Considered as one of the most anticipated
and sought after book of the year, the first adult novel of JK Rowling revolves
around a casual vacancy brought about by the death of Parish councilor Barry
Fairbrother. The conflicts caused by his demise. To the council. To the
community. To the families. To the people. To their selves.
Characters: 5/5
The best part of this novel (for me) is the
characters. I have always been amazed by how JK Rowling come up with her characters.
Especially in this book. The characters are very--human--there is just no other
word to describe them. The characters are the type of people whom you meet on a
regular basis. I don't know why, but it was the characters that made me love
the book. I enjoyed putting my feet into their shoes...and trying to think the
way they do.
Almost all of the characters left a mark on
my head. Which doesn't usually happen. I tend to forget most of a book's
character the moment I finish reading. But this one, is different. Even Pat,
who only made what seemed to me a cameo, was very...uhm, remarkable.
But my most favorite character of them all
was Parminder. Maybe because I find her lucky because she was Vikram's wife.
No, seriously, I really did admire her...along with Samantha. Samantha may be a
bit...I dunno...off, maybe. I like her because I thought she was smart even at
the early part of the book.
Story/Plot: 4/5
When JK Rowling wrote the Harry Potter
series, she brought us AWAY from reality. It was a get away for all of us. But
when she wrote The Casual Vacancy, she brought REALITY in our door step and
slapped us with it.
Truth is, what I liked about the story was
that IT was something that could happen to anybody, or it might be even
happening to yourself. While reading it, I didn't think that JK Rowling was
trying to make a statement, she was simply telling us a story in that detached
tone of her. And afterwards, I just realized that she talked about a lot of
social, moral, and personal issues we all have.
Another thing I liked about it is the
unobvious distinction between the protagonists and the villains. In fact, I
don't think there were any good or evil sides at all. Only humans. Humans who
are capable of doing good or evil depending on their principle, their belief,
their situations. It's up to us, readers, to decide on who's side are we on. I
like it that we are given that choice.
Entertainment: 3/5
Wondering why I gave it a 3 when I'm
obviously smitten by it? Simply because it's an adult novel and it IS given
that in every adult novel there are at least a few parts in it where you find
it dragging...quite boring, actually--to read. It's one of those things. Rule
of the universe or something. But aside from that, I'm happy with the book. The
time spent reading it was definitely worth it.
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