El Mundo & Frank McCourt

When reading El Mundo, it struck me that I had read works with a similar style before. I realized it was the work of Frank McCourt--his three part memoir series of Angela's Ashes, 'Tis, and Teacher Man. I remember reading McCourt for the first time and the profound impact that it had on me. Literature always does this for me, but the interesting thing was that when it came to McCourt's work, it was the simplicity of the stream of consciousness style that really captured me. I had never before read anything written in that style. I feel like a stream of consciousness allows readers a unique insight into the mind of readers, an insight that is moving in works like that of McCourt and Millas. It struck me that a type of writing that appears so simple can communicate such a strong message and set a completey unique tone in a novel. Here's an example from Angela's Ashes:

"The master says it’s a glorious thing to die for the Faith and Dad says it’s a glorious thing to die for Ireland and I wonder if there’s anyone in the world who would like us to live. My brothers are dead and my sister is dead and I wonder if they died for Ireland or the Faith. Dad says they were too young to die for anything. Mam says it was disease and starvation and him never having a job. Dad says, Och, Angela, puts on his cap and goes for a long walk."

I feel like the stream of consciousness completely transforms the work in ways that couldn't be understood as well with other styles of writing, and I feel the same when reading Millas. Anyone who enjoys El Mundo would love McCourt's work and I highly recommend it.