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Ma, He Sold Me For a Few Cigarettes

  • 01-06-2009 3:16pm
    #1
    BlackandGold
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭


    Just wondering has anyone else read this book, by Martha Long? It's an autobiography and am truly shocked at some of the things that happened to this girl. She was sexually assualted/raped so many times by men it's just shocking that this type of stuff went on - worst thing was, her mother's boyfriend was part of it and even arranged others to "have a go"!


Comments

  • #2
    paoloiaquinta
    Closed Accounts Posts: 16 ✭paoloiaquinta


    it was too depressing..got a third of the way through and felt too sad. i think when i read a book i want to read something a bit happier.
    same with angela's ashes - rain, rain and misery!
    read "paddy clarke ha ha ha" recently for the first time and it was really good. a friend of mine then gave me "boys in the river" and that was even better. both books were funny and even though there were some sad bits in them, you never got the felling you were being dragged down into the depths of depression.
    lets here it for happy books....


  • #3
    rickman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19 ✭rickman


    totally agree paolo..angelas ashes was rubbish...i never read a more depressing book...rain and more rain and misery and more misery...even the actor richard harris said limerick wasn't as bad as all that when he was growing up. paddy clarke and boys in the river are happy dublin books. same as alice taylor's "through the fields"........for god sake lads - if you're gonna sing a song, sing a happy song!!!!


  • #4
    gogo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,452 ✭✭✭gogo


    I liked this book, she told with a wry sense of humour which I liked (amazing considering the circumstances), there is a follow up to it, brough out last christmas, its called 'Ma, Im gettin myself a new mammy'. I belive that there is going to be third book in the series as well.


  • #5
    Denerick
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 6,488 ✭✭✭Denerick


    rickman wrote: »
    totally agree paolo..angelas ashes was rubbish...i never read a more depressing book...rain and more rain and misery and more misery...even the actor richard harris said limerick wasn't as bad as all that when he was growing up. paddy clarke and boys in the river are happy dublin books. same as alice taylor's "through the fields"........for god sake lads - if you're gonna sing a song, sing a happy song!!!!

    Angela's Ashes was sad, but it was full of promise. His hopes and aspirations conquered his squalid, despressing existence. If you ask me, its an uplifting read.


  • #6
    lallychops
    Closed Accounts Posts: 302 ✭✭lallychops


    I found this book harrowing . some of the stuff in it was horiffic. you just wanted to kill that jackser guy , made me angry and depressed but the ending was not too bad there was a small glimmer of hope there .......


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  • #7
    babystrawberry
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 292 ✭✭babystrawberry


    gogo wrote: »
    I liked this book, she told with a wry sense of humour which I liked (amazing considering the circumstances), there is a follow up to it, brough out last christmas, its called 'Ma, Im gettin myself a new mammy'. I belive that there is going to be third book in the series as well.


    Really liked the book, was obvioulsy quite upsetting that is was a true story and an innocent child had to suffer like that .... did think there was humour in the style martha wrote when describing some of the 'scuffs' she got into

    Didnt realise there was a follow up to it, happy to hear this as found the ending quite abrupt ...will definitley have to have a look for the follow up!


  • #8
    BlackandGold
    Closed Accounts Posts: 171 ✭✭BlackandGold


    Am currently reading the follow up - purchased in Tesco for 4.95! Going slower through it as am busier. Yes the first book was a harrowing tale of misery and violence, but it opened my eyes up to a lot of the stuff that went on only a generation or so ago!


  • #9
    femur61
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,588 ✭✭✭femur61


    The reason I couldn't start this book was not because of the content, but because I didn't like the style it was written in. Written in the local accent is fine if writting a movie script but for me was quite annoying.


  • #10
    rickman
    Closed Accounts Posts: 19 ✭rickman


    my best bet is the brass verdict and also boys in the river.
    i must say i'm also taken with the irresistable inheritance of wilberforce.


  • #11
    Iskenderun
    Closed Accounts Posts: 56 ✭✭Iskenderun


    This 'misery' literature is just another form of pornography: relentless, repetitive and ultimately pointless.


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  • #12
    Latchy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 21,191 ✭✭✭✭Latchy


    Iskenderun wrote: »
    This 'misery' literature is just another form of pornography: relentless, repetitive and ultimately pointless.
    Have to agree .I have in the last year or in supermarkets , seen roughly 25 odd paperback books on similar topic with picture of childs face on cover and it's cheap exploitation of storys which are doubtful in truth and accuracy .Somebody is obiously cashing in an childhood misery ,real or nay .


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