Kadomi reviewed The Casual Vacancy: J.K. Rowling by J. K. Rowling
Review of 'The Casual Vacancy: J.K. Rowling' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
In the largest departure possible from the Harry Potter books, it looks like a lot of people are disliking this book because it is so serious. I guess they are missing out on a captivating story about life in small-town England, a mirror to modern society. I couldn't put this book down.
The author takes us to the small and idyllic town of Pagford, where right at the start a member of the Council dies. This opens a seat on the council, and the politics get going, as the different factions in Pagford hurry to fill this position with their candidate. The main point of contention is the 'stain' on Pagford, a slum area called the Fields, with an addiction clinic. The deceased was a champion of the Fields, but the conservatives led by the Mollisons want to fill the seat with a candidate who will help them getting rid …
In the largest departure possible from the Harry Potter books, it looks like a lot of people are disliking this book because it is so serious. I guess they are missing out on a captivating story about life in small-town England, a mirror to modern society. I couldn't put this book down.
The author takes us to the small and idyllic town of Pagford, where right at the start a member of the Council dies. This opens a seat on the council, and the politics get going, as the different factions in Pagford hurry to fill this position with their candidate. The main point of contention is the 'stain' on Pagford, a slum area called the Fields, with an addiction clinic. The deceased was a champion of the Fields, but the conservatives led by the Mollisons want to fill the seat with a candidate who will help them getting rid of the Fields.
The Casual Vacancy has a huge cast of characters, and almost universally they're terrible people. The sunny layer of smalltown life is stripped away to reveal just about everything that's terrible. The novel should come with a huge trigger warning. It deals with topics such as drug addiction, prostitution, sexual abuse, rape, cyber-bullying, domestic violence, cutting, and so on and so forth.
It's hard to figure out which character might be likeable. I'd say Sukhvinder probably comes closest. But it was alright for me not to love the flawed characters. I cared about what was going on anyway. There's a wicked sense of dark humor throughout the book.
The book ends on a very depressing note, and the ending was very sudden. That's probably my only complaint about the book, that I felt it kinda left me dangling. Other than that, if you can deal with the subject matter, and enjoy excellent writing, this should be hard to miss. Just don't go in telling yourself this is the author of Harry Potter. There's nothing magical about life in Pagford whatsoever.