ups and downs of romance and immigrant live in New York.
It's good, but it's not stellar.
|
|
|
Fafa Demasio (MSL quote) , New York City
<2007-01-24 00:00>
'TIS is a memoir that picks up where Frank McCourt leaves off in "Angela's Ashes." It continues his story as an adult.
At age 19, McCourt returns to New York City from Ireland. He describes his life in America and his relationship with the people that he meets. It starts with his first job, first place to stay and the people that he meets. Early on, everyone warns him to "stay with his own kind" (Irish people) only. McCourt ignores that advice and meets some very colorful people.
McCourt joins the army and serves abroad. He returns to Ireland for a visit. Later McCourt is able to attend New York University although he never graduated from high school. He starts a teaching career and gets his first job in a Staten Island high school. McCourt describes the challenges he encounters with his students - youngsters and grown-ups alike.
McCourt also describes his relationship with his parents as an adult. He cares for his mother, although she exasperates him sometimes. He is disappointed with his father's care of the family but still tries to reach out to his father on several occasions. He also mentions his brothers.
I enjoyed this memoir because after reading "Angela's Ashes," I wanted to know what happened to McCourt as an adult. `TIS answered all the questions that I had - What happened when he left for America? Was he able to help his mother? Did he ever hear from his father who abandoned the family? Where did the title, "Angela's Ashes" come from? And more.
'TIS is another good memoir to read.
|
|
|
A reader (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
TIS is like discovering the work of an old master in your own basement... you continue to be startled. What courage it took this man to not just survive, but to become a beloved teacher, given the harsh circumstances of his birth. He is proof of the strength of the spirit, throughout his struggles he perseveres and keeps his exuberant sense of humor. While deeply moved, I laughed out loud repeatedly, and was impressed with his mastery of language and character. It's hard to believe he remembers word for word conversations from so long ago, especially after so many "pints."
This is not a memoir, it is communion. McCourt is a national treasure and his humility is rare and exquisite. I cannot imagine a better book about coming to America, within 'Tis he has given thousands a precious gift - a kind of voice. Perhaps he has even returned the dignity of many forgotten individuals. Additionally, I am sure, placed before this great fame he so richly deserves. Thank you, Mr. McCourt, for sharing with such undeniable wisdom and wry wit your beautiful story.
|
|
|
Amisha B. Mehta (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-24 00:00>
I liked this book, and was surprised that I did. I had heard from several people that it wasn't as good as Angela's Ashes, and I found that to be true. However, it was a lot less depressing, and for that, it deserves some praise.
McCourt has so many great stories - and you just know that the ones in the book are just from the top of his head, and that there are plenty more where they came from. It was also very nice to see that the family was able to escape the misery that was evident from the first book.
Overall, a good book. I would definitely recommend it, although not the abridged audio version, which was the format I found first. I later found a printed version to compare it to.
A few things are left out that should have been kept in - nothing too crucial, but what are a few extra minutes here and there? I will never understand why companies release audiobooks without printing that they are abridged versions, but that's a whole other subject.
|
|
|
|
1 2 | Total 2 pages 15 items |
|
|
|
|
|
|
