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Loading... The Casual Vacancy (original 2012; edition 2012)by J.K. Rowling
Work detailsThe Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling (Author) (2012)
Here's the deal: it's not poorly written, but Rowling succeeded in crafting a world that is a bit too unlovable. Examples. 1) There are too many characters, and almost none are sympathetic. The nicest adult character drops dead on p. 3. 2) Adult novels do not require constant application of the f-bomb and descriptions of the human reproductive system to be for adults 3) The most interesting people in the book are all teenagers. I really wish this was a YA novel focused on the teen characters. The tone could have been a bit lighter yet still covered a lot of the same ground. I'd have liked that story a lot more. (  ) alsatia | May 11, 2013 |  Here's the deal: it's not poorly written, but Rowling succeeded in crafting a world that is a bit too unlovable. Examples. 1) There are too many characters, and almost none are sympathetic. The nicest adult character drops dead on p. 3. 2) Adult novels do not require constant application of the f-bomb and descriptions of the human reproductive system to be for adults 3) The most interesting people in the book are all teenagers. I really wish this was a YA novel focused on the teen characters. The tone could have been a bit lighter yet still covered a lot of the same ground. I'd have liked that story a lot more. ( ) alsatia | May 11, 2013 | don't make the mistake of reading the book, just because it's written by JK%Rowling . Not worth the read ! U will regret it the story is not streamlined, characters are not well- developed, as in they are killed off before they become important to the story, and the protagonist's story is not highlighted at all. The character of Krystal Weedon is given much more importance. Why mention the death of the protagonist at all ?.. Most of the questions unanswered. The ending of the book is rushed.. She pace of the book is faster in the end, just to make the end easier (  ) urmika.manjrekar | May 10, 2013 | Update 7/3/2012: Well... I can't lie. That is one seriously disappointing cover. A 2012 release date?!?!?!? SO EXCITED. Enough said. bonniemarjorie | May 7, 2013 | When this book came out, I wasn't sure that I would read it. I loved the Harry Potter series. What does an author do after that kind of success? How can a reader help but have Harry and Ron and Hermione in mind when she opens the cover? But my book group chose this for May, and I was curious enough to give it a try. Rowling tells us the story of the residents of the small village of Pagford. The book begins when Barry Fairweather, a member of the Pagford Parish Council dies. The council has been in a heated debate about a part of town called the Fields. The Fields is made up of low income housing. Drug abuse and other crimes fill the streets, and the residents of Pagford want to shut down the drug clinic and push responsibility for the Fields onto nearby Yarvil. It is this debate that pushes the story forward as we meet families from Pagford and the Fields. Rowling does an excellent job of putting a human face on all sides of the debate. There are few one-dimensional characters. Most are complex, if not always likeable. Issues of class and relationships (mostly dysfunctional) pervade Rowling's first novel for adults, and I thought she did a good job shedding light on those issues. This isn't a home run, but it is a solid line drive. (  ) porch_reader | May 4, 2013 |
 Set in the fictional village of Pagford, The Casual Vacancy at first seems to have all the trappings of the adorable-English-town novel—an updating of Jane Austen viewed through the loving lens of a Merchant Ivory production. But the book’s misanthropy is more indebted to Hardy or Somerset Maugham, both known for their deep distrust of humankind and their sense of the viciousness that can spring up among neighbors.  Rowling has spoken of the sense of risk in embarking on this novel. The Harry Potter series must have been a tough act to follow. What she wanted to do here, I guess, was to seize on the world we can all see without going through Platform 9¾. She has done that to stunning effect. This is a novel of insight and skill, deftly drawn and, at the end, cleverly pulled together. It plays to her strengths as a storyteller. That will not stop the envious from carping. It is not the sort of book that hordes of people would choose to read if its author had not also written a far more comforting series of stratospheric bestsellers. But perhaps the world will be better for them reading it. Rowling may not be an easy woman, but she uses her powers for good.  The Casual Vacancy is a sour novel, one that seems designed to leave Rowling’s biggest, most avid fans feeling as though she sort of hates them. For all its readability—I had no problem tearing through the whole thing today after buying it from a bewildered bookstore clerk at 7:30 in the morning—the book reveals that though she remains a careful observer of human foibles, Rowling the writer isn’t well-served by her enforced isolation.
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When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock and the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen.
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