I like the writing style of Frank McCourt's book Angela's Ashes. It has a certain flow to it. He moves from one subject to the other with a graceful flow. His style of writing is also easy. He is writing of when he was young and only understood the limited knowledge to him at that age; even thou when he wrote his memoirs he understood better, but chose to write in this form, which works well.
"He takes us to see the Baby Jesus in the crib. He's a big fat baby with fair curls like Malachy. Dad tells us that's Jesus' mother there, Mary, in the blue dress...I ask why the baby Jesus has to die and Dad says you can't ask questions like that. Malachy says, Why? and Dad tells him to be quiet."
This conversation is typical between parent and child and Mr. McCourt plays with his writing that we get engaged in to the story because we are reading it from a child's point of view which can always be interesting to an adult reader.
I like that he doesn't necessarily have quotation when someone is speaking and it is still clear who is talking and who they are talking to. The dialog between characters in the book bounce back and forth with an even flow. I can almost imagine when McCourt as a child turning his head left and right left and right like a tennis match but between his mother and the butcher as they talk about making a purchase.
"Mam says the pig's head isn't right fr Christmas and he says 'ti more than the Holy Family had in that cold stable in Bethlehem long ago...
No, they wouldn't complain, says Mam, but they'd never eat the pig's head. They were Jewish.
And what does that had to do with it? A pig's head is a pig's head.
And a Jew is a Jew ad 'tis against their religion and I don't blame them.
The Butcher says, Are you a bit of an expert, missus, on the Jews and the pig...."
McCourt uses capital letters and indents when someone is speaking and it flows very nicely it is as if Frank McCourt was right there letting you his story himself.
