[stylist] Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Tue Jun 25 13:29:59 UTC 2013

Interesting review.  I think I will pass on this one.  I'm guessing that Rawling's fantasy work will be more hopeful than her realistic work just because the fantasy embodies the world as it should be and the realistic work embodies the world as Rawling sees it.  I believe that before she was famous, J. K. Rawling was a single mother on the dole (so she would know about the underside of the British experience.

Anyway, thanks for the review.

Shawn

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Bridgit Pollpeter
Sent: Tuesday, June 25, 2013 2:14 AM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [stylist] Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

I've wondered about this book. I know it was intended for adults and was suppose to be completely different than Harry Potter. It may be difficult for Rowling to find an audience and have anyone endeared to books that are not Harry Potter. Good writer or not, this is the downside to have such a beloved series. People want HP, but she's done with that world. Thanks for the review. Despite the fact you didn't care for it, this makes me want to read it to discover for myself what it is about and get my interpretation.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Donna Hill
Sent: Monday, June 24, 2013 8:54 PM
To: 'Writer's Division Mailing List'
Subject: [stylist] Book Review: The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

Hi Friends,
After our discussion not long ago about the Harry Potter series, I finally read Rowling's new adult novel, The Casual Vacancy. I expect to post this book review to Goodreads, which I just joined as another way to promote my novel. I thought I'd post it here first. It's a first attempt -- all done today -- so I'll probably change or add something, if I know me. * grin* Donna
***

The Casual Vacancy, J.K. Rowling's first novel since the Harry Potter series, is set in the small English town of Pagford. It follows seven families through the aftermath of the death of the school's beloved rowing coach. A member of the Pagford Parish Council, Barry Fairbrother's death brings about a "casual vacancy," according to Charles Arnold-Baker's Local Council Administration, Seventh Edition.
Squaring off against one another, two groups of candidates jockey for position to fill his seat. The primary divide concerns their views on shutting down a methadone clinic and seeding jurisdiction of the Fields, a concrete and steel, poverty-stricken neighborhood whose children attend Padford's schools, to the city of Yarvil.

The first word that came to mind, after reading a quarter of the book, was "drab." None of the adults was easy to like or care about. No one is happy, healthy or noble, and there is little levity or wit. None of the adult relationships even qualify as working reasonably well. Their teenagers are lost and hopeless souls devoid of wonder. If I hadn't been a Harry Potter fan who wrote extensively on the series, I would have given up on this book.

But, I kept reading -- albeit with the morbid curiosity of someone watching a train derail. I found a character to care about -- Crystal, the 16-year-old daughter of a heroin addict.  I had the sense from the start that I would be punished for my concern, and I was not mistaken.
There are no happy endings here. The few signs of redemption come at the greatest of costs and are marked by the tiniest of gestures. She succeeds only in portraying the utter depravity of human culture. 

The book must be considered in some ways to be well-written. Rowling is mercifully gifted at concise summations of background information and the dialog is realistically candid. The appearances of comments by "The Ghost of Barry Fairbrother" on the Council's website provide some interest, if the reader can get that far. Tess's thoughts near the end of the book, however, sum it up best.

Block quote

But who could bear to know which stars were already dead, she thought, blinking up at the night sky, could anybody stand to know that they all were?

Block quote end

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