Lived up to expectations

A mid 30's exploration of society, life and other sexy and nasty things through the eyes of eight young women grads? Sign me up!
Although it's not crying out to be read by me, I decided to take this book on after hearing it was a favourite of a reviewer I enjoy hearing from.

Well it is definitely a deep dive into the time; fashion, relationships, culture, society, class, privilege and all manner of matters are discussed in detail in the Group. McCarthy's language is adept at painting a vivid picture of the scenes, sights and sounds our characters are exposed to (and seek out). It was very easy to fall into a trance-like state as more and more details are added to the scene in your head and as it rises and reaches its climax (sometimes figuratively, sometimes literally).

I listened to this as an audiobook, and I find the number of characters in it to be at about the limit for a single-performer recording. Lorelei King does an excellent job of giving all the characters enough individuality, but I think this story teeters on being more engaging as a multi-cast recording. Journeying with the whole group through their various trials and tribulations was as exciting and nerve-wracking for me as it was for them, and I think McCarthys' tone is all the more robust due to the semi-autobiographical nature of the novel.

The treatment of women in society as well as the general class-tone to society is always somewhat uncomfortable to see in historically set works, but in The Group it is often outright jarring to see from the perspective of the women. I wonder if as in the book it's just accepted as 'the way things are' would fly with me back in the 30s, but i'll just have to ponder that for myself and continue to work to dilute such discrimination where I see it. But enough about me...

The Group really only loses marks as the subject matter is far from appealing to me, but I can very much appreciate the revolution it encouraged upon first publication just as I am able to understand the gravitas that a period drama brings to the medium while wanting to get far away from it should it be screening.

This was a fun excursion from my normal fare, and has encouraged me to seek out more writing less closely aligned with my experiences.

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