Angela's Ashes
This is nonfiction, right? I ended up reading it only because I couldn't understand the conflicting reviews. Some said it unfairly depicted Ireland as a nation of drunkard dads and promiscuous mothers. Some said "dreary and depressing." Some said it was unrealistic or distorted.
I say, give me a break. It didn't portray "the Irish" as squat--it portrayed one person and his own, personal, family story. Those who say unrealistic don't know what it's like to be dirt poor. It's a reminder to us all of the simple truth of poverty--it's damn near impossible to break out of, in any day and age. You have to have decent clothes and a bath to get a job. You have to have medical care and regular meals to get through school. And distorted? Of course it's distorted--it's the world through the eyes of a kid.
Forget the other people. I agree it was sad. Life is sad. He neither softened or exaggerated--it was real. As real as memory allows.
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