The Casual Vacancy

Novel by JK Rowling

See that image to the right? See how the picture of the author is firmly attached the image of the book?

That says it all.

If JK Rowling hadn't written this book, it would have gotten nowhere.

Like many Harry Potter fans, I was curious to see what her next book, especially an adult novel, would be like. And I tried hard not to judge it by the standards of Harry Potter. It's a totally different genre and audience, after all. But I saw quickly that even without comparing it unfairly to the genius world of Hogwarts, just by comparing it to other normal adult books I happen to like...I Hate This Book.

The title refers to the central plot, a forced election for an empty seat on a small town council in rural England, caused by the death of one of the town of Pagford's leading citizens, Barry Fairbrother. His last name is no coincidence--he's the only likable character in the book and that's probably because he's dead for all but a few pages, so he has no time to screw things up. Unlike his two best friends, his opponents on the town council, a woman secretly in love with him, and the teenage children of these adults, who all go out of their way to be inattentive, rude, or even cruel to the people they are supposed to love. The way the families treat each other is worse than the way the men running against each other for town council do. The plot is rife with back stabbing and sabotage, of both the election and their personal lives.

It's also completely about us versus them, teenagers versus adults, rich versus poor, liberal versus conservative. And as polarized as our nation is right now, I could have just logged on to Facebook to read that kind of vitriol.

And really, that's my main complaint: mean people. There's also lots of swearing, physical abuse, drug abuse, sex abuse, food abuse, suicide...not topics I enjoy reading about in such profound amounts. The few reviews I read that defended the book seemed to imply that some people are too squeamish and need to get over the swearing and get to the story. I can understand that; sometimes vivid characterization and realistic plots beg for a few swear words. Again, that's not my issue. I just don't like the characterization or plot. It's mean. It's depressing.

Bottom line: read if you're completely curious, which will be my motivation when I finally read Fifty Shades of Grey. But expect to be bummed out. And DON'T by any means let your Harry Potter fan kids read it. Just read a few pages and you'll see what I mean.