Random.dot.FM: August 2013

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Random Book Review: The Casual Vacancy

The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling takes you to a picturesque and fictional town of Pagford. When Barry Fairbrother the Councilor of Pagford suddenly died of an aneurysm, the council seat is left vacant. With this premise, the author delves into the social implications of personal and secretly covered agenda, social illnesses and choices, and how each choice to fill one owns personal vacancy whether in life and the consequences stemming from it.

The new book is a far departure from the magical adventure of Harry Potter. The bulk of the story focuses on the secret agendas of some of its people, to fill in for an empty seat in the Parish left by Barry, with the addition of problems such as drug addiction, raped and family secret that will be a catalyst to the biggest war the town have even seen. I just one to point out that the book is about people living in a town with real jobs and real problems. So you have things like swearing in most of the conversations that takes place or teenagers having sex. Don't be shocked- it happens in real life.

The strong point for me when reading the book is the ability of J.K Rowling to give life to each of the characters is this book, detailing their problem efficiently and properly giving meaning to their predicament.
Maybe this strong ability that Rowling has to describe places and her character is a flaw by itself. The juiciest part are somehow lightly disperse across the book and the big finale will be way long into the book. I almost gave up, but she tied up the ending nicely, hence had redeemed herself from having a bad book.
So overall, the Casual Vacancy is a well written book but a strong will and patience is needed to get through to the very end. If you like digging into something more suspenseful or with more mystery or fun, than Rowling latest literature, then this will not be your cup of tea.