A phoenix from the ashes

Die Geschichte seiner Kindheit lieferte dem Iren Frank McCourt den Stoff für einen Bestseller. IAN McMASTER sprach 1997 mit ihm über das Buch und seine neuen Projekte.

SPOTLIGHT: Have you been surprised by the success of Angela's Ashes?
McCourt: Not surprised, astounded. I can't believe that this happened to a book that's about misery, poverty, a slum in Ireland. The first printing was 27,000 copies, and the publishers thought it would be wonderful if there were another 27,000 copies. Now it's 1,400,000 copies in the States alone, and here in Germany it's over 170,000 and moving towards 200,000. So I'm amazed.

SPOTLIGHT: Why do you think the book is so popular?
McCourt: Well, I think it's an old-fashioned book about a family. People say, "Oh, it reminds me of Charles Dickens," which is true in a way. But there's always great hope and a slight air of hypocrisy in Dickens that I don't think I have.

SPOTLIGHT: The book goes into enormous detail. How did you do that?
McCourt: Well, I have a fantastic memory for that kind of thing. And I also kept notebooks for years. I have a duffel bag filled with notebooks. Also, my life was uncluttered. When you live in poverty, you have nothing. You have no TV, no radio, no CDs, no tape recorder — nothing. But you have a few sticks of furniture and yourself and your brothers and your mother and father. And whatever happens, happens to you. It doesn't happen on a screen. It's all your own experience. And it's vivid.

SPOTLIGHT: The book is a very powerful story. Why did it take so long for this story to come out?
McCourt: First of all, there are things in the book that I could not have written while my mother was alive. Secondly, when she died in 1981, I was going through a lot of marital problems, so it took me a few years to find the voice of the child. That's what I was looking for subconsciously. Then it came, fairly miraculously, and it felt comfortable.