The Casual Vacancy spoiler-free review
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106nwingert
I got my copy of The Casual Vacancy yesterday, and spent several hours lat night reading.* I'm roughly 25-30% finished. Here are a few of my spoiler- free thoughts:
1. If this book was given a movie rating, it would be a R or NC-17. We saw Jo's language increase in Deathly Hallows due to the war nature of the book. This is Deathly Hallows on steroids, including anatomically-correct language.
2. I've found that some of the characters aren't relatable, unlike the characters in Harry Potter. I did, however, find a couple that reminds me of the Dursleys, although the father is a lot worse than Vernon.
3. The book has 503 pages. This is one of the books where there are smaller chapters, some even half a page long.
4. There are more popular culture references in this book than Harry Potter. Jo even cites Rhianna's "Umbrella." The only popular culture reference in Harry Potter was Dudley's Playstation.
*I pre-ordered the book on Amazon and paid for the express, 1 day delivery. I have an ereader, so don't ask why I didn't order the e-version of the book if I wanted it that quickly.
1. If this book was given a movie rating, it would be a R or NC-17. We saw Jo's language increase in Deathly Hallows due to the war nature of the book. This is Deathly Hallows on steroids, including anatomically-correct language.
2. I've found that some of the characters aren't relatable, unlike the characters in Harry Potter. I did, however, find a couple that reminds me of the Dursleys, although the father is a lot worse than Vernon.
3. The book has 503 pages. This is one of the books where there are smaller chapters, some even half a page long.
4. There are more popular culture references in this book than Harry Potter. Jo even cites Rhianna's "Umbrella." The only popular culture reference in Harry Potter was Dudley's Playstation.
*I pre-ordered the book on Amazon and paid for the express, 1 day delivery. I have an ereader, so don't ask why I didn't order the e-version of the book if I wanted it that quickly.
2littlegeek
I started it yesterday. So far, I'm having trouble keeping the characters straight because they're all kind of annoying muggles.
306nwingert
I just finished the book, and here are some--hopefully, spoiler-free-- thoughts:
1. Unlike the Potter series, where the character development is elongated, most of the characters in The Casual Vacancy are introduced very quickly. I had a hard time keeping each of them straight until I Googled the list of characters.
2. As sad as the deaths were in Potter, AK was a painless death. The deaths in this book are worse and painful.
3. While the comparisons to Potter are inevitable, I would compare this to a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy such as Antigone, Oedipus, Romeo and Juliet, or Macbeth.
4. The nature of the book is very different than Potter. Jo shows that she doesn't need our favorite wizard to write. What makes The Casual Vacancy special is that what happens to these characters can (and unfortunately does) happen everyday, somewhere in the world. She took real-world events and made them fictional.
1. Unlike the Potter series, where the character development is elongated, most of the characters in The Casual Vacancy are introduced very quickly. I had a hard time keeping each of them straight until I Googled the list of characters.
2. As sad as the deaths were in Potter, AK was a painless death. The deaths in this book are worse and painful.
3. While the comparisons to Potter are inevitable, I would compare this to a Greek or Shakespearian tragedy such as Antigone, Oedipus, Romeo and Juliet, or Macbeth.
4. The nature of the book is very different than Potter. Jo shows that she doesn't need our favorite wizard to write. What makes The Casual Vacancy special is that what happens to these characters can (and unfortunately does) happen everyday, somewhere in the world. She took real-world events and made them fictional.
6foggidawn
I have now finished it . . . do we want a spoiler-ful thread to accompany this one?
In the non-spoilery realm, I'll say that there were a lot of characters, and I also had a hard time keeping them (and their relationships with one another) straight at first, though by mid-book I had them pretty well sorted. It's also a very dark book, as I was expecting after hearing what other people had to say about it. It's not one that I want to own (I read a library copy), but I didn't hate it.
In the non-spoilery realm, I'll say that there were a lot of characters, and I also had a hard time keeping them (and their relationships with one another) straight at first, though by mid-book I had them pretty well sorted. It's also a very dark book, as I was expecting after hearing what other people had to say about it. It's not one that I want to own (I read a library copy), but I didn't hate it.
7littlegeek
I gave up about 1/2 way through. It's just too obvious who the good and bad guys are. That's ok for a children's book, but I expect more subtlety in an adult novel.
