'Tis by Frank McCourt. This book starts off as the last one ended, with funny lines. The innocent Frank, now in New York, comes to terms with life in the USA and realises he has much to learn about the culture and the language. There are embarrassing scenes, different jobs and different boarding houses, all with stories to tell. He makes friends, has a spell in the US army as a dog trainer and then has a clerical/typist position. On leaving he is back labouring and longing to go to college. He envies the students he travels with. Finally he gains entry into college and ends up working as a teacher for a school very different from the one he went to back in Ireland.
The book is a journey through Frank's end of teenage years until he marries and has a child. The rest of his family eventually follow him to the USA, though his father's stay is brief as far from being 'on the wagon' he spends most of his hours drunk and is hauled back to the boat sending him home. Despite Frank's upbringing in poverty and issues with his parents Frank realises that strong family bond and his mother's words 'stick to your own kind'.
The book is funny, desperate and sad but one of survival. Frank makes everything come alive and even the terrible things that happen come across with the humour that runs throughout this book (as in the previous one - Angel's Ashes). There is the glimpse into life in the USA from the late 1940's and 50's through to the protests surrounding the Vietnam war, the class system (Irish come above the blacks but looked down on by a lot of Americans), the school system which seemed very liberal to the UK at that time (and poor Frank's classes seemed unteachable!). The book ends with the death of both parents. Frank who particularly seemed to idolise his father despite the fact that he left the family destitute, remembered the early days, the stories his father told him, the good times, few though they were.
The book is a journey through Frank's end of teenage years until he marries and has a child. The rest of his family eventually follow him to the USA, though his father's stay is brief as far from being 'on the wagon' he spends most of his hours drunk and is hauled back to the boat sending him home. Despite Frank's upbringing in poverty and issues with his parents Frank realises that strong family bond and his mother's words 'stick to your own kind'.
The book is funny, desperate and sad but one of survival. Frank makes everything come alive and even the terrible things that happen come across with the humour that runs throughout this book (as in the previous one - Angel's Ashes). There is the glimpse into life in the USA from the late 1940's and 50's through to the protests surrounding the Vietnam war, the class system (Irish come above the blacks but looked down on by a lot of Americans), the school system which seemed very liberal to the UK at that time (and poor Frank's classes seemed unteachable!). The book ends with the death of both parents. Frank who particularly seemed to idolise his father despite the fact that he left the family destitute, remembered the early days, the stories his father told him, the good times, few though they were.
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