BOOK CLUB: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt

(Feel free to copy this, down to the purple line, for use in your book club.  Not for use in classroom teaching.)

Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt

Chances are you have one person designated to “lead” your group – to read aloud these discussion questions on the screen. If not, choose one now. If you are serving refreshments, do it up front.  And -- welcome! Settle in, draw a deep breath, focus on the book you’ve just read – visualize clicking or turning the pages -- and breathe out.

Instructions for discussion (Read these out loud to your group, the first few times):
Your leader will read each thought-question aloud. Then she’ll ask for answers randomly – anyone? – or, if replies are thin, she’ll go around the room, encouraging each person to talk. Some questions are better answered by every attendee – other answers may be too lengthy. Group leader, don’t forget to offer your thoughts, too.  Everyone has an opinion if they’ve read the material, or at least some of it.

(Anyone who has not read the book can simply say so. Next time, they’ll be better prepared. Don’t be afraid that this will lower the membership in your club; the point of these meetings is to let serious people have a good time, talking about serious literature. When word gets out, people will clamor to get in.)

Stay on track. Tell the group there is no time for digressions just now. This read-think-and-discuss is designed to take slightly more than an hour. Sometimes I’ll give you more questions than you need. Watch the group: when they seem restless or glazed-over, stop, announce the title of the next book, the date and time of the next meeting – and dismiss. Let them chat about other things for a few minutes afterward.

Ready? Read on.

About the book:  (If some members have forgotten the book, they may start to remember as you go on.)
Scribner Publishing calls this 1996 book a “luminous memoir.” Imbued on every page with Frank McCourt’s humor and compassion, it has already become a classic. “McCourt’s book is deeply moving, for his searing story is true. No one has ever written about poverty or childhood like this. That Frank McCourt lives to tell the tale is amazing. That he could create out of such squalor and misery a flawless masterpiece is nothing short of miraculous.”

1. McCourt opens the book, saying “My father and mother should have stayed in New York where they married and where I was born.” Do you think their lives would have been better if they had stayed in America? How so?
(Random answers or everyone, around the group.  Extra prompts for discussion regarding this question:)
• The family received money from the The Labor Exchange’s dole, and vouchers from the St. Vincent de Paul Society. What equivalents do we have in this country, today, that help people like the McCourts? How do you feel about this?
• Consider this country’s early health care and the multitude of children’s homes and orphanages that sprouted in New York in the early 1900s. Do you think Angela would ever have given up her children?

2. As part of his writing style, McCourt used no quotations marks in this book – although there is plenty of dialogue. Was this an easy read, or did the absence of quotation marks throw you off?
(Random answers or everyone)

3. Francis’s father often wakes them in the night, saying, “Up, boys, up. Promise me you’ll die for Ireland.” What do you think this was about?
(Random answers or everyone. Additional prompts for discussion:)
• Was his patriotism real?
• Was it a substitute for something else?
• Did his patriotism have anything to do with him refusing to pick up coal on the road?
• How do you think the little boys felt about getting up in the night to line up and sing?
• After becoming men themselves, how do you think the boys felt about their father?
• Why was the father so angry with the River Shannon?
• Why do you think the father did not drink while the baby Margaret was alive?

4. For which of the characters do you have the strongest feelings, and why? Can you sympathize with him or her?
(Ask everyone, around the group)

5. There is incredible humor in this book. Consider Chapter IV – Frankie approaching his first Confession and First Communion. Can you think of an event in that chapter – or anywhere in the book – that struck you as particularly funny?
(Random answers. Additional prompts for discussion:)
• What trait did Francis and his father possess that made people say they “had the odd manner?”
• Why do you think McCourt waited fifty years to write the book?

6. Overall, what do you think about Malachy and Angela as parents? Consider the time and place. What would you think of them today?
(Answers from everyone.  Have them tell why.  Additional prompts for discussion:)
• The children were accustomed to thumps on the head, or being told to “go out and play.” What are our children’s equivalents today?
• Do you think today’s children are as responsible for their siblings as children apparently were in Ireland during those times?
• Other thoughts about the relationships between Frankie, Malachy, Margaret, Eugene and Olly, and Michael?

Next month, our honored book will be The Hunger Games (book one) by Suzanne Collins.
First Monday night of March….CW


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