Sad to hear of his death also, but Angela's Ashes was excruciating. Maybe it is coping skills, but even in affliction, poverty and tragedy there is joy and laughter. Angela's Ashes was one crisis after another with no break, no joy, no laughter, no life. Didn't like it.
Some people die at 21 but aren't buried until they are 65.
I have to agree with you totally there Bobbie. The novel's opening page says it all: 'Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.' It was indeed, from beginning to end, about misery. I just can't forgive McCourt anyway for spawning an entire new genre: The Misery Memoir that now takes up a whole unit in itself at Waterstones's. Have you read some of the titles?
Blow away the dreams that tear you apart Blow away the dreams that break your heart Blow away the lies that leave you nothing but lost and brokenhearted