The Casual Vacancy

by J.K. Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty facade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils... Pagford is not what it first seems.

And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

A big novel about a small town, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling's first novel for adults. It is the work of a storyteller like no other.

• ISBN10: 0751552860
• ISBN13: 9780751552867
• Publish Date: 18 July 2013 (first published 1 January 2012)
• Publish Status: Active
• Out of Print: 11 March 2022
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
• Imprint: Sphere
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 576
• Language: English

Reviews

[layawaydragon]

For the record: Yes, I read the blurb and everything. I knew what I was getting into. I wasn't expecting magic but there was no spark either, it's just dull following around small petty people for no apparent reason.

Yes, I knew these weren't going to be good people going in but I couldn't get interested or invested.

It's all about small town politics in keeping or getting rid of the urban slums, The Fields, the nearby city has fostered on them. But why do I care? Why should I slog through this book?

It's not about the people living in the Fields. It's clear how horrible the people are to the inhabitants and will be if it stays but what if it goes to the city? Would it be better or worse? How can I (or anyone with any decency but whatever...) decide without knowing? It'd be a win for the elitist pricks but the city should have better resources, I hope? Could the people there pick which schools to go to maybe? But given the track record of cities...*sigh*

But no, it never crosses the minds of anyone. It's all about "principles" based on the stupidest things. It's like the one good guy (that's not so squeaky clean anyways) died and the town went down a level in hell.

And the passage about the middle class boy skipping class to slum it...ugh. Reminds me of Holden from Catcher in the Rye with all his talk of authenticity and I don't mean that in a good way.

Of course, I only made it to pg. 117. If it gets better, I dunno. I don't really care. Maybe I'll pick it up again if I'm in a "Hate myself and everyone sucks" mood.

[KitsuneBae]

Here's my review for The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling. You can visit my blog for the complete book review at: mylink text

Plot
I will be biased on this one. There are so many things in this world that I do not like and number five on that list is Politics. This is the primary reason why it took me 2 weeks to finish reading the book that could have been read for 2-3 days. While reading through the pages of TCV, I kept losing energy to scroll down to the next page. I admit that I was never a fan of politics and all I have for it is hatred.
Reading TCV was like walking in oblivion where you just give up trying to determine the kind of direction that you wanna go to. Perhaps I’m crazy or just plain old stupid but I failed to grasp the whole point of the book. So Barry Fairbrother, the old good Parish Councillor, died. And almost everyone developed self-interest on the vacancy his death had created. And a war between pro and anti-Barry and his ideals suddenly engulfed the little town of Pagford. Within the two warring camps, mini-wars are also been waged between married couples, parents and children, teenagers to teenagers, friends to friends, etc. In addition to that, there’s also rape, prostitution and poverty issues that need to be solved. There are a lot of conflicts in the book that while reading through it, you’ll just find yourself lost and had to make hasty reviews of the previous pages. In simpler words, there are a lot of conflicts in the book that failed to connect at the end.
For example, I could not quite fathom the necessity to kill Krystal Weedon (one of the important characters of the story) for something that is not related to the purpose of the book. The reason of her death was because of her own stupidity and selfishness and was not in any way related to the main conflict of the book. At the end of the story, it did not solve if Bellchapel clinic would remain to cater the rehabilitation of all drug abuser or if the Fields will be transferred to the jurisdiction of Yarvil. It did not even provide a clear solution whether her mother, Terri Weedon, had come to her senses and turned a new leaf from her heroin addiction. And most importantly, how was Krystal’s death impacted the local election of Pagford and the intentions of those people who are in the Parish Council Seats? Alas, there’s only a little impact.
And there was Miles, who finally won the election not because he was good but because he was just the winner of all losers who run for the casual vacancy. In the end, there was no mention what kind of steps he’ll be taking to improve the quality of living in Pagford and most importantly, did the events of the book changed his views on the Fields and Bellchapel Clinic?
There are so many things that I would like to question about TCV. About how some scenes were more like fillers than being essential to the portrayal of the whole plot. And as I am typing this review right at this moment, I am feeling the itch to delete the whole document because I could not even properly arrange my thoughts about the book. It was confusing, like a magic spell that gone haywire.
I suggest that if you want to know the whole story, please do the obvious and read it.

Characters
So after the plot disappointed me, I am in for another disappointment with the characters. There are so many of them that I failed to empathize with any of them. The characters were either shallow or self-centered or arrogant or just plain stupid. I do not even like Mary Fairbrother, who, even at the death of her husband remained unforgiving. Seriously, isn’t there someone on the book who has the slightest redeemable quality? The oldies were even annoying as the teens.
Sometimes, you love the book because of its plot eventhough the characters are so darn hateful. But TCV has neither plot nor characters to love about. Pagford is full of people who are self-righteous, self-centered, and arrogant. Thus, you wonder why that Pagford is still there and not crumbling into pieces.

Interaction and Dialogue
Well, the only redeemable thing about TCV is that I find the interactions and dialogue of the characters witty and funny. And eventhough, some of the dialogues weren’t the type to pass for an intelligent convo, it gave me this feel-good feeling. I guess I have to give JK Rowling the salute for always making conversations and interactions among characters interesting, funny and at the same time, sad.
I especially like the interactions between the Mollison family (Howard, Shirley, Miles, Samantha and well, Mo). And that of the Price family. The first family appeared to be united but on a deeper sense, they are very much divided. Like how Shirley disliked Sam and vice versa. Like how Sam disliked his own husband Miles. And who would ever forget about the Price family? The brutal, sadistic and stupid father Simon Price and his wife who stopped using her brains. And Andrew Price, the acne-faced son, who I’m not really sure if he is on her mother or father’s side.

Overall Impression
Because of the effort and the interesting dialogues, I give TCV three (3) stars. The book could have saved its face if:
a. The ending did not make us hanging on a cliffhanger.
b. The plot was not that complicated, having a lot of corners to turn and only to find out that it’s a dead end.
c. There’s one character that emerged a hero/heroine at the end. I don’t see Krystal or Sukvhinder or Arf or Price falling into that category.
d. The characters weren’t so many that while reading the book, you feel like you’re drowning from memorizing all the names of the character.

Moral Lesson of the Story
This is a new portion of my book review which I have forgotten to add into my previous reviews. As I have said in the “About Me” Section, there are no crap books. Critiquing a novel is always based on your personal opinion and is therefore, subjective. Aside from being a work of art, books are a great way to pick up moral lessons that in one way or another teach us something as we go on with life. No matter how frustrated I am with the book, there’s always the silver lining out there and that is, I will learn something from what I’ve read.
TCV is actually a perfect depiction of the “everything is connected to everything” concept. Our every action produces consequences that do not only affect us but also affect (directly or indirectly) everyone and everything around us. This teaches us to be always mindful of our actions and anticipate the likely consequences.
Second, TCV teaches us one of the most basic lessons in this world: the importance of the parents’ guidance on a growing child. In TCV, we saw how the little town of Pagford was rocked because of the actions of teenagers who were neglected and abused by their parents. Had they been treated with care and positively supported by their parents, things in Pagford could have happened differently… less trauma, no deaths and a better community.

[angelarenea9]

I was pleasantly surprises with how much I liked this book. It is not the type of book I generally like but I enjoyed the Harry Potter series so much that I wanted to give it a chance and I'm so glad that I did because this book was amazing. It was so insightful into the lives of suburban people and utterly unapologetic about it. Jk Rowling easily gets in the heads of an entire town and makes a wonderful statement about society. It was a beautifully written book that I recommend to any adult especially people who live or grew up in a small town. I don't recommend that children read this book though due to adult concepts and strong language.

[clementine]

Some things to get out of the way before my review:

1) This is not a Harry Potter book. Not even close. I know that seems obvious, but I've heard of a lot of people who are disappointed because it is absolutely nothing like the HP series. (Which, really, just shows Jo's versatility as a writer. Stop pigeonholing her, y'all. Yes, Harry Potter was awesome. That doesn't mean she needs to be tied to it forever.)
2) Some people may enjoy The Casual Vacancy better if they detach Jo from it. Judging from all the "SHE RUINED MY CHILDHOOD" posts, this is a problem for people. Personally I didn't have an issue with it, but I know some people might be shocked by it, so just, y'know, try to pretend.
3) This book is not for everyone. This is partially because, no matter how hard we try, we will always have high expectations and we will always be comparing it to HP. This is also because it's long, character-driven, and slow, which is absolutely not for everyone. Finally, it's, well, kind of gritty. It's explicit and vulgar and at times very painful.
4) I liked this book.

So, I do like character-driven books. A lot. In fact, if a book doesn't have characters that I can connect with and who feel realistic, there is an almost 100% chance that I will not love it, and that it will not stick with me. I like a good plot, but to me plot is secondary to characters. So, although The Casual Vacancy gets off to a rather meandering start - and doesn't get exciting until at least halfway through - I liked it.

Because the characters are real. Although I did a good job of not comparing to HP, this is definitely something I was expecting from Jo. Her characters in the Harry Potter series - particularly the later books - are spectacularly realistic: conflicted, flawed, complex. The characters in The Casual Vacancy are the same. Many, many, many of them aren't even likeable. I kept thinking that near the beginning of the book: I don't like any of these characters. This wasn't a criticism. I didn't need to like them. I just didn't.

A lot of the characters do redeem themselves, or at least command some shred of sympathy even though they're pretty heinous, but ultimately it didn't matter to me, because they were, to borrow Fats Wall's term, authentic.

I liked the premise. I liked the exploration of Barry Fairbrother's impact on the community, the ripple effect his death has on Pagford. I liked that, although the only character named in the summary is Barry, and although there multiple POVs, the central character to the story is really Krystal Weedon. Everything pivots on her. Without Barry, she is the center of the community, whether they know - or like - it or not.

I love Jo's writing. I know it's not for everybody, but I love it. It's generally quite unobtrusive, but occasionally she drops these amazing little bombs. I think my favourite was when she described Howard Mollison as "extravagantly obese". I liked that even though the book was told from many characters' POVs, the narration maintains a sort of distance that allows for a broader view at Pagford. And, as always, I loved the attention to deal: the stolen watch appearing at the end, that sort of thing.

My least favourite thing was the end, to be honest. It picked up there and got exciting - and the chain reaction was written beautifully - but it felt a bit too overdramatic to me. It was just too tragic. I didn't hate it, but I found it to be a bit much.

I actually went into this cautiously, and with deliberately lowered expectations, and I came out really enjoying it. It wasn't perfect, but it proves that Jo is certainly not a one-hit wonder, and that she can write whatever the hell she wants.

[tellemonstar]

Interesting. Not much of a resolution, really, but still very interesting - especially the last 200 pages.

[tweetybugshouse]

i could not get past the first part of this book it did not sit well with me or hold my interest.

[Stephanie]

Wow. Honestly, wow. I struggled through this book but just devoured the second half of it today. There are so many story lines and so much depth. This is a read that I think everyone needs to experience and judge for themselves.

The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling is a book that makes you work for the payoff. Through the first half of the book I was bored out of my mind but it’s freaking J K Rowling. I was waiting and waiting for things to get better. While the story line never really got better per se, my interest spiked immensely. The Casual Vacancy is a very serious book. It will make you think. It is so much more than a small town drama fiction novel. It’s publication in the US couldn’t have been more well timed. We face in a few weeks a big decision politically. The politics in The Casual Vacancy were centered around a low income development and the addiction clinic in a neighborhood between two small English towns.

The book is so much more than that. It isn’t boiled down to just politics. Rowling covers so much in her new novel that it’s almost enough to make your head spin. I do have to say that I’m happy to have checked the book out from our local library. I don’t know that it will be a book that I can ever read again but it is most assuredly a book I will be thinking about for years to come. If you decide to read this, you will need to invest some time because the first half of it is almost mind numbing with the tedium but the second half will blow you away.

I didn’t want to bring up Harry Potter because this is so clearly not in the same genre, but Rowling’s writing style shined through. The woman can write an ending. She brought every together so well at the end that she could have been concluding a great symphony. It was a beautiful, heart wrenching stroke of brilliance that you come to expect from J K Rowling.

[celinenyx]

We shouldn't be comparing The Casual Vacancy with J.K. Rowling's other work. We really shouldn't. But it's so hard not to.

The Casual Vacancy is a novel that explores the town of Pagford and its inhabitants. It follows several characters in their daily lives and in the struggle to fill the empty seat on the Pagford council.

I liked the book, and loved certain aspects of it. There is one thing we can all agree on though - Ms Rowling knows how to write. We can argue whether or not what she's writing about is all that interesting; but that woman knows how to put words on to paper and make them something more. I was glad to see that her language and her ironic humour (although very subtle in this novel) persists outside the Harry Potter series.

The Casual Vacancy shows the petty, mean, sadistic and sometimes plain weird nature of human beings. It shows how their surroundings can form a person into something against their nature. It shows how tragedies come to pass. It also shows redemption, but in a realistic way. Overall I think all it tries to do is show us these things, the difference between rich and poor, the pretentious and the drug-addicts. It doesn't form a judgement or condemnation - that's for the reader to decide.

The reason I'm not giving this five stars is because I believe The Casual Vacancy could have been more. It's a gripping story, yes. But I believe it could have been more extraordinary, more special, more something. Maybe Rowling will continue writing for an adult audience. If she did, I wouldn't mind. Once she gets some more practice I think her adult books can be absolutely wonderful, just as her Harry Potter books are.

[Chelsea]

I feel terrible rating a book written by J.K. Rowling less than 5 stars but I really didn't like this book.

First of all,l I have no idea what the plot was. The story just kept going on and on and I have no idea what happened. The climax sucked since it wasn't even exciting at all and the book just kinda ended. I had to force myself to continue reading because it was so boring. Maybe that's the point she was trying to put out there but it bored me to death. The book didn't have anything happy happen in it. What's the point of reading a book when it's just gonna depress me?

Secondly, I hate every single one of the characters. I understand she was trying to make them more human so we'd related to them but every character is stupid. Half of them are wimps that can't stand up to any body and the others think way too highly of themselves. None of the characters even liked the other characters.

So basically what I'm saying is I'm really disappointed in this book. I knew it would be way different from Harry Potter but if J.K. Rowling hadn't written this book I wouldn't have read it. If for some crazy reason I did pick it up to read there's no way I would have finished it. I think she needs to stick with children's books. It's more her style.

[clq]

The Casual Vacancy is a very brave book. One thing is to set out to write a "book for adults", but another is to write a book which so many people are bound to be looking for excuses to hate in a way which is this easy to hate. The immediate problem is that it quickly gets hard to keep up with. The reader is introduced to a very large number of characters without being given enough time to start caring about any of them. There is also a sense that Rowling is trying a bit too hard to demonstrate that she is, in fact, writing for adults. In the opening stages of the book I often thought it was gratuitous, and found myself thinking "This book contains adult content, and you want me to realise you aren't afraid of writing about sex and drugs. I get it. Now make it less pointless please."

One quickly realises that the underlying story itself isn't as important as the story of the individual characters, their lives, and their own personal situations. They all live in a small, relatively stable, boring-in-a-good-way community. The death of a popular local councillor nudges the community out of equilibrium, and slowly, like a planet nudged out of its orbit, it gradually comes closer to crashing and burning. The book conveys this sense of impending doom very well.

Despite that the books tries a bit too hard to be 'dark' in its opening stages, after a while it does get genuinely dark. It almost seems like Rowling did her best to include as many adult themes as possible, and the range of taboos and uncomfortable subject matter included in this one book is almost impressive. Unfortunately it sometimes gets a little too relentless. This isn't a comment on the content itself, I've read worse, but I think dark books are much better if they have an element of subtlety about them. Everything in this book is in your face, and very little is left to the imagination. This makes it a lot less disturbing and effective than it could have been if the reader had been forced to think a little more for themselves about the issues presented. I also don't think some more comic relief would have gone amiss. I don't mind having a book grind my face down in the mud, but it would be much more effective and uncomfortable if it had occasionally given me a breath of fresh air to remind me of what I've been missing.

I've seen some headlines complaining that this book is a socialist manifesto of sorts. While it does have an obvious moral message, I'd disagree that it is inherently political. The book does force the reader to confront a very wide range of issues that, for people with certain political persuasions, might be comfortable to forget about and ignore. This is another thing the books does very well, it sheds light on a lot of very tough issues without getting too preachy about them, and it presents them in a way which seems real and raw.

Despite this book's flaws, and there are a few, I still quite liked it. It is not by any means a bad book. The story goes on for longer than it needs to, but it never gets too boring, and the ending is good. It is, obviously, not a book I would be quick to recommend. This book deliberately sets out to offend, and keeps on doing it just in case you weren't offended the first times. There are also a few scenes that do get genuinely intense, not as many as there should be in a book like this, but enough to make it an uncomfortable read at times. Whether one would like The Casual Vacancy or not would depend on whether one likes disturbing, uncomfortable and offensive books. If one doesn't, there is no point in reading this book. If one does, there are better books out there, but this one is also worth a read.