The Casual Vacancy by J.K Rowling
I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. I have read the series thrice and surely think will read again and again in the years to come. I had put off watching the movies for quite sometime and watched them only in an attempt to get my son interested in reading the series. But that is another story.
When I heard that J K Rowling was coming up with a book on a completely different genre, to say I was intrigued would be an understatement. How could the creator of the world of Harry Potter think outside that world!!!
I felt the initial interest in the book would be because it was authored by J K Rowling. It might even make it to the best sellers list, but may still be a not-so-good book. So even when I had got hold of a copy, I pushed off reading it for a few months. I was both right and wrong. Right on understanding the initial interest and wrong to think that it could be a not-so-good book.
So, when I began to read it was with trepidation. And for a long time, hundred pages or so I was lost. A small village of Pagford with this petty politics and average characters. A bunch of kids, a few dysfunctional families and on and on in the same vein. I simply couldn't understand what the whole point of it was. I continued plodding maybe because I did not want to give up on her yet, or my nature to finish a bad movie or book till its end and pronounce it worthless, or she managed to hold the reader in some sublime way.
I do not understand at what point and how, but the story got under my skin. I kept thinking about Kristal and Andrew and Cubby and Kay. I panicked for Kristal when she felt trapped by her circumstances. It is very easy to denounce the addicts and their problems saying it was brought on by themselves. I wanted to hold Parminder by her shoulders and shake her "Look at your daughter!!!" I was completely puzzled with Stuart Walls' actions and never understood why he behaved like a prick.
I could go on and on, but will not summarise the plot here. But I will tell you this. This book makes you think. Think about others and their unique set of circumstances. It will make you pause before you get judgemental of your neighbour. It will make you understand that there is no clear line distinguishing the good and the bad. Its like a giant microscope on a small sample of the human race and shows what you see everywhere. Racism, drug abuse, bullying, the frustrations of the middle class, what obsessive compulsive disorder actually means, what really happens in an abusive household. You will relate these to things that you see around you. The book also shows hope and is not all gloom and doom.
I read in an interview of hers that the initial name of the book was to have been 'Responsibility'. But if you ask me, I would name it 'Empathy'. Or maybe that is my takeaway.
I rate it 4 out of 5 stars. It could easily have been 5 out of 5, but I really needed to plod on those first 100 pages with determination and that cost it one star.
I am a huge fan of the Harry Potter series. I have read the series thrice and surely think will read again and again in the years to come. I had put off watching the movies for quite sometime and watched them only in an attempt to get my son interested in reading the series. But that is another story.
When I heard that J K Rowling was coming up with a book on a completely different genre, to say I was intrigued would be an understatement. How could the creator of the world of Harry Potter think outside that world!!!
I felt the initial interest in the book would be because it was authored by J K Rowling. It might even make it to the best sellers list, but may still be a not-so-good book. So even when I had got hold of a copy, I pushed off reading it for a few months. I was both right and wrong. Right on understanding the initial interest and wrong to think that it could be a not-so-good book.
So, when I began to read it was with trepidation. And for a long time, hundred pages or so I was lost. A small village of Pagford with this petty politics and average characters. A bunch of kids, a few dysfunctional families and on and on in the same vein. I simply couldn't understand what the whole point of it was. I continued plodding maybe because I did not want to give up on her yet, or my nature to finish a bad movie or book till its end and pronounce it worthless, or she managed to hold the reader in some sublime way.
I do not understand at what point and how, but the story got under my skin. I kept thinking about Kristal and Andrew and Cubby and Kay. I panicked for Kristal when she felt trapped by her circumstances. It is very easy to denounce the addicts and their problems saying it was brought on by themselves. I wanted to hold Parminder by her shoulders and shake her "Look at your daughter!!!" I was completely puzzled with Stuart Walls' actions and never understood why he behaved like a prick.
I could go on and on, but will not summarise the plot here. But I will tell you this. This book makes you think. Think about others and their unique set of circumstances. It will make you pause before you get judgemental of your neighbour. It will make you understand that there is no clear line distinguishing the good and the bad. Its like a giant microscope on a small sample of the human race and shows what you see everywhere. Racism, drug abuse, bullying, the frustrations of the middle class, what obsessive compulsive disorder actually means, what really happens in an abusive household. You will relate these to things that you see around you. The book also shows hope and is not all gloom and doom.
I read in an interview of hers that the initial name of the book was to have been 'Responsibility'. But if you ask me, I would name it 'Empathy'. Or maybe that is my takeaway.
I rate it 4 out of 5 stars. It could easily have been 5 out of 5, but I really needed to plod on those first 100 pages with determination and that cost it one star.
