The Casual Vacancy - J.K. Rowling
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Re: The Casual Vacancy - J.K. Rowling
- andyb0810
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- Circling Turtle
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- the_bluebell
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- Butty92
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I find it to be a very interesting, hard-hitting read, As a book, it isn't afraid of tackling some quite controversial issues. It's also a heavily political book that tries to reflect society in a way in which Rowling herself sees it.
The book isn't exactly a laugh a minute, some may even say it's quite depressing and sad, with themes of rape, drug abuse, domestic violence, poverty, truancy, lots of swearing and mental health to name a few. But that's what I admire about it, as Rowling is prepared to confront and expose these issues head-on. Admittedly, I think her left-wing views do come across quite strongly in the book, not that I mind myself as someone with similar ideals, but the book definitely gives the reader a sympathetic take on the Fields estates in Yarvil and its inhabitants, while portrays the middle-class, Conservatives in quite a crude way.
A very different book to Harry Potter but one I enjoyed as it challenged me to think and was heavily political, a topic I've always been interested in. An undoubted Labour party supporter Rowling may be, but it was refreshing to see an author challenge the 'societal consensus' set by the likes of the Daily Mail. No wonder they called it 500 pages of 'socialist manifesto masquerading as literature crammed down your throat'. She must have done something right then if the Daily Mail don't like here.
- Naval Aulakh
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- skytriff
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- Mallory Whitaker
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- aprenni
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I think it's a pretty dry book, but now I'm on page 169. It's daunting to see that I still have so much left in it to read, because I'm just waiting for it to pick up speed so that I can speed-read through it, but I don't think that's going to happen.
I will say that it's an impressive book in that it's written in 3rd person omniscient, which is pretty difficult to do well. There are a massive amount of characters, but I'm able to keep them all straight, and they all have a vital role in the story. This book actually seems like it could be several books in one, but it has to be told in one volume, because all the storylines are interconnected.
I'm going to keep reading, and hopefully by the end, it'll have grown on me. It makes me sad to not love something that Rowling wrote, but as I'm reading, I'm starting to like it more and more.
Have any of you read the Cormoran Strike series? Is it better than The Casual Vacancy?
- HollandBlue
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