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

Tue Jun 25 15:53:55 UTC 2013

Bridgit,
Yes, read it for sure. I should add that. For those of us who love Harry
Potter and are ourselves writers, I believe that it is important to see the
next stage in her writing. I just find it a bit disturbing that, with all
the success she's had, she wrote something so uniformly bleak.
Donna 

-----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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