At risk of sounding like I indiscriminately adore every book I read, The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling is really quite fantastic. I've really been on a roll lately, choosing top notch books to read. This is the this book in a row that I can't say enough good things about.
I put a hold on this book at the library after learning J.K. had published her first post-Harry Potter novel. I was number 1043. I thought it would take forever, but it was only a few months and well worth the wait.
I was quite uncertainly if I would like the book, simply because I am such a fan of Harry Potter. How could it compare? Wait, why would it compare? This is a completely different literary offering by an excellent story teller. Plus, the books open with someone dying of a ruptured aneurysm. I was hooked quickly.
The Casual Vacancy is about a small fictitious* English town called Pagford, and how the character's lives are changes following the death of a respected citizen. At heart, I think the novel is about the difficulties of the separation of rich and poor. Who would want to live next to an impoverish area with drugs, crime and people on welfare? Certainly not the fine middle class people of Pagford. Unless, perhaps, they are socially responsible and might help?
It makes for a great book. If J.K. Rowling published a cake mix recipe, I would read it.
*well, nothing comes up on Google Maps.
Grade: A.
No comments:
Post a Comment