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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  r1hard | Nov 22, 2009 |  Even sadder, depressing (  ) AngieMargi | Oct 10, 2009 | Rest in Peace, Frank McCourt. We've lost a character, a great storyteller, and a writer who has left his mark on literature. Recommended to all high school English teachers, readers and writers. meppinger | Aug 15, 2009 | I read and loved the first two books of this trilogy, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, so I'm not surprised that I was blown away by this book as well. In his memoirs, McCourt paints himself as a simple man, and if that's true, maybe everyone has a good story inside of them just waiting to be told. (If you haven't read Angela's Ashes, you should get it right now. I still laugh when I think of McCourt's telling of his first Communion. You have to read it for yourself!) More than anything else, Teacher Man helped me realize how tough it is to be a teacher and makes you wonder why they are paid so little when some people are paid millions simply to kick a football. McCourt details his struggles as a teacher, especially one whose Irish accent makes it difficult for others to understand him. He used unconventional strategies to get children written off by others as failures to learn and excel. Education is so important, and I believe more teachers like McCourt are needed in this world. ( ) annaeccentric | Jul 17, 2009 | This book was a good read. It was light with equal parts humor and stark reality. It is an inspiring read for immigrants and/or teachers. The writing style keeps you attention, and the little classroom anecdotes offer wonderful glimpses into the life of the author and his students. (  ) Saieeda | Jun 8, 2009 | 
 At the very least, McCourt has produced a collection of aphorisms that will grace classroom posters till the last red pen runs dry. ("You'd be better off as a cop. At least you'd have a gun or a stick to defend yourself. A teacher has nothing but his mouth.") And at most, he's described the teacher we all wish we'd had.
Amazon.com (ISBN 0743243773, Hardcover)For 30 years Frank McCourt taught high school English in New York City and for much of that time he considered himself a fraud. During these years he danced a delicate jig between engaging the students, satisfying often bewildered administrators and parents, and actually enjoying his job. He tried to present a consistent image of composure and self-confidence, yet he regularly felt insecure, inadequate, and unfocused. After much trial and error, he eventually discovered what was in front of him (or rather, behind him) all along--his own experience. "My life saved my life," he writes. "My students didn't know there was a man up there escaping a cocoon of Irish history and Catholicism, leaving bits of that cocoon everywhere." At the beginning of his career it had never occurred to him that his own dismal upbringing in the slums of Limerick could be turned into a valuable lesson plan. Indeed, his formal training emphasized the opposite. Principals and department heads lectured him to never share anything personal. He was instructed to arouse fear and awe, to be stern, to be impossible to please--but he couldn't do it. McCourt was too likable, too interested in the students' lives, and too willing to reveal himself for their benefit as well as his own. He was a kindred spirit with more questions than answers: "Look at me: wandering late bloomer, floundering old fart, discovering in my forties what my students knew in their teens."As he did so adroitly in his previous memoirs, Angela's Ashes and 'Tis, McCourt manages to uncover humor in nearly everything. He writes about hilarious misfires, as when he suggested (during his teacher's exam) that the students write a suicide note, as well as unorthodox assignments that turned into epiphanies for both teacher and students. A dazzling writer with a unique and compelling voice, McCourt describes the dignity and difficulties of a largely thankless profession with incisive, self-deprecating wit and uncommon perception. It may have taken him three decades to figure out how to be an effective teacher, but he ultimately saved his most valuable lesson for himself: how to be his own man. --Shawn Carkonen (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:22 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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Wikipedia in English (1)
McCourt hat in diesen Jahren nicht nur Höhen erlebt, sondern ist oft auch an verschiedenen 'Fronten' gescheitert, war von Selbstzweifeln geplagt, wollte hinschmeißen, hat aber letztendlich die Schule gefunden, wo er seine etwas unkonventionellen Lehrmethoden an die Schüler bringen konnte.
Der Erzählstil ist angenehm. Er ist, wie man es von McCourt kennt, durchsetzt von subtilem Humor auch in Passagen des Buches, die eigentlich nicht wirklich lustig sind.
Ein insgesamt sehr gutes und interessantes Buch - und sehr empfehlenswert.