# J.K. Rowling's THE CASUAL VANCY: So, Have You Read It? (MERGED)



## Joseph_Evans (Jul 24, 2011)

So who's excited about The Casual Vacancy? Do you think she'll capture the same magic that she did with Harry Potter?


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## JRWoodward (Apr 26, 2011)

. . . will finish out the month and possibly spill into October reading JK Rowling's THE CASUAL VACANCY. You can pre-order it for Kindle or Kindle app, as I did. Supposedly, well get it midnight Eastern Standard Time the 27th.

In case you hadn't heard, it's not fantasy and not for kids. It's a "darkly comic" look at small-town politics and class resentments in an English Village. "Casual Vacancy" is an English legal term for the situation when someone dies in office and the post must be filled by a special election.


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## Kristine McKinley (Aug 26, 2012)

I can't help but think this everytime I hear about the book even though I know it's not. I will still read it but I was kind of let down when I found out that it wasn't Harry Potter.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I'm interested. . . .but not enough to spend $17.99 on it.  I'll wait until it comes down in price or available at the Library.


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## MalloryMoutinho (Aug 24, 2012)

Kristine McKinley said:


> I can't help but think this everytime I hear about the book even though I know it's not. I will still read it but I was kind of let down when I found out that it wasn't Harry Potter.


ditto


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

Personally -- and with the full disclosure that I have never read a single Harry Potter book -- I like to see authors branch out and not allow themselves to be pigeon-holed into one series, or even one genre. They might not always strike gold, but it beats having an author get into a rut, with stories and/or characters becoming stale. (I'm not saying Rowling has done this [yet], just that experience suggests to me it can happen.)


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## sebat (Nov 16, 2008)

I'll read it when the price drops.


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## DavidFWeisman (Jun 10, 2012)

I still want to read, "Harry Potter and the Desk Job of Boredom".


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

Ditto on being very curious, but not curious enough to pay $17.99 for it.


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## Geoffrey (Jun 20, 2009)

I read Rowling's first Harry Potter book but that's the only one.  I'm not that interested in her next series .... at least not until I hear more from other casual Rowling readers.


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## cheriereich (Feb 12, 2011)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'm interested. . . .but not enough to spend $17.99 on it. I'll wait until it comes down in price or available at the Library.


Exactly! I do want to read it because I enjoyed JK's writing in the Harry Potter series, but I don't want to pay $17.99 or more on it.


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## NogDog (May 1, 2009)

cheriereich said:


> Exactly! I do want to read it because I enjoyed JK's writing in the Harry Potter series, but I don't want to pay $17.99 or more on it.


Well, Sir Terry's _Dodger_ was released today at a $17.99 list price but is sold by Amazon for $9.99 (thank goodness Harper/Collins is no longer using the agency model  ).


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

NogDog said:


> Well, Sir Terry's _Dodger_ was released today at a $17.99 list price but is sold by Amazon for $9.99 (thank goodness Harper/Collins is no longer using the agency model  ).


Unfortunately, the new JKR is published by Hachette. It still shows _This price was set by the Publisher_.


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## WriterGuy99 (Sep 25, 2012)

This looks interesting


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## mom133d (aka Liz) (Nov 25, 2008)

http://news.yahoo.com/rowling-not-ruling-another-harry-potter-book-101829136.html



> The 47-year-old author told the BBC that her next book would be "for slightly younger children than the Potter books."
> 
> And she said that while "where Harry's story is concerned, I'm done," she was considering a new story set in the same universe.
> 
> ...


I wouldn't mind a sidestep. As long as it isn't like _Ender's Game_. I don't want to read the same story from a different perspective.


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## KindleGirl (Nov 11, 2008)

I'd like to read some reviews first....and see a price drop before I ever pick it up.


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## Yollo (Nov 10, 2008)

Anybody else anxiously waiting up hoping it will be available to download at midnight?


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## MalloryMoutinho (Aug 24, 2012)

I've yet to have a book be available at midnight...it's always delayed.


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## Yollo (Nov 10, 2008)

I'm not often waiting up at midnight, but I did get the Steve Jobs biography right at midnight...however, it doesn't look like Casual Vacancy will be available until later.


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

The NYT does not love it, for what it's worth. 

Darkness and Death, No Magic to Help



> Unfortunately, the real-life world she has limned in these pages is so willfully banal, so depressingly clichéd that "The Casual Vacancy" is not only disappointing - it's dull.


I'd say that is definitely a "does not love it".


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## Linjeakel (Mar 17, 2010)

Having only recently read the Harry Potter books for the first time, I'd be interested in taking a look at this. But like a lot of others, I nearly swallowed my tongue when I saw the price.

I don't have a specific price over which I won't buy a book - it depends on how badly I want it. I don't want this one _that_ badly!


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## Gayle Miller (Sep 22, 2012)

I'm looking forward to reading it but I'm more excited for her next Harry Potter related book. I want to know why Sirius and James were speeding and where they went after escaping the cops.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

If you want more from Harry's world, try http://www.jamespotterseries.com/.

There are currently 3 books which feature the next generation of Potters and Weasleys and Malfoys (oh my!) and he's writing a 4th now, due out around Christmas. They're quite well done. . . . .


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

I noticed in the comments section of the book that some people have issues with the font in this book? Can't change the font. I just got a different book where I had that issue too. Someone with a Nook said its like that on their device too. 

Apparently Amazon is working on a fix. Anyone get the book and have that issue too?

I have it on waitlist at the library, so I'll be a while before I get to read it.


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## lvhiggins (Aug 1, 2012)

For what it's worth, the New York Times reviewed J.K. Rowling's book today. The reviewer gave it the ultimate insult -- The book is BORING.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/books/book-review-the-casual-vacancy-by-j-k-rowling.html?_r=0 (note: there are spoilers in the review.)

I may wait on this one.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

Atunah said:


> I noticed in the comments section of the book that some people have issues with the font in this book? Can't change the font. I just got a different book where I had that issue too. Someone with a Nook said its like that on their device too.
> 
> Apparently Amazon is working on a fix. Anyone get the book and have that issue too?
> 
> I have it on waitlist at the library, so I'll be a while before I get to read it.


I just ordered the sample . . . hang on. . . . yep. . . .it's the same teeny tiny font as on that other book we were talking about. I usually read on 3 and had to put it to 6 for it to be comparably sized. The font style isn't a problem for me, but the size definitely is. If I'd just paid $18 for it I'd be mightily annoyed. 



lvhiggins said:


> For what it's worth, the New York Times reviewed J.K. Rowling's book today. The reviewer gave it the ultimate insult -- The book is BORING.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/books/book-review-the-casual-vacancy-by-j-k-rowling.html?_r=0 (note: there are spoilers in the review.)
> 
> I may wait on this one.


I'll decide for myself. . . . . I often find the NYT reviewers are a bit puffed up. . . .they rarely find anything _really_ enjoyable, and what they do ordain as "a modern classic" I usually find dull as dust.  But I will wait for (a) the formatting to get fixed and/or (b) it to be available for a much more reasonable price. Or I'll borrow it from my library.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I just ordered the sample . . . hang on. . . . yep. . . .it's the same teeny tiny font as on that other book we were talking about. I usually read on 3 and had to put it to 6 for it to be comparably sized. The font style isn't a problem for me, but the size definitely is. If I'd just paid $18 for it I'd be mightily annoyed.


Oh that is horrible. I read on 4 so 6 is not large enough. Now that I had this other book, which was not from a publisher I don't think, I hope this isn't a new thing with that new K8 thingy format. I literally can not read that font. People have talked to amazon about the Rowling book and gotten some refund and were told they are going to fix it. 
Ugh, I am going to have to get samples now of everything I want to buy? I don't really do samples. And I have a lot of stuff I get from pre orders.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

I think it's not a problem with the format but that the publisher isn't applying it correctly.  Which, as it happens with some regularity, means Amazon should probably do some teaching or something. . . . . .

I did just go to see if I could put a hold on it a the library but I'm not finding it in Overdrive -- I checked both the County Library and the Navy Library.


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## Atunah (Nov 20, 2008)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I think it's not a problem with the format but that the publisher isn't applying it correctly. Which, as it happens with some regularity, means Amazon should probably do some teaching or something. . . . . .
> 
> I did just go to see if I could put a hold on it a the library but I'm not finding it in Overdrive -- I checked both the County Library and the Navy Library.


I haven't found it on overdrive either. I put a hold on the hard cover at my library. But I am so far down the list that I might change my mind. I am not looking forward reading a heavy hard cover. I found my most readable format in paper for me is Trade back. But I much prefer Kindle. So maybe I'll just wait to see if it will be on Overdrive at some point. Its not like I have to read this book. . I never read anything by her.


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## mestrin (Aug 27, 2012)

For those wondering why the ebook is $17.99.
http://paidcontent.org/2012/09/26/why-j-k-rowlings-new-ebook-is-17-99/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+pcorg+%28paidContent%29&utm_content=Google+Feedfetcher


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## mooshie78 (Jul 15, 2010)

cheriereich said:


> Exactly! I do want to read it because I enjoyed JK's writing in the Harry Potter series, but I don't want to pay $17.99 or more on it.


Same. I'll wait for the ebook price to drop when the paperback comes out. Or see if I can get the ebook from my library.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

I usually find myself in diametric disagreement with NYT reviewers (film and book), but I'm afraid I'm in agreement this time. Granted, I only read the sample, and I plan on reading the entire book to give her the benefit of the doubt, yet...boy oh boy was that dull reading. The writing voice she used is completely different from HP. Not a big surprise there, but I was hoping for some slight commonality. The humor, at least.

I would love to know her thought process on this one: why that genre, audience, why this story.


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## sparrowlight (Dec 19, 2009)

I had this pre-ordered and I can confirm that the font problem is awful on my Kindle Touch. On my iPad, no issues. Very disappointing especially give the price!!


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## history_lover (Aug 9, 2010)

I'll wait for the price to come down... even then - we'll see. It's not high on my list.

Has anyone else noticed that there's a Kindle book called A Casual Vacancy (not THE Casual Vacany) also released on Sep 26? Someone clearly trying to piggy back off of JK Rowling there because if when you search for it, it comes up in the results right under JK Rowling's


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## strether (Dec 15, 2008)

Christopher Bunn said:


> I usually find myself in diametric disagreement with NYT reviewers (film and book), but I'm afraid I'm in agreement this time. Granted, I only read the sample, and I plan on reading the entire book to give her the benefit of the doubt, yet...boy oh boy was that dull reading. The writing voice she used is completely different from HP. Not a big surprise there, but I was hoping for some slight commonality. The humor, at least.
> 
> I would love to know her thought process on this one: why that genre, audience, why this story.


Go to the National Public Radio website (sorry, I don't have the link handy) and hear the first part of an interview between Rowling and Steve Inskeep, the latter a very intelligent interviewer. Click on Morning Edition and I'm sure you'll find it. Next part of the interview tomorrow.

Jim


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## JRTomlin (Jan 18, 2011)

I read a sample of it and what I can say about what I read is that the dialogue was truly dreadful. Seriously.


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Ann in Arlington said:


> I'll decide for myself. . . . . I often find the NYT reviewers are a bit puffed up. . . .they rarely find anything _really_ enjoyable, and what they do ordain as "a modern classic" I usually find dull as dust.  But I will wait for (a) the formatting to get fixed and/or (b) it to be available for a much more reasonable price. Or I'll borrow it from my library.


Ditto 100%. I do read the NYT reviews (especially if they're guest reviews by authors that I've read and respect) but with both their movie and book reviews, I don't often find my tastes/feelings aligned. I read more to glean insight into the technical aspects; just to be more educated ABOUT filmmaking/writing, really.



Christopher Bunn said:


> The writing voice she used is completely different from HP. Not a big surprise there, but I was hoping for some slight commonality. The humor, at least.
> 
> I would love to know her thought process on this one: why that genre, audience, why this story.


I once heard her say in an interview that she always thought she would be a capital-L literary writer, and that Harry Potter was actually the deviation for her. But the idea and characters gripped her so strongly that she was compelled to follow them.

She said something similar about the genesis of her idea for THE CASUAL VACANCY, actually. Got the idea on a plane.

Here are a brief articles/interviews I enjoyed:
- short one: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-19711553
- long one: http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2012/10/01/121001fa_fact_parker



history_lover said:


> Has anyone else noticed that there's a Kindle book called A Casual Vacancy (not THE Casual Vacany) also released on Sep 26? Someone clearly trying to piggy back off of JK Rowling there because if when you search for it, it comes up in the results right under JK Rowling's


UUUUUGGGGGHHHHHHH.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Thanks, Kristan and strether, for the interview references. Just finished reading through the BBC and New Yorker ones. Very interesting. Looks like she wanted to make her literary mark with Casual Vacancy. Odd and somewhat deflating to see her say that she regards Harry Potter as a deviation from what she really wanted to write. Casual Vacancy is not exactly Walker Percy or Kingsley Amis, but it's selling like crazy and obviously doing well.

As far as it being "blackly comic"...nope. Unless I don't understand the term "blackly comic" or perhaps those bits don't occur until after the sample portion.


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## bordercollielady (Nov 21, 2008)

Thanks everyone for the initial feedback.. Just saved me money..


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Another good one: http://news.yahoo.com/rowling-launches-novel-fanfare-mixed-reviews-193122300.html



> Rowling told a 1,000-strong audience at London's Southbank Centre that the idea for the book - "Local election sabotaged by teenagers, basically" - came to her on a plane several years ago.
> 
> Writing for a more adult readership, she said, had been "freeing" - though "in other senses it's a challenging book," told from multiple viewpoints.
> 
> ...


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## Kristan Hoffman (Aug 6, 2009)

Christopher Bunn said:


> Odd and somewhat deflating to see her say that she regards Harry Potter as a deviation from what she really wanted to write.


Hm, I hope I wasn't unclear... What I meant was, JK Rowling said that Harry Potter was not the type of thing she had _expected_ herself to write when she imagined herself as a writer. But that doesn't mean she didn't love it once she realized it was calling to her.

And, speaking from both personal experience and that of other writers I know, it's not at all unusual to end up writing in a different genre or style than you started with. It's like growing up thinking you'll be a doctor, then realizing later that you'd rather work with animals, so you become a vet.


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

Kristan Hoffman said:


> Hm, I hope I wasn't unclear... What I meant was, JK Rowling said that Harry Potter was not the type of thing she had _expected_ herself to write when she imagined herself as a writer. But that doesn't mean she didn't love it once she realized it was calling to her.
> 
> And, speaking from both personal experience and that of other writers I know, it's not at all unusual to end up writing in a different genre or style than you started with. It's like growing up thinking you'll be a doctor, then realizing later that you'd rather work with animals, so you become a vet.


Oh, sorry. I didn't mean that in terms of what you wrote. That was actually in reference to something she said in the New Yorker piece.


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## gdae23 (Apr 30, 2009)

When this book was first announced months ago, I thought for sure I'd want to read it as soon as it came out. Then I saw the pre-order price listing, and thought I'd at least wait for the early reviews. From this thread, and the critical reviews I saw online today, I had second thoughts, and wondered if I'd even want to read it at all. I thought I should at least try the sample though. I just read that, and actually, I didn't find it as bad as I was now expecting it to be! I wouldn't say I'm going to put this on my priority reading list, but I'm not ruling out reading it either. For now, I signed up on eReaderIQ to monitor it for a price drop, which seems likely to happen at some point. By then, there should be many more reviews I can consult as well. 

By the way, my sample had very normal size font on both the iPad and the KTouch. I didn't need to adjust it all. I just got the sample this evening, so it appears the earlier font problem has been corrected.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

gdae23 said:


> By the way, my sample had very normal size font on both the iPad and the KTouch. I didn't need to adjust it all. I just got the sample this evening, so it appears the earlier font problem has been corrected.


Yep...just returned the first sample I got and got a new one and this one is fine.

Sent from my Kindle Fire HD


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## Gayle Miller (Sep 22, 2012)

Ann in Arlington said:


> If you want more from Harry's world, try http://www.jamespotterseries.com/.
> 
> There are currently 3 books which feature the next generation of Potters and Weasleys and Malfoys (oh my!) and he's writing a 4th now, due out around Christmas. They're quite well done. . . . .


Thanks, I'll check them out.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

I've never read Harry Potter and was somewhat interested in the Casual Vacancy, until I watched the recent televised interview with the author where she read quite a few bits from the book. I lost interest in both the interview and the book.


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## Gayle Miller (Sep 22, 2012)

JFHilborne said:


> I've never read Harry Potter and was somewhat interested in the Casual Vacancy, until I watched the recent televised interview with the author where she read quite a few bits from the book. I lost interest in both the interview and the book.


Yikes, that doesn't bode well.


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## JFHilborne (Jan 22, 2011)

gaylethehaggis said:


> Yikes, that doesn't bode well.


It would have been better if they'd had someone else read it. Her voice was dry and boring, both for reading and in her interview. No inflection, and it made her novel come across as dull.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

FWIW, I got the sample -- twice actually, to test formatting  -- and have read the first chapter.  I know enough about what it's meant to be about that I think I will find it interesting and certainly didn't read anything in the first chapter that made me change that feeling.  But I will be waiting until the price is a bit more reasonable.  Or until it's available via the library.


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## anguabell (Jan 9, 2011)

I didn't like the sample at all, and am pretty sure I wouldn't like the book. The characters and the writing seem rather unappealing. Perhaps if it's offered as a Kindle Deal for $1.99 I'd give it a try. But I must say I am rather disappointed.


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## cork_dork_mom (Mar 24, 2011)

I wonder if maybe in Britain they'll find it humorous? The British sense of humor is much dryer than ours so maybe they'll find it more entertaining. 

I wonder how JKR's success would have been had she written The Casual Vacancy first? The Harry Potter books are so entertaining (to listen to them is even better) because there's so much going on and they're very well written.

I think I'll keep  CV in the same category as Fifty Shades.... NTBR (never to be read).


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## Christopher Bunn (Oct 26, 2010)

cork_dork_mom said:


> I wonder if maybe in Britain they'll find it humorous? The British sense of humor is much dryer than ours so maybe they'll find it more entertaining.


True, it is much more dry. That said, I love classic British humor more than typical American humor (I'm milk toast Californian, born and bred). I think Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim is one of the funniest books ever written. Wodehouse is wonderful. Searle's Down With Skool is hilarious stuff.

But, honestly, I could not find anything remotely funny in that CV sample. I tried.

"intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny"--Guardian review

"The Casual Vacancy, JK Rowling's first adult novel, is sometimes funny, often startlingly well observed, and full of cruelty and despair. One teenager cuts herself to relieve her misery, another commits suicide. Online pornography is described in gynaecological detail."--Telegraph review

"It's a big, ambitious, brilliant, profane, funny, deeply upsetting and magnificently eloquent novel of contemporary England, rich with literary intelligence and entirely bereft of bullshit, and if it weren't for Rowling's stringent security measures, it would or at least should have contended for the Booker Prize.--Time review

Aha. There you go. If a book qualifies as a contender for the Booker Prize, then I run for the hills.


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## DYB (Aug 8, 2009)

I personally give zero weight to critical opinion of anything: books, movies, music, restaurants.  When I read reviews it tends to be for information, not to help me decide if I should consume the product.  If my opinion happens to agree with a critic, that is purely coincidental.  The reviews for CV have been quite mixed, which is perfectly natural for humanity.

One thing to note about our modern critics is that the vast majority of them are full time critics, not artists.  They don't create the art they criticize, they only criticize.  Which makes their opinion as valid as anyone else's, no more.  There was a time when artists critiqued each other's works (Berlioz, Truffaut, etc.)  Agree or disagree, but at least these people truly knew what it meant to create art.  The majority of today's critics create nothing except...opinions.  Well, I don't need their opinions because I've got my own and they are the only ones that matter! 

I've been a big fan of Rowling's because of HP and I will definitely read this book - when the price drops.


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## JRWoodward (Apr 26, 2011)

I read THE CASUAL VACANCY on my Macs, using my Kindle apps. As you may know -- I'm sure you _do_ know -- CV is the new book for adults by JK Rowling, the author of the immensely successful Harry Potter series (which was the last best-selling franchise to be available on Kindle -- but never mind; that's a rant for another day).

No book could be less like Harry Potter. It's set in Pagford, a dreary little English village that's a suburb of Yarville, a proper city with all the modern features, including slums. One of those slums, by historical mischance, is located in Pagford, and now the city wants to annex it. It needs only a vote of the parish council, and Pagford is free of "the Fields," where most residents have never held a job and hundreds are addicted to heroin. Oh, and while they're at it, the drug addiction clinic is in an old building that belongs to Pagford. As long as they are voting to clean things up, might as well get rid of that, too.

The trouble is that the best way out of the Fields is Pagford's school. Once Yarville has taken over, the youth of the Fields will be trapped in Yarville's decidedly inferior old pile. In the opening scenes, parish counselor Barry Fairbrother writes an article for the local papers begging his fellow citizens of Pagford to leave things as they are. Unfortunately, Fairbrother dies suddenly, opening his seat to an election -- the "casual vacancy" of the title. The election brings all of Pagford's resentments to the fore: educated vs not, rich vs, poor, upper class against middle class and parents vs teens. To use Ms. Rowling's former work as a reference, it's all Voldemort and no Dumbledore

The teenagers of Pagford dabble in drugs, vandalism, computer hacking and sex (not to mention cursing -- there's lots of cursing). One thing Ms. Rowling understands is that teenagers seek out chances to have sex, but they do so compulsively and often joylessly. Without caring in the least who becomes parish counselor, the teens manipulate the outcome by hacking the village website, one after another, each with an agenda that extends no further then their own needs of the moment. Chaos -- but not hilarity -- ensues. And, yes, there is no happy ending.

Personally, I was enthralled, but I went into the book knowing that it would be bleak and totally without magic of any kind. If all you know before you buy THE CASUAL VACANCY is who wrote it, that is not nearly enough.


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## Gertie Kindle (Nov 6, 2008)

JRWoodward said:


> Personally, I was enthralled, but I went into the book knowing that it would be bleak and totally without magic of any kind. If all you know before you buy THE CASUAL VACANCY is who wrote it, that is not nearly enough.


Thanks. I won't waste my time even putting my name on the library waiting list. This is definitely not my kind of book.


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## gadgetgirl003 (Mar 22, 2009)

I just finished reading A Casual Vacancy. It was okay, but not fantastic. I didn't fall in love with any of the characters or even care that much what happened to any of them. I read many different genres of books so I didn't really care what genre it was when I purchased it. I expected it to be well written and I feel like it was, but it is not a book that I will be recommending to people as a must read, especially at the $17.99 that I paid for it.


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## Ann in Arlington (Oct 27, 2008)

The price has dropped to $14.99 as of this morning, I believe.  FWIW.


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## agilepup (Sep 30, 2011)

I just finished it today.  It does not have an action-packed plot.  It's more of a character study/social commentary I guess.  The characters are complex and it was interesting to me to watch them evolve for better or worse.  I can understand why it is not everyone's cup of tea.


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## Daphne (May 27, 2010)

cork_dork_mom said:


> I wonder if maybe in Britain they'll find it humorous? The British sense of humor is much dryer than ours so maybe they'll find it more entertaining.


I'm British, but I found no humour in the book at all (I finished it yesterday). It was a grim, rather sordid portrayal of the deeply unpleasant and dysfunctional society of the imaginary town of Pagford. The book was character, rather than action, driven and I felt that a lot of the people who inhabited Pagford were rather grotesque caricatures. The smug, self-centered and spiteful Mollisons are no more realistic than the Dursleys. The best drawn characters, I thought, were the teenagers - particularly Stuart Wall (Fats), although I found it rather depressing that they were all shown as bitterly hating their parents to the point of doing anything to undermine and humiliate them.
I did find the book made for a compelling read in places, but I would have liked to have seen a glimmer of some redeeming characteristics amongst the cast - a little compassion, kindness or love. I would be very upset to think of anyone accepting this book as an accurate, balanced portrayal of British society, although some of the problems examined do exist.

This is certainly a very different book from the Harry Potter series (which I love). There is none of the charm, imaginary detail or sense of camaraderie which gives HP its magic in The Casual Vacancy


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