Vismay’s Comments (group member since Dec 24, 2012)

Vismay’s comments from the Classics Without All the Class group.

Read 'The Casual Vacancy' by J.K. Rowling....Here is the review......


That’s the truth. Maybe we don’t like it, maybe we brush it under the carpet to delude ourselves that the world is full of good people and good always triumphs over evil. But the world has its fare share of Dursleys. Maybe not everyone is bad. But J.K. Rowling have focused her lens on the ‘riff-raffs’ of the society, the snobbish and selfish upper class, few good people trying to improve the situation (which even they know in their heart would never be remedied) and all their dirt in sharp detail in ‘The Casual Vacancy’. It’s of course not a happy book to read, but it does keep a person engaged.
But before I review the book further, I would like to state a point that, though I have just read a couple of book written by British authors about Britain, I feel that J.K. had overstated the malice and the dirt a wee bit. Maybe I feel that is because practically every family mentioned here is sick in some or the other manner (except Kay’s family or the Jawanda’s, with Barry Fairbrother cutting across as a figurative saint (though dead)), but yet I refuse to believe everyone to be that bad in the real world. I know I am being incorrect here; the book confuses me as the personalities of the characters cannot be sharply divided into black and white. It’s fucking grey, with some characters a darker shade of it. And the end is uncertain, it is maybe and hopefully a somewhat happily ever after kind of thing, but you couldn’t be too sure.
The story as such is simple. Barry Fairbrother is dead. And he has left a gaping hole in the hearts of those who adored him and a casual vacancy in the Councilor’s seat. There is a fierce competition to get that seat. Opinions are divided. A perennial knife hangs on the fate of the Bellchapel Addiction Clinic and the people who are categorized as the ‘riff-raffs’ (the people from the Fields) may/can be pushed outside the (jurisdiction of) precinct of Pagford, a stupid little proud town with its neat houses and charming surroundings.
People say it’s different from Harry Potter, yet I choose to believe differently. Maybe Harry died in the first 4 pages, but we have Dursleys in Mollisons, a sort of good Wormtail in Colin Walls, Stuart or Fat Walls trying to be a Voldemort but of course he fails in his ambition. We have a Neville Longbottom in Sukhvinder, Hermione in Kay (Elves’ rights or a social worker), Madam Maxime in Maureen (both trying to dress out of their age and height, but at least Madam Maxime was good and respectable), a Molly in Tessa Wall and a Ron (minus the kind-hearted father) in Andrew.
I indeed liked this book. And one of the major reasons has to be that she projected the Indians as good Samaritans. No, here they aren’t exactly geeks, nor are they supremely spiritual. They aren’t as narrow-minded as stereotypically portrayed in Hollywood films and some books on “India” written by foreign authors, nor are they lascivious ruthless businessmen lusting the ‘gori madam’. Nor are there any major goof-ups in Indian names (I sometimes am still amused by Padma Patil and Parvati Patil!!!) and Vikram looks like a Bollywood hero! In short, they are projected as normal people, with religion as a part of their life, but just a part.
From time to time, people like being projected normal. Anyone listening in the West, we are normal!
I must say, J.K. Rowling might have received a Booker Prize (or been a major contender) for ‘The Casual Vacancy’ had she not written Harry Potter prior to it. I liked this book, but it would be too much if I said that, I loved it…