Blog Entry 1

           The book I am reading for my IRB is called Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt. Currently I am about 1/6 done of the book, and a lot has happened. The names of the author’s parents are Angela and Malachy. Malachy is a drunk who has done jail time and is an Irish patriot, while Angela is an immigrant. They had what was originally supposed to be a one-night stand, but Angela got pregnant and her married relatives forced Malachy into a marriage with Angela. He tried to run out, but was caught. Their relationship was rocky, with alternating period of good and bad narrated by the young author. It alternated so that, whenever Malachy got a job, things would be steady for about 1-2 weeks and Angela would be happy, but then he would start drinking at around week 3 and she would start shouting at him. Most of the other events are things that the author remembers, but so far there have been 3 deaths in the family. These are Oliver and Eugene, who were twins, and their daughter Margaret. They all die to some unknown illness, but Margaret’s death hit Malachy the hardest. He began to drink after she died; because once she was born he became enamored with her and stopped drinking. So far I am very interested in the story and I want to know what happens next, and whether Malachy and Angela’s relationship will end. This is because I am curious as to the authors eventual fate with his parents, and whether or not his only remaining brother, Malachy, will die. Angela had for some reason decided to name him after his father. I want to know about the fate of the family, as well as how the author managed to get out of his current living standards.