Angela's Ashes

I recently finished Angela's Ashes, a memoir by Frank McCourt about his childhood in Ireland. Despite being dreadfully sad I could not put it down. The book is written in a stream of consciousness type style which makes it difficult to stop reading because there aren't really any natural breaks. His story makes me thankful for the way things are today. I doubt even the poorest people in America lived like he did growing up when and where he did. 

Below are two of my favorite quotations from the book: 

This first quotation I find interesting because death is an ever present theme in the book and Frank is constantly being reminded of it by dying siblings, dying schoolmates, and people wanting him to be willing to give his own life for things. 

"The master says it's a glorious thing to die for the Faith and Dad says it's a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if there's anyone in the world who would like us to live." 

I like this second quotation because it seems like exactly the kind of thing a teacher should tell their students. After years of learning about how horrible the English are and how nobly the Irish fought against them, Frank finally has a school teacher that tells the truth that atrocities were committed by both sides. The teacher then advises the students: 

"He says, you have to study and learn so that you can make up your own mind about history and everything else, but you cant make up an empty mind. Stock your mind, stock your mind. It is your house of treasure and no one in the world can interfere with it." 

I think I might read the sequel, 'Tis, but I'll probably do some light reading between the two novels.