Angela

            Show how the text has made you identify with the statement "unable to put a book down" .
             There is nothing like the satisfaction of engaging with a spectacular book. An example of such a book that can keep you in suspense for hours is Angela's Ashes. Written by Frank Mc. Court, the book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1997 and is a compassionate and moving autobiography. He has applied a number of effective elements that are special to this book and contribute to its individuality including an effective story line, style of writing, point of view and characterisation. .
             Angela's Ashes has a riveting storyline. It is about Frank McCourt's childhood from the time he was born to his voyage to America. He was born in New York but because of the death of his sister, his family sailed across the Atlantic to Limerick, Ireland. His father was a drinker and squandered all his wages to feed his habit. He couldn't sustain his job and as a result, McCourt, his brothers and mother, Angela, lived in dirty, poor conditions. They couldn't even meet their essential needs. His two twin brothers died because of the lack of medication and this drove his father deeper into the recesses of alcohol. To support his mother and brothers and to fulfill his dream of going to America, McCourt takes a job as coal deliverer and later, a telegram boy. With the money he earns and some money which he steals, he manages to board a ship to the land of his dreams. This storyline is one of the key elements of the book. It is a tale of extreme suffering, poverty and courage. It is a wonder that he even survived his childhood! We admire such courageous people and look up to them as heroes. The book tugged at my heartstrings as my childhood was a relatively contented one and it opened my eyes to the appalling conditions children my age had to live under. I marveled at the strength of his character and cringed at the hardships his family had to endure.