I truly loved reading Mary McCarthy’s best known work, THE GROUP.

THE GROUP follows the lives of eight Vassar graduates, class of ’33, as they encounter adulthood. The women, though diverse in personality, are all upper middle class with one common desire: to live a modern life different from that of their parents.

The novel centers around Kay Strong, the vibrant leader of the group, and is artfully framed by Kay’s wedding and funeral seven years later.

At Kay’s wedding, just a week after graduation, we meet “the group”: Kay, Dottie, Helena, Pokey, Lakey, Polly, and Priss. The wedding symbolizes Kay’s modernity, with her parents absent and the couple heading home instead of on a honeymoon.

McCarthy’s ability to transition seamlessly into different characters’ consciousness is one of her strengths. After the wedding, the narrative shifts to Dottie, the oldest, who was plagued by illness in adolescence. Through Dottie, McCarthy shows the “child of the depression”’s need for security.

Libby MacAusland is another standout character. Her career choice in publishing showcases the modern woman’s ambition, but also her naivete. She pursues author representation but naively exposes herself to a potential rape.

Priss Hartshorn reveals some of McCarthy’s strongest social commentary. Her concern over how to feed her child leads to a debate on progress vs. nature, a topic still relevant today.

THE GROUP is not only a pleasure to read but also a wonderful representation of the post-Depression woman. It gives a true understanding and appreciation of the mindset of the time. I truly loved this book and hope to find another like it soon.

The book, which was written about a group of 1933 Vassar grads, was truly shocking upon its release.

It vividly described the actual challenges faced by upper middle class women during that era. These challenges included losing their virginity, navigating marriage, dealing with adultery, suffering from domestic abuse, struggling to find meaningful work, handling financial matters, having babies and breastfeeding, and even experiencing rape.

While the issues presented in the book were indeed interesting and thought-provoking, unfortunately, the characters themselves fell short. They lacked depth and individuality, making it extremely difficult to distinguish one from another.

As a result, the narrative became a tiresome exercise of "telling" rather than "showing." The lack of well-developed characters detracted from the overall impact of the story, leaving the reader feeling disengaged and uninterested.

Overall, despite its interesting subject matter, the book's failure to create compelling characters ultimately limited its success.

I finally found out that this book dates back to the 1950s... It was surely a huge sensation in its time. Each of the girls, with their lives and problems, felt very close to me.

It's fascinating to think about the context in which this book was written. The 1950s was a decade of significant social and cultural change. The characters' experiences and challenges must have resonated deeply with the readers of that era.

As I delved into the book, I became completely immersed in the lives of these girls. Their joys, sorrows, and dreams were so vividly portrayed that I couldn't help but feel a sense of connection.

This book not only offers a glimpse into the past but also serves as a reminder that the human experience is universal. Despite the passage of time, we can still relate to the emotions and struggles of these fictional characters.

It makes me wonder what other hidden gems from the past are waiting to be discovered and cherished.

Mary McCarthy is a tightrope walker in perfect balance between lightness and depth.

The story of 8 female friends from college days often takes on the tone of gossip without becoming superficial or banal.

When we meet the protagonists, they are already graduated, but there are various flashbacks that make us understand the dynamics of the "Group" and make us part of it.

As the girls grow up, they will find themselves facing problems that allow us to shine a spotlight on the condition of women in the United States in the 1930s.

A light pen that knows how to be stinging.

Mary McCarthy's writing style is truly captivating. She manages to create a vivid and engaging narrative that keeps the reader hooked from start to finish. The characters are well-developed and relatable, and the story explores themes such as friendship, love, and the challenges faced by women in a changing society.

Through her light and yet powerful prose, McCarthy offers a unique perspective on the past and makes us reflect on the present. Her work is a must-read for anyone interested in women's history, literature, or simply a good story.

There's this fascinating story that Laura Jacobs recounts in her definitive essay about this book.

“I used to keep seventy-five dollars of mad money in a book. We had The Group on the shelf in our guest room and I thought, I’ll remember where it is if I put it in there. Every guest we had would come down the next morning and say, ‘Did you know you had money in that book?’ ”

She should have stashed it in Herzog, right? No one would ever have found it. This book, on the other hand, which gets almost immediately to a long scene of orgasmic deflowerization, is a poor choice for a hiding place.

Written in 1963 and set in the 30s, it follows eight women, and assorted hangers-on, after their graduation from college and through about seven years of their lives. McCarthy's penchant for thinly disguising her Vassar classmates made her not the most popular kid at reunion. Here's a daisy chain, which was when the most bright-eyed Vassar women carried shitloads of flowers around and has probably been awkward to modernize.

The plot is not overly compelling. It more or less falls into the connected short story genre, with linking characters and themes. Sometimes you get the sense that it's not even that, but more of a series of excuses for instructional manuals. Here is how to use a pessary. (That's pretty much a diaphragm.) Here are some competing philosophies re. child rearing. (They're using cry-it-out!) Characters pass the story off to each other like relay batons; the stories overlap like a series of cresting waves.

But for all that it isn't boring. (Although the child-free might nod off a bit during the two chapters about baby strategy.) Partly that's because much of it is about sex. But it's also extremely funny, and not just because of the recipes straight out of the 70s Dinner Party Twitter account. (\\"A marvelous jellied salad called Green Goddess, made with lime gelatin, shrimps, mayonnaise, and alligator pear.\\") People are described in vivid and humorous ways. There's even a Jeevesian butler.

It's dead serious too. McCarthy means to fight. She tackles miscarriage, rape, and death. One of the ongoing threads is men making decisions for women, with increasingly dire consequences. Birth control, breastfeeding, institutionalization: the effect of men on women gets worse and worse as we go. It's not an accident that the final story is about a gay woman.

On publication, as Elizabeth Day puts it for The Guardian, The Group "rapidly became a book that everyone read without wanting to admit it." Birth control, right? Ew. The good news is it's been 70 years, and now you can admit it all you want. This book is great.

Sardonic, sarcastic, bitter, amusing, tragic and insightful, Ms. McCarthy's novel is as powerful - and entertaining - as it was when it was published in 1963.

It is the story of a group of eight young women who roomed and graduated together from Vassar. The book follows them from graduation into their adult lives. They are a mixed bag of types. There are the wealthy and the impoverished, the artistic and the mundane, the honest and the deceitful.

Although it reads like a (very good!) entertaining melodrama or soap opera, it is also a sharp commentary on the American female's role in history between WWI and WWII. It delves deep into the social, cultural and economic factors that shaped their lives and choices.

Highly recommend! This novel not only provides an engaging and enjoyable read but also offers valuable insights into a particular period of American history and the experiences of women during that time. It is a must-read for anyone interested in historical fiction or the study of women's history.

On "Mad Men," Betty Draper took a lazy afternoon bath. She leaned out of the tub to flip the pages of "The Group" which was propped open on her bathmat.

The eight main characters in the novel had extraordinary intellects, yet had small means to exercise them in 1930s New York. Betty, who had an Anthropology degree and total disinterest in motherhood, surely felt that this book spoke to young women when it was published in 1954.

Are you not much of a bathtime reader? Well, this is absorbing enough to be a perfect companion on your bus ride to and from work.

Mary McCarthy hones in on the most mundane aspects of life that consume us. These include sex, grocery shopping, war, distant friends, chores, politics, cohabitation, and funeral preparation. She delves deep into these preoccupations until their transcendence shines through to the reader. Particularly when it comes to sex, McCarthy is shockingly frank and without parallel among today's writers who often lean towards being quirky-cute.

She's unembarrassed to focus on life as lived by women. This is a refreshing change this summer, especially when every white male critic seems to be venting his fury at the supposed hubris of "Eat Pray Love." Why bother with such pettiness when we could be reading this wonderful book?

It's not entirely clear as to why this particular work is regarded as McCarthy's masterpiece. If that's truly the case, then I might just skip her other works. This book seems to go on and on interminably, delving into the post-graduate lives of eight students or friends from Vassar back in the 1930s. None of the characters are in any way redeemable or likable. Even if you initially start to have some semblance of liking for one of them, the other characters are all so cattily and tritely written that they often reveal their true feelings of superiority over their classmates in the subsequent chapters. The novel is littered with numerous references to works of literature, poetry, and foreign languages, almost hinting that if you're unfamiliar with these asides, you belong to the category of the uncultured. In essence, it's a novel about being part of a clique where none of the members even seem to like one another, let alone those who aren't part of this privileged circle. It's truly a waste of over 400 pages.

Published originally in 1963, this book was pioneering in addressing some topics that were taboo at the time, namely sex, contraception, maternity, and marriage.

It is about the lives of 8 young graduates in the 1930s from one of the most elitist American universities.

They are many, very complex, with distinct life paths, different social levels but with a common objective of following alternative paths to those of their parents.

The eight characters and the way the author chose to introduce them, all at once and explaining episodes of each one throughout the book, makes the book very confusing from the start and was not the best way (in my opinion) to engage the reader.

The book ends up being a slow read, with very long chapters, very repetitive ideas, and less relevant subjects explored in detail, which, for me, became very difficult. I even thought about giving up several times.

I perfectly understand that it has marked a generation, and that, at the time it emerged, it was revolutionary and that it may even have influenced some women to this day to make important decisions and to 'evolve' in a different way.

I perfectly understand the message of the story, including the ideal of life, the difficulties, and joys of those women very similar to those of today.

However, the writing did not prove easy for me. Perhaps it is not a book that one loves at first sight. It is a book that one learns to like as one reads it more than once, calmly and with availability.

In general, I understood: this is like my beloved "Kruzhkovo" and "Doll Valley" in my youth, only about smart people.

Relatively speaking.

The most interesting thing was at the end when everyone had children and it turned out that everything (feeding on demand, co-sleeping, pre-feeding and even the sling - and even some Indians with genius educational methods, true, others, some other tribe) - was invented not just before us, but before World War II.

It's quite astonishing to think that these concepts and practices that are so emphasized and discussed today actually have such a long history. It makes one wonder how much we have really progressed or simply rediscovered. It also shows that the concerns and efforts related to child-rearing and family life have been a part of human society for a very long time. Maybe we can learn from the past and find better ways to raise our children and build happy families in the present.

Reading this book is like indulging in a very dry gin martini, shaken to perfection and not stirred. It is a work that demands close observation and careful description, always with a touch of acerbity. This was truly a pleasure to experience.

I recall skimming through this book at my Seattle grandmother's house during my high school days. At that time, I was mostly shocked by the frank portrayal of sex in the 1930s. Teenagers are often surprised to discover a world outside their own experience. I tucked this book away in the back of my mind, thinking it was something I should read at some point. Currently, I am reading books published in my birth year, and this was the first one. If it is any indication of the quality of writing in 1963, then it was a great year not just for me!

The book is written more like a series of short stories about the women in the group, tied together by Vassar, a wedding at the beginning, and a funeral at the end. In between, there are stories that I will never forget. Chapter 2, where Dottie loses her virginity, is a particular standout for me. Ms. McCarthy truly captures the universal awkwardness of this event, along with its attendant pleasant surprises, all in effortless and intelligent prose. I also loved one of the minor characters, Noreen Schmittlapp. She is utterly contemptible in some ways, yet so admirable in her ability to flaunt convention. She serves as a gorgeous counterpoint to some of the other more downtrodden and conventional characters.

This book makes me grateful for the era in which I was born, with access to resources like Our Bodies, Ourselves, rather than relying on Kraft-Ebbing for an education on human sexuality. I am glad that I have more choices than these women did. I am also glad that I can't be easily institutionalized for objecting to a spouse's affairs and physical abuse. However, I was equally struck by the way some things endure. Watch any of the dozens of bridal shows on television today and be amazed, as I am, by the notion that this is a woman's only day, the most important dress she'll ever spend too much money on, the ne plus ultra of life. The more things change, the more they stay the same (factoring in inflation, of course).

It suddenly dawns on me. In the year 2030, we might have already had 100 years from now.

This book描绘了一个大约1930年左右的社会世界，与今天相比，“他们”当时的情况并没有给我带来任何惊喜。语言和主题都是相同的。

有点有趣，但非常“健谈”。

Upon further reflection, it's quite astonishing to think about the passage of time. The year 2030 seems so distant yet is rapidly approaching.

The book serves as a fascinating window into the past, allowing us to observe the similarities and differences between then and now.

Although the language and topics may be identical, there are surely subtleties and nuances that we can uncover and explore.

Perhaps this is what makes the book both fun and talky. It invites us to engage in discussions and comparisons, and to gain a deeper understanding of our own society and its evolution.

Overall, it's a thought-provoking read that reminds us of the importance of looking back and learning from history.