Leaky’s Reactions and Thoughts on “The Casual Vacancy”

As we saw this past week, many reporters released opinions, statements, and reviews on The Casual Vacancy. All of these short evaluations were posted in one article. After reading J.K. Rowling’s new adult novel, we have put together our own compilation of short reviews for the novel.

Mel:
The thing that made the Harry Potter series so enjoyable and re-readable to me is the same thing that drives The Casual Vacancy: the characters. While not always likable, the characters in The Casual Vacancy are nuanced and fully three dimensional. Even if you find the idea of a small town election somewhat tedious (as I do) the well-conceived characters in this book compel you forward.

Catherine:
A depressing web of loveless characters that opens reader’s eyes to a blunt, crude reality, snuffs out all innocence, and leaves the audience with an irked daze and a vacancy in one’s heart where hope for humanity once resided. Despite some slow moments, and the tangled mess of trying to balance the lives of 16 different characters immediately in the first 50 pages, the interesting structure of the novel (divided into 7 parts, broken up by quotes and days) keeps the plot moving in such a way that I don’t believe this novel can be classified as “dull” any more than the plights of real life can be classified as dull. Rowling’s affluent writing style seeps through the novel so much that it truly does feel semi-biographical, especially through her complex characterization (which is especially noticeable in the teenage characters).