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trin's review against another edition
3.0
An impressive book, but not one that I particularly enjoyed. McCarthy somewhat sporadically follows the lives of a bunch of Vassar graduates as they make bad choices, take up with nasty men, and are generally just as nasty to each other and everyone else. I really didn’t like anyone in this book. They are all products of their time, to be sure—racist, classist, sexist. Their attitudes are probably accurate. But man, it was unpleasant spending 500 pages in their heads. It made it very hard to sympathize with them, even, say, the one married to a cruel and emotionally abusive man called Harald—which was also the name of McCarthy’s first husband. You don’t want to get on McCarthy’s bad side, I’m thinking.
It’s fun, though, to watch her verbally eviscerate someone, whether as herself taking on her nemesis, [a:Lillian Hellman|66241|Lillian Hellman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1257464297p2/66241.jpg]—“every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’”—or in the guise of Lakey, the leader of the Group, who comes back from Europe at this novel’s end accompanied by her baroness girlfriend and rips horrible Harald a new one. It’s a great moment, but it was really hard for me to get through the entire book to arrive there. I don’t doubt for one second that people like McCarthy portrays did exist, or that much of wealthy white society in the ’30s was exactly like this—the book feels brutally authentic. However, I wouldn’t have wanted to spent time with these creeps then, and I don’t want to now, either. Reading this book was a bit too much like being stuck at an interminable party full of people you don’t much like—and who make no secret of the fact that they freakin' hate you.
It’s fun, though, to watch her verbally eviscerate someone, whether as herself taking on her nemesis, [a:Lillian Hellman|66241|Lillian Hellman|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1257464297p2/66241.jpg]—“every word she writes is a lie, including ‘and’ and ‘the’”—or in the guise of Lakey, the leader of the Group, who comes back from Europe at this novel’s end accompanied by her baroness girlfriend and rips horrible Harald a new one. It’s a great moment, but it was really hard for me to get through the entire book to arrive there. I don’t doubt for one second that people like McCarthy portrays did exist, or that much of wealthy white society in the ’30s was exactly like this—the book feels brutally authentic. However, I wouldn’t have wanted to spent time with these creeps then, and I don’t want to now, either. Reading this book was a bit too much like being stuck at an interminable party full of people you don’t much like—and who make no secret of the fact that they freakin' hate you.
alyssafraley's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
elvros's review against another edition
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
grodanboll's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
b0hemian_graham's review against another edition
4.0
3.5/5, I almost preferred the film. took awhile to get into it, and I'm not a SatS fan. I appreciate The Group more, because of historical reasons, but this isn't my preferred literary genre
nderiley's review against another edition
1.0
I just could not get into this book - too many characters to follow and the writing style felt too formal
paauulzz's review against another edition
2.0
(2.5) oh dios mio… por fin lo termino… me sabe mal lo que me ha pasado con este libro. Me pensaba que me iba a encantar pero no ha sido así. Es bastante largo y super descriptivo, muchas chicas son personajes de esta historia y me ha costado conocerlas, distinguirlas y empatizar con ellas. Hay capítulos que me han gustado mucho, pero otros se me han hecho muy pesados. La historia tiene muy buenos ingredientes y muchas cosas que explica y reflexiones que hace la autora son muy interesantes, sin duda tuvo que ser un libro rompedor en su momento!!!!! Eso si, está escrito genial! :)
elicel99's review against another edition
funny
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
shosh's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5