J. K. Rowling: Sluchaĭna︠i︡a vakansi︠i︡a (Russian language, 2013)
571 pages
Russian language
Published Nov. 8, 2013
When Barry Fairbrother dies unexpectedly in his early forties, the little 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 façade 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 town’s 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? Blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising, The Casual Vacancy is J.K. Rowling’s first novel for adults.
100 pages in, and I simply can't muster the excitement nor expectation that usually comes at the end of the night when I get to read before going to sleep.
Maybe I'll return later. Or maybe not; my bookshelves are awfully full of books with more promise.
Very engaging, well paced, well written--what can I say?
I read this in two shifts, because I couldn't finish it in my first three week loan period, and there was a long wait to get it back again. Still, I was able to pick up right where I left off. I had been so engaged by the story, that I had no trouble remembering the relationships of the characters and the story line. It probably could have been edited down a little, without diminishing our experience.
The relationships between friends, opponents, partners (romantic and business), parents/children, rich/poor were rich and realistic, as were the social and political aspects (for better or worse).
Much too long, much too slow, much too disappointing. There are many characters from whose side the story is told, except - there's not much of a story. A small tragedy in a small backward town, told with 400-odd pages long intro, so the final action feels really anti-climatic.
Sorry J.K., should've stuck with magic, drama turns to boredom under your pen!
