Cultural Geography Term Paper

geographical perspective.

Select a book that is relevant to the cultural aspect of geography.

Ireland is a terrible beauty and no where is that more evident than in Frank McCourt's depiction of the slums of Limerick.

McCourt, Frank. Angela's Ashes. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999.

McCourt, the eldest of eight children lit up the publishing world with his moving account of life at the beginning of the Depression in an Irish Catholic slum.

Angela's Ashes documents the story of his early life in the Depression-era slums of Limerick, Ireland. Life in Limerick is the backdrop for the entire book and is as critical to the story as are the characters.

An impoverished Limerick parallels McCourt's childhood as he endures near-starvation and poverty, wearing rags for diapers, scavenging bits of coal and stealing food. Limerick is depicted as a somber and bleak factory town, where work is scarce. McCourt conjures up shades of Irish Catholic poverty among the row houses.

Ireland is often called a terrible beauty and this book brings credence to that image. Limerick appears to be steeped in poverty and grime -- far from the green rolling hills and valleys of the Irish countryside that are reminiscent of The Quiet Man.

McCourt's writing style is a saving grace and he brings some lilting wit to the grim circumstances of his early childhood.Brought back from Brooklyn where he was born, to be raised in the slums of limerick, McCourt adapted to his new life. According to Tara Tosh in an article in the Ottawa Sun, "McCourt waves off any ill feelings those back home in Limerick, Ireland, may harbor against him for writing about his bleak childhood -- a desperate existence fueled by tea, bread dipped in tea, snacks stolen from unconscious drunkards and a ferocious senses of Catholic guilt."

Limerick is presented as the quintessential city that struggles almost as if it was in the dark ages and McCourt's early memories attest to that as he is barred from certain schools because of his class, loses his siblings to sickness and his teeth fall out from malnutrition. Angela's Ashes chronicles the author's ability to overcome terrible hardship and even more terrible odds to emerge….....