"Angela´s Ashes" by Frank McCourt - review

"Angela´s Ashes" is a memoir written by the Irish author Frank McCourt. The book was published in 1996 and won the Pulitzer Prize for the Autobiography.

Frank McCourt is born during the "Depression" period (the 1930´s) in Brooklyn to the Irish immigrants and raised in the slums of Limerick in Ireland during the difficult times of the World War II. Frank´s mother, Angela, with no money to feed her children, tries to hold the family together. Frank´s father, Malachy, rarely works and when he does he drinks his wages.

McCourt writes: "I wonder how I survived at all... Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood, and worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood." Wearing rags for diapers, begging pig´s head for the Christmas dinner, gathering coal from the roadside to light the fire, young Frank has to struggle with the extreme poverty, near-starvation and alcoholism of his father. Forced to grow far too early, McCourt dreams only of returning to America, where "everyone is a movie star".

Angela´s Ashes is one of the most humorously told sad stories I have ever read.

The book is really depressing, absolutely miserable and heartbreaking (I had really my eyes wet when the priest says about poor people "I should be on my knees washing their feet."). I feel dearly for Frank and his family, but the book makes you think about millions suffered at that difficult time and ... about our modern world where still children have even worse childhood than Frank experienced.

But despite the hardship, the novel (in fact it is a loose collection of the anecdotes) is told with wry humour and charm (you can´t help but laugh when young Frank is worried about his first confession because of the dirty story he heard from his friend or when brothers tries the artificial teeth of their parents and looked like "the movie monsters":).

How one book can be so warm and horrible, how the author can make you laugh and cry at the same time? I have no idea. But it makes the novel glorious.

And small remark about the writing style of book. For me it was quite difficult to get used to the way McCourt writes because it is like reading his thoughts. But what I really liked is the narration through the eyes of an innocent child: full of tolerance, forgiveness and understanding. It is so touching seeing how a child can still love his alcoholic father despite all the pain he makes him suffer.

I do really enjoy the book. I would recommend it to anyone who is looking for the good novel, full of humour, but also very meaningful. Great story. Read "tis".

And now - time for a good film

„ The Shawshank Redemption” is an adaptation of Stephen King bestseller “Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption ». A film is directed by Frank Darabont and the main characters are played by Tim Robbins (Andy Dufresne), Morgan Freeman (Red) (both excellent performers!), Bob Gunton, William Sadler and Clancy Brown.

It is one of the most popular movies of all time. It was nominated for seven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Morgan Freeman), Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Sound - but it failed to win a single Oscar (only because of a very strong competition – “Forrest Gump”).

“The Shawshank Redemption” is a moving, human and inspiring story of hope, friendship and courage. Even though most of the scenes are taking place in prison, this engrossing story has incredibly warm atmosphere.

The film starts off with the familiar brutality of a prison movie. Convicted in the late 1940s for the murder of his wife and her lover, banker Tim Robbins is thrown into the prison at Shawshank for two life sentences.

How an introverted, a soft-spoken loner with an interest in reading, chess and rock carving can survive in a prison – an awful place packed with thieves, rapists and murderers? A place run by sadistic warden who likes beating prisoners to death, enthusiastically supported by guards, who enjoys a regular round of assault? With inmates willing to use rape or beatings to insure their dominance? For twenty years or so???

But Robbins is emotionally protected by his major force - innocence. Despite the hardships he charms everyone and eventually uses his banking skills to win favour with the warden and the guards who by the end are eating out of his hand. He never loses hope and he is even able to restore the hope even in “institutionalized” friend -Red.

Don’t be afraid - I am not going to present the whole plot. You have to watch it. The only thing - I can assure you that the director Frank Darabont will engrossed you till the end.

I do really enjoy this film and in fact – no surprise - it becomes my favourite one. Powerful and thought-provoking. Some of his character's wise statements really made me think about life in a different way. And finally – irresistibly uplifting. It has an emotional but also a comical side to it. I do really like the ironic humour used in the film (a man quietly turning a corrupt system against itself!?)

I highly recommend watching it. It is worthwhile and I promise - you never forget it!

President Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize?

President Obama and the Nobel Peace Prize? I must admit – I was almost dumbfounded.

Announcing the award, the Nobel committee said: “For his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples” and (Obama) “created a new climate in international politics.”

Frankly speaking I do really believe that Obama was pretty perplexed by the announcement and I am sure he didn’t lobby for the award. He said - he is "deeply humbled."

I am of the opinion that this decision was a bit premature. What has Obama done to earn a Nobel Peace Prize within his nine month of office? He has no concrete achievements. What’s more, there are facts speaking against the vision of peace in the world - what with a strong military presence of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan. Quite confusing isn’t it?

Is it enough to explain the Norwegian Nobel Committee treats this prize based only on good intentions as a kind of encouragement?

During a press conference Obama said that he felt he did not deserve to be among past Nobel Peace Prize winners. It doesn’t surprise me. Among others there were two other American presidents who were given the award: Theodore Roosevelt in 1906, for negotiating an end to a war between Russia and Japan, and Woodrow Wilson in 1919, for the Treaty of Versailles. Additionally we should mention other world leaders like Michail Gorbachev, who won for helping end the cold war, and Nelson Mandela, who sought an end to apartheid. As a Pole I am sorry I could not resist to drop a line about Lech Wałęsa (a Nobel Prize Awarded in 1983) an electrician at the shipyard in Gdansk in Poland. The Time magazine named him as one of the 100 most influential people of the past century. Let me cite them: “Lech Walesa's courage helped bring about the disintegration of the Eastern Bloc and the end of the Cold War”.

I must admit - an impressive list. But how you can explain that Joseph Stalin, the Secretary General of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1945 and 1948 for his efforts to end World War II? Well, The Norwegian Nobel Committee is not the United Nations. They are representatives of the estate of Alfred Nobel. They follow their own rules, which ones? I think it is a big secret.

Honeste speaking after the Obama nomination my first thought was – “poor guy”. This puts so much pressure on him. Now the whole world expects something extraordinary.
He has to struggle with the internal problems like the nation’s health care system in the US. As for the foreign affairs – Afghanistan, peace talks between Israelis and Palestinians then the extremely fragile situation in Iraq, North Korea with missile tests; Iran continues to enrich uranium... ufff long long list. I wouldn’t like to be on his place. How to cope with it? I do understand why he didn't look particularly happy during his press conference ;)

Then I was wondering for a moment if it might have been better for the president not to accept the prize. He couldn’t. He is bold enough and I think likes challenges, he sounds all the right notes for the future.

Show must go on. Let’s wait. I keep my fingers crossed.

My holiday

My 09’ holiday

After the birth of my kids everything changed - the style of spending my holiday as well. Diving, climbing in the mountains, visiting remote places - forget it! Now it is easier to adjust my holidays to my kids - it makes them happy and for me and my husband it means relaxing a little bit.

This year I discovered something brilliant – villages for the whole families. In this kind of places each member of the family can find something for himself - and the most fantastic thing-babysitting of your child (3-4 hours per day) is included in the price!

On the internet I found and chose a great place - Grimaud – Les Restanques Village du Golfe de Saint-Tropez in France (Cote d’Azur). And it was exactly what I was looking for!

The complex was beautiful. The view amazing – our villa had a lovely garden and a view of the mountains (the village is built on the hillside). The village is located close to Grimaund with a great choice of white sandy beaches within a 5-minute drive and nice restaurants.

For families with children it is an ideal place with a lot of space for them to explore. There were three swimming pools; my twins just loved the wave pool with the wave machine, one jacuzzi, artificial beach with the sun beds, tennis and a lake with all kinds of water sports. Additionally there was a nice, well maintained playground shaded by trees. We cannot forget about the activities for tired mothers - like yoga, pilates, and for exhausted fathers: a bar with nice drinks?:)

During our stay we made a nice trip to Saint-Tropez, my husband insisted on making some pictures (illegally) in front of the local police station - well known from the comedies with his favourite actor - Louis de Funes (“Le gendarme de Saint-Tropez”). And - of course we couldn’t resist having a nice trip along the coast to admire the beautiful residences of famous people.

The weather was perfect. Can you imagine 14 days of cloudless skies with temperature in the 30’s?

The whole stay was really big fun. My favourite part was an evening romantic dinner in Grimaund, my least favourite part was having to leave;(

My hobby....? Diving!

Hi,

I am a PADI (it stands for The Professional Association of Diving Instructors) licensed open water scuba diver. I’ve decide to drop a line about my hobby - maybe I will be able to convince you that this kind of activity is worth doing or at least trying? Shall we start? Let’s jump in!

Scuba diving is a swimming under water using a scuba set. By carrying a source of breathing gas (up to 30m depth it is a compressed air), the scuba diver is able to stay under water longer than with the simple breath-holding snorkeling or free-diving. Apart from the tank the scuba diver needs fins mask & snorkel; wet or dry suit; weight belts; buoyancy control jacket with pneumatic inflate/deflate system, regulators, watch gauges that inform you how much air you have left, what’s the tank pressure and about your depth of course. Scuba diving really provides a thrill and adventure unmatched by anything else.You can really escape to a different world, a peaceful place with new colours, shapes, textures and creatures – a world where the roles you play – husband, mother, father, take on a new dimension! Scuba diving offers exploration of the underwater world – fantastic reef or shipwrecks. What is absolutely wonderful – while diving you feel like you're in a big aquarium – you are surrounded by plenty of exotic, colourful fish, beautiful pillars of corals, huge sea fans and sponges. Enjoying watching all the organisms in their natural environment is a thrill! In Egypt coral reefs are not spoiled by tourists and that is only due to the Egyptian government nature preservation programme. There is a law that regulates diving – for instance you can’t use knife or gloves, to avoid temptation to touch corals – a biiig temptation believe me;). There are also very high penalties if somebody devastates the reef.

My favourite fish is the clownfish (you should recognize him from the movie “Where is Nemo?”). Clownfish are overall yellow or orange with white bars, beautiful and so cute! What is interesting – Clownfish are resistant to the poisonous sea anemone. It can safely live in dangerous environment for his enemy – smart fish;) It is quite small – about 20 cm - but very brave, when you are too close it doesn’t hesitate to attack you – it is funny because of course it cannot do any harm to you.

I had the opportunity to observe other species like: barracuda, white-spotted guitarfish, and manta rays - really great and impressive. Of course, there are other creatures that are dangerous and you always have to check before diving in a new place which ones you have to avoid for your own safety. One of them is a lionfish. It has extremely long and separated spines, and a striped appearance, broun black or white. Lionfish reaches a size of 30cm, and has venomous spines that are deadly to their prey, sometimes even to humans. One time we met a breath-taking group of 8-10 lionfish dancing over the reef hunting for a shoal of fish; it was a kind of “dance of death”. I remember, I thought myself “breathe easy and don’t panic, don’t panic”, but I couldn’t resist to stay and watch. I was fascinated.

Morays have a long fin that runs from the head along the back. It is frequently mistaken for a snake. Some of the tropical morays exceed a length of 3m. Their mouth is wide and full of knife-sharp jaws each armed with formidable, sharply pointed teeth. It tends to be a very aggressive creature - it attacks everyone who comes to close to their caves. Their jaws are built in a target-specific way to catch the victim and not to let it escape. If moray catches something it has to snap it off and can not release the bit. Looking at my diving coach who had lost his finger during the meeting with moray, I was not very keen on visiting any underwater caves.

Jellyfish is a popular species in the Red Sea. Of various colours, a bell shape creature with tentacles, the jellyfish from the Red Sea are completely harmless to human beings. As we were informed by our guide that they were used by ancient Egyptian women to peroxide the hair;)

Does it sound interesting? Try!

The experience connected with a diving is completely new. It really transforms your perception of life forever.... It sounds a little bit like a kind of philosophy but for most divers (including myself) it is a way of life, not just a hobby...

Hello from the class at GLTT

Hi,
this is the first time I am writing a post in my blog.
I am still fighting with a French type of keyboard. Does anybody know why there are two types of keyboards? It is quite complicated for me to switch into new one. Specially that at home I have the standard one (standard for me!) Hope to be smart enough to learn quickly a new layout.
That´s all for today