When the Harry Potter phenomenon began
a few years ago, it took me a bit longer to finally commit to
reading the books.
I ultimately did and went to see the movies.
To date, I have read the books a few times and
have seen the movies more times than I care to admit.
These belong to DD...
So....
when talk of a "new" J.K. Rowling book was in the works,
we (DD and I) were anxious to read it.
It was promoted as an adult book with adult themes...
Well, unfortunately, not one that my DD (26yo)
can or would recommend.
She started reading it before me...
read about 70 pages...
and said...
"Where's the receipt for this book?"
It was returned for a refund.
And here are DDs thoughts...
"The Casual Vacancy" begins with the sudden death of Pagford town council member Barry Fairweather. What follows are no less than 50 pages of reactions to his death from a myriad of characters... so many that it was hard to keep track of them all, let alone maintain interest in any of them. Most of these characters were unlikeable from the start, and then came the jarring fits of coarse language and sex scenes which accomplished nothing in moving the (boring) story along.
It brought to mind one of the mantras of some NaNoWriMo
(National Novel Writing Month, the goal of which is to write
a 50,000 word novella in November) participants:
If you can't think of a plot, write porn!
(Maybe that's why I've never won.)
Why J.K.--who brought us the imaginative world of Harry Potter, with its Tri-Wizard Tournament, quidditch, and one of the most frightening adversaries of modern fiction--felt it necessary to tell this story with such foul language and descriptive sexual encounters (among teenagers, even) in order to make this book "adult" I just do not understand.
Harry Potter is beloved by children and adults alike, because its themes of sacrificial love, friendship, courage, perseverance, and to paraphrase Dumbledore "choosing to do what is right, rather than what is easy," resonate with people regardless of age.
I had high hopes for "The Casual Vacancy;" perhaps that is why I was so disappointed with it. I expected to find the wit, humor, and depth that J.K. has certainly proven herself capable of;
but sadly, this book possesses none of the magic that made
Harry Potter so special. This is one vacancy that will,
for the time being, remain empty.
Well, then... on a lighter note,
and if your still with me...
the Wicked Blog Hop continues.
Get yourself a cuppa tea and,
here, have a cookie... these are "wicked good."
for being our hostess, and to
our cheerleader-in-residence,
Witchy Wednesday,
October 24th
Have a great Wednesday,
Karen
