The Casual Vacancy question

It's a very easy read, very cynical and full of unlikeable characters. In other words, it's completely awesome. If you've ever lived in a town that is super bitchy and self absorbed, it'll be a hauntingly familiar read.

However, if you can't stand reading about characters you don't like, don't bother. Nearly every character is a douchewad, but nearly every character has moments where you sympathise with them completely.

As for everyone bitching about the sex and the swearing... ignore them; it's not Jo going lol I'm an adult!, it's the characters behaving like real people. Lots of people swear (hell, I swear more than all the characters, except Simon, in the book) and lots of people have (irresponsible) sex. Oh no, a book that reflects reality! How can this be?

Also there isn't an obscene amount of sex or cursing. By HBO standards it is super, super tame.

The Casual Vacancy - my review.
Having read and enjoyed all the Harry Potter books, but knowing that JKR's political ideology was a long way from my own, I was quite prepared not to like this book. As I read and absorbed the issues she was writing about I found myself setting my Kindle aside to give more consideration than I could have anticipated to the problems of the village of Pagford and the consternation arising from the death of parish councillor, Barry Fairbrother.

Leaving the social issues to one side - plenty of reviewers have given their opinions about the conflicts in society between the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' in 'The Casual Vacancy', largely divided along the same political lines as in Pagford - what struck me most about the book was the sheer amount of hard work Ms Rowling has put into creating each and every character. Using her pen with the delicacy of a surgeon performing intricate open-heart surgery, she strips away, layer by layer, the pretensions and delusions of small minded middle England. The conflicts inherent in small-town society are beautifully observed and delineated and I can only hope, one day, to be able to write this well.

For me, this was a stunning, if not altogether comfortable read. Ms Rowling's storytelling skills are enviable, her insight remarkable and I hope so many negative reviews will not put her off writing more perceptive and thought-provoking books. Definitely a five-star read for me, 'The Casual Vacancy' will stick with me for a long time as one of the best books I have read in years.

casual fare!!! absolutely ghastly for me. I was expecting some action some thrill - this was pointless meandering into the lives of a town full of everyday average joes - not impressive at all...

My first recommendation is to get it from the library or borrow it from a friend who has already purchased it. If you love it after that, buy a copy of your own.

I approached this book with tons of good will toward Rowling, but it is so far from what I like to read that even my good will for the author couldn't overcome my antipathy to the kind of book it is. From the beginning of the book I couldn't identify anything familiar in the style--not merely a lack of magic. It was like having a phone conversation with someone claiming to be a long-time friend using a completely different voice and refusing to talk about anything from the past or the things you have in common. I often found myself wondering why I was reading this book, then reminding myself J. K. Rowling wrote it. Honestly, if any other author had written it, I wouldn't have bought it and, if someone had given it to me, I wouldn't have finished it. Quite simply, the whole thing just wasn't my cup of tea, and not the way I wish to employ my free time.

Personally, I think Jo's first book after Potter--given she didn't want to do more wizards--should have been a mystery. She has already demonstrated a skill with that and her fans would have easily taken that step with her. For me, I'm far less likely to try her next book and will have to be sold on it rather than waiting eagerly for it.

I finished it just yesterday. it was a great book. don't worry if you're not a huge HP fan because this book is not at all like HP series.

I just finished it a couple days ago- yesterday in fact- and I have to say that I am happy that I did. This book is a one in a hundred years type of book about life and society as a whole. To put it in a simplier fashion if you like Jane Austen or Victor Hugo then you will like this book because it is pretty much a modern day smash up of those two authors-not their styles- but the way that they decided to tell a story. You have the Jane Austen small town and all the inhabitants that you know- some you like, some you don't- depending on what part of the book you are in this case. While you have the universal effect made famous by Les Miserables represented by the cast present in the book. Keeping that in mind this book is largely a social commentary- as Jane Austen and Victor Hugo are- to me anyway and not really a character study as most seem to think. yes the story is told from multiple character perspectives and blah blah blah but I don't understand how that makes it a character study- we aren't reading about how each character is, its about how they interact and the effects of these interactions and how it effects the whole community- that to me is social commentary. But I will leave that up to you to decide.
Yes, I have read the potter books many times- I am looking forward to buying a new set in the future- but the drastic change of scenery and characters was a nice change. Just because somethings are polar opposites of things doesn't mean they don't have their own merits. I personally think everyone should read this book because it depicts our world truely as it is which we tend to ignore for the most part and like to pretend it is safer and calmer than it really is.
I personally think I will be reading this book again after a good amount of time- yes it is heavy emotionally at times- but that is how life is. If you want a book that gets you out of your own problems so you can focus on some other ones but are still relavent to yours this book could be a great therapy for anyone going through those issues discussed in the novel itself. This book is one that will help the world at an individual, national, and worldwide level if the words are taken seriously and to heart which is what Rowling wants- the world to change and realize how messed up it is at the moment and for us to take charge and fix our problems. But it is a little slow but once you get past the first section of the novel it starts to pick up and you start getting more involved with the characters and emotionally attached- whether positively or negatively- but it definately draws you in long before the ending has happened. If you are expecting all those loose ends at the end, don't you pretty much are left in media res at the end- like life is- it just keeps going and leaving you wondering if people will change or fall back into their habits.

I really enjoyed this book. It is not for the YA set or anyone sensitive to swearing, drugs or adult themes. It has some graphic details that cause a strong reaction. However, if you enjoy fiction that based on the stories of people and what makes them who they are, then you would probably enjoy it. If you are drawn to thrills, crime, horror, magic or constant action, this may not be the book for you.

So JK Rowling clearly stated that this would be nothing like the HP series. It was a book intended for adults.

I have to say that it took awhile to get into and towards the middle you understand why she decided to write it from everyones perspective vs just one character. You get a certian feel to what is happening in Pagford and a certian sense of dread with each of the characters and how the children plot their parents downfall. And it is a political book. I personally liked the last half of the book and wouldnt mind reading it again.

I couldn't finish it. I just could not for the life of me get into it. I knew not to expect Harry Potter, but I was expecting the literary "magic" (sorry for the crappy pun, I couldn't think of any other word) that Rowling created in HP that had me glued to the story on the first page, hungrily devouring every page until I was done, feeling stunned that the world had still revolved while I was lost in the book. This book did not do this at all for me.

I am a massive HP fan, huge, have travelled overseas to see the HP exhibition, have read the books too many times to count.

I LOVED the Casual Vacancy. Yes, completely different, but different does not have to mean bad. Personally, I have a very eclectic reading list, I love books from a wide range of genres/authors etc. I think if you preferred books within the children/teen section, or were more of a fantasy reader, then you would find it hard to get into something that is so starkly real.

This book engrossed me. As some have mentioned many of the characters are unlikeable, but they are also very real. I have worked within some of the poorer communities in the country I live in, and experienced people very similar to those in The Fields - and also those from Pagford. While some of the characters are exaggerations, some we will be able to relate to immediately - hopefully because of people we know rather than seeing ourselves within them.

I'm reading "The Casual Vacancy" at the moment. I'm about halfway through. If anyone has bought this book with Harry Potter in mind, they're in for a rude awakening. It's completely different.

"The Casual Vacancy" is often very cynical in its view of the people that feature in it, especially the adults. Most of them must be related to Vernon and Petunia Dursley.

I think it's a well-written novel (not a masterpiece) and I would certainly have bought it, if I wasn't familiar (call it over-familiar, I've read them several times) with the Harry Potter books.

Update (5 October):

I've finished the book and I must say I really liked it. It isn't the masterpiece that "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows" is, but it's a very well-written book. And like the Harry Potter series, Jo Rowling neatly ties up every loose end there is in the story. I enjoyed reading it!

I have just finished it. I too had to see for myself. Thank God for Harry Potter I say. I cannot in all honesty say I enjoyed it very much. I felt it lacked a lot of action that could have made quiet a good plot a very good read.

Not yet! But it's on its way here from B&N! I heard it's quite different from Harry Potter, very adult.

I read the first 20 pages or so and was completely disappointed and put off by all the foul language. Needless to say I could not finish the book.

The book is very far from ordinary - it's complex, harshly realistic, brilliantly written, with lots of heartbreaking ugly situations, demanding patience while reading, but still more than worth attention. Just keep it in mind, that it's not for relaxation or entertainment, it requires hard work, but I can't imagine not reading it.

I've read it. It's very adult in the sense that there's loads of swearing, sex, drugs etc. like Jo has tried too hard to distance it from the HP series. It was ok, as Luna says, it was exceptionally ordinary. As a fan of her, I had to see for myself, but I wouldn't have bought this book if someone else had written it, simple as that. Sorry Jo. :(