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The International Writers Magazine: Book Review
Tis
by Frank McCourt
Dan Schnieder Review
I
finally got around to reading Frank McCourts 1999 memoir follow
up to his 1996 mega-selling Angela Ashes called Tis-
which was the last one word chapter in Ashes. There are similarities
and differences between the two books. Of course, the protagonist
is the same- Frank McCourt, but the mís-en-scene has changed
to America (New York City), from Ireland.
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Also the same is
FMs relentless faux Irish Bumpkin voice to describe himself. Manifestly
an intelligent man it is odd why FM feels a need to show himself in
such a light. It goes beyond self-deprecating into the realm of the
bizarre, if not masochistic. There are many passages or revelations
in Tis with the feel such as Oh, imagine me, a little bogtrotter,
here in the big city- what a thing! While this worked well in
AA where FM was a child, inTis it kind of grates on the reader
because FM is now an adult and the airs veer on the silly. On the plus
side the book is al ot better edited than AA - which is odd. Since Ashes
was FMs first book one would think that editors would have strengthened
the book. The first 2/3s of Ashes - which deals with FMs first
six years of misery- should have been cut from 300 to 100 pages and
the last 150 pages- which deal with the next dozen or so years- should
have been doubled. Far more happens top FM than mere Irish blarney &
infant mortality. The scene in Ashes where FM loses his cherry to a
tubercular girl is writing at its finest- but it lasts a mere page and
a 1/2. A good editor would have told FM there is the meat of a tale.
Tis is a much more evenly edited book and the anecdotes of FMs
various jobs, his romances, his rise to public school teacher, humorous
anecdotes, and ending with the deaths of his mother and father, works
well - almost too well, though, as Tiss major flaw is that
events seem to occur too quickly, without proper context or meditation
on them. The book covers about 36 years - or twice as many as Ashes-
yet some of the better parts of Ashes were the non-pity me meditations
on life. Which brings me to a flaw that twines its way through both
books - FM seems to revel in his misery. Not just in his words in these
two books, but in interviews Ive seen with him. As Ive led
a life, that Im memoiring, that by most standards makes FMs
life seem a picnic, I wonder if its merely this self-pitying stance
which was what touched such a deep chord in so many? If so, Im
in trouble, because my memoirs are a brisk, compelling- yet also meditative-
read.
Another factor is that Tis- vis-à-vis Ashes- has less immediate
appeal to casual readers, for it does not deal with life or death poverty.
Yet, there are characters in this book that are far more appealing-
as characters, not persons. In Ashes too many of the Irish folk descended
into stereotypes. It was as if FM felt he needed to appeal to a lowest
common denominator to gain mass appeal. Tis has a number of actual
memorable characters- not caricatures. An older black co-worker named
Horace, whom FM looks up to as a father figure, leaves an impression-
but is quickly discarded after a few poignant scenes. There are other
characters who are built up only to be left dangling- with less development-
notably FMs siblings, who make cameos - at best - in his life.
Even more disturbing is FMs own wife. While we get some compelling
descriptions of her during their on again/off again courtship, little
is made of her after their marriage, save that they had a child together
and later divorced. While FM may not want to go into every detail of
his marriages failure by not doing so with some detail his wife
is shown as a one dimensional character and his divorce as a mystery.
What could have occurred that would have been so embarrassing to them
that FM would not want to discuss it as openly as he did his early youth?
Or - was he threatened by his ex - with libel or defamation?
In Tis we get some anecdotes about his life as a teacher and the
attitudes of public school officials, students, and parents that potentially
could have been good reading, but FM - oddly - seems to lapse into a
bit of romanticism about those times. I went to public school in New
York only a decade or so after many of the tales spun by FM so I know
that much of what he relates is very buffed up. Again, why? If Ashes'
success was so based on the misery factor it would seem that dealing
with some of the worst the NYC public school system could dredge up
would leave him rife with possibilities. Yet, again, he refrains. In
Ashes FM seemed to indulge in both inner and outer misery, yet in Tis
he goes full bore only on the inner wrecks - the outer world is a hazy
place that seems to frighten him, and rob him of some of the potentially
better tales of his life.
Despite the relative ease of his life, compared to Ashes, FM seems to
spend an inordinate amount of time just whining with no cause. This
would not be a problem if FM used this quality for a higher purpose
in a bildungsroman - but Tis is not such a beast. Its almost
as if FM wrote the book from a far place hermetically sealed off from
himself, with emotions later dubbed in, but a bit off (like a Godzilla
film) because he has not properly reflected long nor hard enough on
his life. Its as if hes trying to convince himself of the
myth of Frank McCourt. Having recently read The Great Gatsby
for the first time I was struck by how similar a voice FM has in Tis,
towards his past self, is with the voice of that novels narrator
- Nick Carraway- towards the titular character. Whereas this technique
works well in Gatsby because it allows a reader an almost scientific
detachment from the events, in Tis FM does not allow this for
he deliberately hazes events and characters. Part of this is due to
the book probably being too compressed and rushed in to print to coincide
with the release of the film Angelas Ashes, but most of it is
due to FMs understanding of human nature (& himself) not measuring
up to his lyrical ability with words.
This is the basic difference between the two books- Ashes is too bloated
& Tis too compressed,Ashes has lesser tales, but FM explicates
them better. In short, Ashes has some literature-worthy events that
are given short-shrift, but Tis is a series of vignettes about
a very average life thats made a bit better in the telling. Ashes
has been way overpraised, and many are already readying its spot in
the literary canon, but Tis, despite many manifest flaws, is a
better book- albeit only slightly.
Yet, I cannot help but wonder what might have been done with these tales
had FM first cut his teeth on a few novels, then mastered prose well
enough to really hit a couple of home runs. Oh well- heres what
were left with: on a scale of 1-100 Angelas Ashes rates
about a 75-80 while Tis is in the 80-85 range. Somewhere, though,
the bell rings in at 100, & Angela McCourt takes her place in literature-
its just not in this life, either.
© Dan Schneider, www.Cosmoetica.com
The Best in Poetica seeks great poems & essays
September 2004
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