2011 Reading Challenge: Book 05 and 06

After falling off the reading train for a few weeks because of New Covenant Theology, I managed to catch it again with the encouragement of a twenty-five cent library sale last Saturday.  I picked up two books I'd been semi-interested in for a while: Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford, and 'Tis by Frank McCourt.

Mommie Dearest is about Joan Crawford's relationship with her daughter, Christina Crawford.  Joan adopted Christina when she was a baby and gave her a very privileged childhood.  Christina always had her basic needs for food, clothing, and shelter met, and was well educated.  Unfortunately, Joan was an alcoholic, physically and verbally abusive.  This book chronicles her life through Joan's funeral.

Limerick, Ireland (from Wikipedia)

'Tis is the sequel to Frank McCourt's Angela's Ashes.  Angela's Ashes is about Frank's childhood in Limerick, Ireland; he grew up desperately poor, often going without food and clothing.  Two of his brothers and his one sister died in childhood, and his father typically used all their money to buy beer, before finally leaving his wife (Angela) and children when Frank was eleven years old.  Frank dropped out of school after 8th grade to support his mother and brothers.  He dreamed of going to America to live a better life.  At the end of Angela's Ashes, he finally manages to get there.  'Tis begins with his first few days in America and ends with Angela's death (hence the title of the first book, Angela's Ashes).


These two books are somewhat similar theme-wise.  Both books are about mothers, and their children's frustrations. Joan Crawford was always abusive and seemed to have a huge power complex, and this obviously made Christina's life pretty difficult to manage.  Especially during her highschool and college years, Christina hated her mother.  On the other hand, Angela was always kind and cared for her children as well as she could, even swallowing her pride and begging for food when it became necessary.  Angela never had much, even as a child, and she made good friends among the poorest people in Limerick.  She became more stubborn in her old age and didn't want to relinquish her old lifestyle and friends, even for the comforts that came with money from her sons.  This frustrated Frank because all he had ever wanted was to be accepted in middle class society, and his mother was happy to stay in the slums.

However, this is where the differences begin.  The two books are written in very different styles.  Mommie Dearest is written in a traditional, well-organized, autobiographical style, with correct grammar and "normal" syntax.  'Tis, on the other hand, is written stream of consciousness style, chronologically rather than by topic.  Frank rambles incessantly, using colorful language (not in a bad way :) ) and graphic imagery.

'Tis has been criticized because Frank is not a good or likeable person.  He lies, sleeps around, and spends lots of time drunk.  People say that this is a big difference from the original style in Angela's Ashes, but I don't agree.  In Angela's Ashes, Frank steals food from stores and orchards and money from his dead employer, and lies when it's in his best interests.  The main difference is that this is kind of cute when the person sinning is young, and it's easy to "excuse" when the person lives such a miserable life.  But in 'Tis, Frank is an adult who has his father's tendencies to drink excessively and generally sin a lot.  People are less forgiving when an adult sins.

'Tis is, as my mom puts it, "earthy," and definitely not for young audiences.  It deals with hard subjects with no Christian worldview.  Mommie Dearest is also not for young audiences, though you won't find as much adult subject matter in it.  There is quite a bit of language in both books - though there is less in Mommie Dearest, it strikes you more there because the book is fairly formal thoughout.

Overall, both of these books kept my attention, but I have to say that I enjoyed 'Tis more stylistically in spite of its drawbacks.

Next week: I'm going to try to finish New Covenant Theology.  Fingers crossed!