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  • The Casual Vacancy

  • By: J.K. Rowling
  • Narrated by: Tom Hollander
  • Length: 17 hrs and 50 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (3,111 ratings)
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The Casual Vacancy cover art

The Casual Vacancy

By: J.K. Rowling
Narrated by: Tom Hollander
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Summary

Shortlisted for: UK Author of the year – Specsavers National Book Awards 2012

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early 40s, 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.

©2012 J.K. Rowling (P)2012 Hachette Digital

What listeners say about The Casual Vacancy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,631
  • 4 Stars
    757
  • 3 Stars
    372
  • 2 Stars
    182
  • 1 Stars
    169
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,605
  • 4 Stars
    515
  • 3 Stars
    179
  • 2 Stars
    52
  • 1 Stars
    44
Story
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    1,324
  • 4 Stars
    539
  • 3 Stars
    274
  • 2 Stars
    134
  • 1 Stars
    121

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Stick with it

Like some of the longer Harry Potter books, I found this a bit ponderous at first. But the characters, humour and the fantastic way J K Rowling has of drawing things together made for a final 3rd as addicting as any of her previous work. I greatly enjoyed Tom Hollanders reading and accents too. So stick with it if the first downloadable chunk doesn't grab you. I was very glad I did, this is the best book I have listened to this year.

I was sad to hear that some quarters of the Sikh community have been critical of the portrayal of one of the teenage characters. The same advice applies here too, stick with it - I think the treatment of Sikhism is actually very positive.

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72 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

'The book to listen to'.

A five star book with a 10 star narrator, well done Tom Hollander, you made a great book even better.

I have read so many reviews and as usual they are very mixed, all I can add as both a parent and a 'foster carer' this book is so true to life it will hopefully open peoples eyes to the reality of life for so many kids whatever class or creed they come from. We neglect our children at our peril, thank you

for pointing this out to the vast majority that hide their heads in the sand.

This book will be around for a long time to come.

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49 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Read!

I don't probably have to comment on the mastery of the undisputed "Queen" of fiction's ability. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece. But, here, my comment is on the narration and the narrator. Tom Hollander is just the icing on the cake crafted by Rowling. His reading is wonderful, a la-carte, music to the ears. I hope all narrators use this as a "classroom" lesson on narration. I am glad Audible has added this to their collection (I am sure they would not have missed). For the first time I felt listening to the book is better! Highly recommend. Although I must say, I did not see the point in so much swearing, was it a necessity or somebody out there was trying to prove a point?

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41 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

Mixed feelings for a book with high expectations

A Review by the Audible Staff Book Club:
About the book:

The Casual Vacancy really got us talking, we were expecting a lot from Rowling, and had mixed opinions about the results. Set in a small town, peopled with a large cast of not-terribly-likeable characters, we thought the world she created was detailed but unforgiving. Unlike Harry Potter, where her world could be fantastical and wonder-ful, Pagford was realistic, almost brutally so. We all agreed that while JK Rowling is a good prose writer, the size of the cast, though interesting individually, made the thread of the story a bit difficult to follow in audio. As she was so detailed about painting the picture of the individual lives in this small town, we felt like the action dragged somewhat, and all felt like it was a long slog. Rowling’s observations were brilliant, we agreed that she can hit the spot with a poignant one-liner, but overall we felt the book itself - if not by Rowling - would be deemed by many more as mid-tier – nothing extra special or out of the ordinary.

Narrator:

All of us were initially surprised that the narrator was male, though we discussed whether he was chosen as the voice of Barry Fairbrother… Our general opinion of Tom Hollander was that he did a good job, especially as we felt the characters as written were a little caricatured. He did not fall into the trap of performing stereotypes, especially in regards to female characters - always difficult for the opposite sex to strike the right balance. If we were able to rate separately for narrator, he would have got 4 stars.

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37 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic Read!

I don't probably have to comment on the mastery of the undisputed "Queen" of fiction's ability. This is undoubtedly a masterpiece. But, here, my comment is on the narration and the narrator. Tom Hollander is just the icing on the cake crafted by Rowling. His reading is wonderful, a la-carte, music to the ears. I hope all narrators use this as a "classroom" lesson on narration. I am glad Audible has added this to their collection (I am sure they would not have missed). For the first time I felt listening to the book is better! Highly recommend. Although I must say, I did not see the point in so much swearing, was it a necessity or somebody out there was trying to prove a point?

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22 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Couldn't finish it..

Persevered but failed to finish. Brilliantly read but the story was just too slow and lacklustre. However Galbraith I love.

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18 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Not engaging

As a definite fan of Jk Rowling I am disappointed that I cannot give this a better review. I was tempted to stop listening but am struggling through. After listening to the first two downloads I have not gained an affection for any of the characters, there is an imbalance of selfish and unpleasant people that makes me mentally switch off as I'm listening to it and I have to keep reversing back. It has been widely publicised that this book has bad language in it, but I have come to the conclusion that it is more unpleasant to listen to the bad language than to read it as written word... There is no skimming the foul tirades when it's narrated. The narration is good and there is no question that the characters are brought to life... I just don't particularly appreciate having them in my home!

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17 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Kill me now

Oh my god after I finished this I felt like a dementor had sucked all the happiness out of me. There was no ray of hope or light in this at all. Totally negative with unlikeable despicable weak characters. J.K Rowling needs some serious therapy if this is what inside her head is like.

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

she's lost none of her touch

You couldn't get further away from Hogwarts if you tried, yet the same strain of storytelling genius runs through-that's about the only similarity I can find. JK could have easily decided to hang up her typewriter forever and rest on her HP laurels-good for us she didn't. This woman can't half tell a yarn.

Mills and Boon this isn't-I'd be putting at least a 15+ rating on this book.

Hope she's started the next one.



btw, really surprised about the number of one star reviews-maybe they're from people who are struggling with the book because they haven't seen the film yet?

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Well obviously it was going to be competent

I've just read the review in the Guardian by Theo Talt, who coined the phrase 'Mugglemarch.' I had almost thought of that myself, and boy I wish I had. But George Elliot had kind eyes for some of her players and I could sympathise with Dorothea and Dr Lydgate, and (call me sentimental) I have to be able to love some of the characters in a novel, to find it worthwhile. Who is there to love in Pagford? So is JKR saying we are all selfish beyond redemption, get real? Please give me nobility in the novels I read, even if it does not exist in REAL life. But, to be fair, didn't put it down except to eat.

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13 people found this helpful