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The Casual Vacancy by J K Rowling - General discussion


Michelle

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I'm genuinely surprised this is attracting as much interest as it is.

 

Okay, so this is Rowling's first post-Potter novel that was always going to be hyped by the media, but it is also a completely different subject with no overlap,

 

I'm surprised so many people want to read it just because it is Rowling, who to my mind isn't that good a writer (she's not bad, she's just nothing special . . .).

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I think most of us did think she was a good writer though .. maybe not the best but enjoyable. I don't think it matters too much that it's a completely different subject, but it will be interesting to see how her writing comes across in an adult book. I think that's when minds will be made up .. maybe she's a one trick pony .. we'll have to see.

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I'm surprised so many people want to read it just because it is Rowling, who to my mind isn't that good a writer (she's not bad, she's just nothing special . . .).

 

Not a great writer, but good enough, and a cracking storyteller. That's why I'll be reading.

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Her plotting is good and in the Harry Potter books she created a wonderfully detailed world, but her execution of the story was poor in places (often when it mattered most) and the amount of repetition in her writing is terrible.

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Wow its expensive, even for Swedish standards. I think I will wait until it begins to pop up in second hand stores and that just might take a while. Particularly if I want a English copy it might take forever.

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  • 2 months later...

Watched Jo in a documentary about it this evening .. she read five extracts and talked quite extensively about it. I'm not sure .. obviously you can't just go on that but it didn't set me alight with anticipation. I will probably borrow it from the library still, but that might change also once I've read some reviews on here .. I was expecting .. more :D

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From The Bookseller...

 

 

So.. who's going to buy this one? If so, is it because of the author, or the book? And would you pay that much?!

 

I saw a recent interview with her about the book and she describes is as a dark comedy. I'm not sure about this one yet, I will be waiting for reviews first. She mentioned it has things like depression, death, cutting, abuse and I can't seem to find that funny or how you could adapt that to a comedy.

I do have an open mind about the book and will sit on it for a few weeks.

 

I will give her a try. Well, she can't be glued to Harry's robes for all her career, can she? Maybe the book won't be published in Italy, though. We miss so much down here.. :cry:

 

I agree, I wish there would be more Harry Potter books. I wish she would just keep writing about them and having movies to go with it. :)

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Watched Jo in a documentary about it this evening .. she read five extracts and talked quite extensively about it. I'm not sure .. obviously you can't just go on that but it didn't set me alight with anticipation. I will probably borrow it from the library still, but that might change also once I've read some reviews on here .. I was expecting .. more :D

 

I watched that too. I'm less inclined to bother now, if I'm honest. I am interested in what she has written, and want to make up my own mind about it rather than rely on other reviews, but it didn't really sound like me cup of tea.

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Someone linked me earlier to a photocopy of the first page. I read it and I admit it wasn't as bad as I was expecting it to be. I am quite interested now in reading it but I think I'm going to wait a bit to see peoples opinions on it and maybe for the price to come down a bit as well :o !

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I watched that too. I'm less inclined to bother now, if I'm honest. I am interested in what she has written, and want to make up my own mind about it rather than rely on other reviews, but it didn't really sound like me cup of tea.

 

I watched that too and I think I am more inclined to read it now.

 

I have decided that I will read it sooner or later and now would like to read it sooner while that interview is still fresh in my memory.

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Read a review of it in The Guardian this morning and although I'm much more inclined to make up my own opinion, nothing about it has interested me so far. Aside from the mixed-reviews, that aren't that important, I don't find the plot interesting at all. :mellow:

 

I'll perhaps get it at a later date but won't rush out in the next few days.

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I have downloaded the sample to my Kindle.

 

Due to (presumably) the publishers setting the prices, it currently has an average 2 star rating on Amazon as about 20 reviewers have given it 1 star due to the fact that the Kindle version is £2.99 more expensive than the actual hardback. It's unfair on Rowling as this has reflected on the book when those giving it 1 star haven't even read it. :rolleyes:

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Doesn't sound that exciting. But thinking about it I reckon JK should have published under a pseudonym. The publishers have taken advantage to hoyk the prices up just because of her name, that's not her fault, and the critics were always bound to want to savage her anyway.

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Harry Potter was critic-proof come the end; it would have sold stupid numbers even if JK had made a complete hash of it. Now Rowling doesn't have the Boy Potter shield anymore I get a sense that the gloves are off and some of the critics are taking pot shots just because her previous work was so phenomenally successful.

 

I also like the way some of the papers seem to be horrified (in a typically middle class way) that Rowling knows about sex and swear words.

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I also like the way some of the papers seem to be horrified (in a typically middle class way) that Rowling knows about sex and swear words.

Does she? :o .. Lord! :D

 

Actually she said a few last night .. or one anyway .. and I nearly fell off my chair. I'm so used to hearing her read out extracts from HP .. it seemed weird .. like hearing my Mum say it :D

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Will be interesting to see what people make of this. It is a good test of her skills as an author, and quite brave as well because I have no doubt that if she wrote another child/family book then most HP fans wouldn't hesitate to buy it. Lets just hope she hasn't shot herself in the foot.

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