The Casual Vacancy

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.

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.

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.

I was intrigued all the way through by both the writer and the reader. Totally amazing story-line, so believable and precise. Anyone who rejects this book obviously knows nothing about real life. its wonderful to see that Ms Rowling can switch her imagination so far across the border to design a book with so many real life issues too!

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?

If you read anything by JK, just because she wrote it, then I'm sure you'll enjoy it. I don't regret listening to it, but I wouldn't listen twice. It was ok, but from her, I would have hoped for better.

(It's most definitely NOT for kids)

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?

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?

A fantastic story with wonderful characters. I finished it last night and now I miss Pagford.

I love the multiple perspectives we get from all the interrelated characters. In this respect it reminds me a little bit of Irving Welsh novels, but it is not as brutal.



Tom Hollander is the very best narrator I've listened to. More from him please!

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.