Monthly Monday: The Casual Vacancy Book Review

J.K. Rowling's new adult novel The Casual Vacancy is in another world, much like, but much different from Harry Potter. I am here to write a review. And I am here to compare the two. Because that's what people do. They see Vacancy and they are like, "Whoa!" because it's written by Rowling who wrote Harry Potter, and Harry Potter readers are like "I MUST COMPARE."

But I? I decided to read this novel because, while yes I have read Harry Potter, I think that J.K. Rowling is a brilliant author and did not doubt that she could write another amazing book, even if it is for adults rather than young readers.

Let's start with how this novel is different. It is for ADULTS. If it was a movie it would be rated NC-17. If the movie didn't show sex and rape scenes, that would bring it down to R due to language, violence, sexual themes, drug use... But it would never be PG. And it would never be G. Because it is a book, I wouldn't suggest this book, with all of its themes, to anyone under... hmm... 16? I think 16 is a good number. Would I have read this before 16? Perhaps. But would I want my 14 year old child reading this book. Heck-to-the-NO.

This novel is different in MANY, MANY ways, so to be brief, I will talk about how it is similar. Rowling no doubt has a love for children. Based on her Harry Potter series, how could anyone doubt? There is something so great about Harry Potter that, while aimed at young readers, it is a series that appeals to adults as well. In the case of Vacancy, Rowling's love of children still shines through. She has aimed this book at the adult eye, but her use of children and their points of view, although adolescent, are important to both themes and plot. Sometimes the portions from the children's perspectives seem more human than those from the adults.

Plot-wise, Vacancy is about a town stuck in a political struggle during the time of an important council member's death. Vacancy contains heavy political material sewn into the fabric of monotonous, small town, England life. And within this small English town there are lives interconnected in a myriad of ways, whether it be by the politics, or the neighborhoods, or the schools, or the children. There are so many stories going on at once, and Rowling does not make them hard to follow. There are tens of characters from whom perspectives are shown, and even then you are not lost.

How is this book in another world? Well, it is very much like our own but fictitious. It is very real. Very post-modern. With Harry Potter, Rowling stood among the C.S. Lewis's and the Tolkiens. With  Vacancy Rowling now stands alongside the likes of the DeLillos and the McCarthy's. She is an author without exceptional limits. Arguably, J.K. Rowling is the greatest author of our time.