a fortunate age. joanna smith rakoff. (300)

i picked up a fortunate age after reading smith-rakoff's blurb on the back of emma forrest's your voice in my head.  it sounded like a book i would be interested, twentysomething trying to make life happen in nyc.  in fact, i was shocked that the work didn't make it onto flavorpill's list of books to fill your the 'girls'-shaped hole in your life.  it seemed like it was girls but in the nineties.  however, after reading the book, i discovered why it was probably off of the list, this work is simply mary mccartney's the group (which was on the list) but with the characters' names changed and set in the nineties.  it was such total plagiarism that i had to give it a one star on goodreads and wrote this review:

Rakoff more like ripoff!  I had deja vu the entire time I read this novel, I felt like I had read it before and in fact, I had.  Instead of reading this, you should just read Mary McCarthy's "The Group".  This book is an "homage" to it but really, she just took McCarthy's novel and changed the character's names and the decade to the 90's.  The whole time I was reading, I kept wondering how this book was ever published, I mean it should be illegal to copy another author's like Smith Rakoff did.

i mean i get that authors will allude to other works or do retellings, even fan-fiction is fine since you are simply taking character's names but writing your own work, but what smith rakoff was just plain copying.  i mean how did her publisher and editor let this book see the light of day?  were they just banking on the fact that the group is kind of dated and current readers have never read it?  i mean i will say that most of the goodreads reviews either didn't mention the group, or admitted to never reading it.  but still, i can't believe that this book was allowed to be published.

in addition to that, i can't help now but i think of smith rakoff has a coattail writer.  last year, she came out with a book about your time with j.d. salinger, which i was tempted to read, but didn't since he was a recluse.  but it seemed like she used his name to sell her book, i mean it was called my salinger year.  and after reading this, i can't help but accuse her of stealing from mccarthy.

but seriously just read the group, instead of this.  i hate to waste so much time on this novel, but have to call out this copycat.

lily and tuck were kay and harald.  both kay and lily's wedding opened the book, as their deaths closed it.  just like kay, lily became the breadwinner, and just like harald, tuck, was a horrible husband.  tuck cheated on caitlin, a character that was exactly like norine, the girl that harald cheated with.  i even think caitlin's justifications for tuck's cheating were the same ones that norine used.  just like harald, tuck had kay committed must like lily, and both claimed their wives were hysteric.  the only difference was that kay may have committed suicide while lily died from the flu.  however, both husbands were  unwelcome guest at the funerals.  i also have to add both husbands were arrested after involvement in a protest that took place in a hotel.

beth was dottie.  both had a sex adventure at the  beginning of their story.  where as dottie lost her virginity, beth just had some weird sex.  though beth ended up marrying the person she had sex with, just like dottie, she had second thoughts about her marriage.  both women worried about still being in love with her first love (for dottie this was the man she lost her virginity too.) both women had close relationships with their mother and got advice from their moms on this matter.

emily was polly, both were the poor ones of the group and have a family history of mental illness.  they both have affairs with married men who are separated from their wives.  however, these men's wives still have power over them, in original gus' wife had him see a psychoanalyst while curtis' wife made him join AA, in the end, both men return to their wives.  just like polly's dad who suffered from mental illness went to live with polly, emily's sister who suffered from mental illness went to live with emily.  everything is fine and dandy when they move in, i even think polly's dad, like emily's sister help make improvements around their apartment.  both become socialist/communist, and started to be a financial drain.  however, emily and polly both end up marrying doctor's they meet due to this drain on money, polly married the doctor she met donating blood, emily married a doctor that helped her when she got injured as her second job (this doctor she had met previously when trying to get help for her sister.)

sadie was a blend of priss and helena.  she was helena because both discovered about their best friend's affair.  she was priss, because she struggled with motherhood, though while priss struggled to get her baby to breastfeed, sadie couldn't get her son to stop.

and caitlin is norine, both had affairs with married men and then justified it with politics.  they also both end up divorcing their husbands then remarrying rich jews.  both show up and make a sense at the funerals of the women whose husbands they slept with.

tal was lakey.  the one that everyone was in love with, and just like lakey spent most of the novel, aboard.  i kept on expecting tal to come out in the end just like lakey did, showing up at the funeral with her lesbian lover.  but i guess smith rakoff figure to cut back on some of the copying.

don't know who dave was, but i mean smith rakoff needed to have one character of her own.

ps i also didn't like how lightly she treated 9/11.  i mean the fact that she mentioned it in emily's storyline explaining that her sister came in two days after that seemed odd to me.  i also wonder if travel to nyc was stopped due to 9/11 and if so, then she should have had emily's sister come in a different time.  

the group. mary mccarthy. (213)

mary mccarthy's the group was listed as one of the books to fill the girls-shaped void in your life.  the cover (different from the one i read) had a blurb from sex and the city author candace bushnell, which i found a little silly since the group was written back in the 1950s.  however, i learned via wikipedia that an editior had suggested that bushnell write an updated version of the group which became sex and the city.

sex and the city is very reminiscent of the group.  unfortunately, with all the progress that women have made, we are still fighting the same battles as the generations before us.  one likes to think that our mothers can not understand what we face today but in fact they faced the exact same issues (this was demonstrated in the novel with dottie and her mother.)

the group is set in the 30's and follows the lives of a group of women, kay, dottie, helena, norine, libby, priss, polly, pokey and lakey, who became friends while at vassar college.  the novel spans 10 years of their lives, opening with their attendance of kay's wedding and sadly ending with her funeral.  throughout the ten years, they encounter all sorts of issues related to love, family, career, and sex, and as mentioned before the issues are not outdated and are still relevant today.

before i go on, i want to clarify that the group is #richwhitepeopleproblems, which is it is clearly aware of.  the characters are aware that they have money which results in very different experiences from most people. there is an attempt to have a poor character, polly, her being on scholarship was always mentioned, but her family used to be wealthy, so she doesn't really count.  she did donate blood for money but the fact that she was able to get a line of credit, demonstrated that she wasn't that badly off.  this critique can also be made of sex and the city and it was made about girls.  however, as i have defended girls in the past, some female issues transcend class and i, as a women, have always been able to identify though i am a women of color and poor.

the first issue that made me laugh due to it's relevance to today was dick's talk with dottie about sex and love.  dottie, a virgin, was warned by dick brown, the man who she lost her virginity to not fall in love with him, because women always do.  it made me laugh to read it because times have not changed because this myth is still around today.  i was virgin when i entered college and it seemed like every guy i ever hooked up and that i considered losing my virginity to, always seemed hesitant because they didn't want me to fall in love with them.  looking back there are two of them i am glad i didn't lose my virginity to either one of them. one of those two i did eventually sleep with and for the record there was nothing he did that would result in my loving him forever.  lol.  and for the record, i did not fall in love with the man that i lose my virginity to.  he is a swell guy (all of a sudden i'm from the 30's too) and interesting, and am glad i lost my virginity to him but i did not fall madly in love with him because of this act.  so there goes that.  we, women need to put an end to this myth!  i mean in the end, dottie did reveal that she loved dick, but she wasn't in love with dick brown but the idea of dick brown and that is something i am guilty of doing.  i spent the greater part of my twenties in love with someone but realizing now that i wasn't in love with the true him but this ideal him i had created in my head.  women turning men into myth is not a myth but we, women, always falling in love with our virginity takers is a bunch of bs.

the other thing that i found interesting from dottie and dick's relationship was how birth control was capable of implying so much about a relationship.  it was shocking to see how kay's husband, harald, explained how dick's requesting and keeping her diaphragm at his home could define their relationship status.  it is ridiculous that dottie was fitted and everything yet she couldn't store her diaphragm in her own home for fear of it being found by a roommate.  it was also crazy to consider how when people were infidel, their lover usually stored the diaphgram at his home.  imagine having a man in control of something so personal.  thank god today women can hold onto their own birth control, i can't imagine living in an era in which a man would be responsible for something that i use to regulate my body, oh wait, i take that back, because birth control is still an issue for women today.  (see:  hobby lobby)  but it is nice that we can keep our birth control in our homes, bathrooms and purses.  and it is progress that we women can hold condoms in our purse, no need relying on the man to ensure safe sex, we can do it ourselves!

another issue that the group covered was breastfeeding. when priss was in the hospital with her son, she had to deal with the her husband who wanted her to breastfeed and the hospital that wanted to give the baby formula.  priss' husband, a pediatrician, explained the reasons for the baby being breastfeed and he was right, the baby was putting weight on at a good rate.  also it would be good for his immune system.  however, the hospital wanted to put the baby on formula because he wasn't sleeping through the night and waking up hungry and thus disrupting the maternity ward.  poor, yet weak, priss feeling pressure from the doctor and nurses ended up giving her son formula.  i found myself frustrated for priss not having a backbone, but i mean hospitals are intimidating.  i'm always lost with hospital jargon and usually just go with what the doctor says because it's less confusing that way.  so i can sympathize with priss there.  however,  i for one plan on breastfeeding my child, i don't know if its the generation i am apart of it but i can't imagine giving my child, formula.  i don't have children so i'm not sure what the world's stance is on breastfeeding, i mean it should be widely accepted right?  though formula companies are still in business.  the current issue we have is people being upset about women breastfeeding in public.  this is the current hot item when it comes to breastfeeding, but i think most people agree it should be done, just in private.  i also want to add that i will allow my child to cry because as my grandma always told us, it's good for their lungs.  grandma bea would have agreed with priss' husband on that one!

last but not least it was great to see a lesbian in the story and of all people, lakey!  the most glamorous of them all.  and kudos to her for finding herself a lover and staying abroad so that she could live the life that she wanted without judgement.  i was not expecting her to be a lesbian but it was a nice surprise.  it was also nice to see the group not being too judgmental and treating lakey and her partner like any other couple.

aside the women issues that were covered, it was a interesting read just in terms of drama.  we, women, like to fill our life with drama, that is not a myth!  though it isn't gender exclusive, my friend peter, is a shining example of a male that loves drama.  lol  (i doubt he reads my blog but if he does, sorry.)  but there was drama in this book.  i for one, could not stand nordine!  i can not believe that she slept with kay's husband?!?!? and her justification for it was ridiculous!  i also couldn't believe the psychiatrist's explanation that her husband's impotency was because he could only get it up for "fallen women".  and as much as i was upset with nordine for sleeping with harald, i can't believe that helen didn't say anything.  what a bad friend!  if someone was cheating on me, i would want my friend to tell me!

also before i go on, i have to address the psychoanalysis mentioned in the novel.  i am all for people seeing a psychologist because mental health is important. however, it was a different beast back then.  it was disgusting to see how nordine used it to justify her affair.  and polly's lover's estranged wife used it to manipulate him back into a relationship.  also it was shocking to read how the girls stopped polly from marrying a boy because his family had a history of mental illness since her father was bipolar and they were worried due to that.  i mean its nice that they were so considerate but it seems odd for that to be an issue.  sex and the city did touch on this when carrie dated her high school sweetheart (played by david duchvony) while he was in a psych ward, but i feel back then you were considered ill for the lost ridiculous reasons (see:  girl, interrupted.)  though i will add i know someone that was dating someone who had an episode with mental illness and i advised against them dating unless he got help.  so yeah i guess i don't know, maybe the girls were right.

back to the novel, the group is timeless and a must read for women of all ages, though probably best to be read in your twenties.  however, it is filled with experience and lessons that are relevant at any age.

and as for filling my girls' void i couldn't imagine hannah in this world because she is too neruotic, maybe she would be nordine. lol  but marnie and shosh would definitely be comfortable in this world.  oh and jessa would definitely be lakey.