JK Rowling's new book 'The Casual Vacancy' - "Yay!" or "Meh!"

[Minty]

So the wait is finally over and Jakey has announced her new book now she's finally finished milking the Potter cash cow to death the final perfected draft.

According to the blurb, it will be a “blackly comic tale that is thought provoking and constantly surprising” that will centre around the death of villager Barry Fairweather that leaves the seemingly perfect village of Pagford shocked, with the by-election for his council election seat tearing the place apart.

(Start the betting now on who will be the first Simmer to make a Pagford world: 2/1 - Rflong7; 5/1 - Conorsim; 10/1 - Johnnywr; 20/1 Bobblebean and Quailhogs; 50/1 Bar!)

Much as it sounds interesting, I'll be interested in how she makes a Parish council by-election so fraught. Most Parish councils struggle to get people to stand for them (even though they do very little anyway). It used to be a familiar tactic of the local press on the behalf of a local parish council leader to run a scare story at election times about communist or fascist candidates being rumoured to be putting their names forward, or getting the local member of the Official Monster Raving Loony Party to stand so that everyone would be terrified into standing to stop them.

My guess is that the unfortunate Barry Fairweather will have been vetoing some sort of piece of planning permission or sale of common ground that was the Parish Council's responsibility - it would be the most likely cause for a murder and for a bitterly contested by-election. One of the only times parish council elections ever become hotbeds of political intrigue and fighting is when land under its control is sold off and everyone starts fighting about what to do with the windfall (usually with people trying to find ways to put it into their own pockets!)

[bobert26]

I think it'll be interesting, I'm sure she'll sell millions of copies regardless of whether it's good or not. But it's been five years since DH, I guess that's a lot of time for her writing to develop and change?

I have no idea what the second part of you post is on about, haha, local politics?

[Minty]

(16-04-2012 09:40 AM)bobert26 Wrote:  I have no idea what the second part of you post is on about, haha, local politics?

Welcome back Bobert after a long lay off - how's life treating the happy wanderer?

Just trying to second guess how the plot will go, as Parish Councils are a load of old crap. They look after village/community halls and some minor local matters, but in reality they're not real councils at all - they call them that so they can get those wanting to feel self-important to join them and do all the crappy jobs no one else in the area wants to. Most Parish Councils don't have by-elections, they have problems filling the 12 council seats they have - or getting anyone to vote in them!

There's been a scoop in one of the newspapers up here today about there being a village of Pagford in someone else's murder mysteries, that of the character Harriet Vane by Dorothy Sayers.

Oh dear, don't tell me she's been caught out ripping someone else off again? It was bad enough with all the "Harry Potter = The Worst Witch + Narnia + Red Dwarf" sites her lawyers had to get taken down!

[bobert26]

Oh, ok, I understand, haha! Well that all sounds a bit boring, really.

Anyway, thanks, i'd been checking back every now and then on my iPod, but it would never let me post. But I think I've figured it out now!

[gothika]

I am really excited! I can't wait, and will defiantly be reading it as soon as I can get my hands on it. And if I have time during college. I will be comparing it to Harry Potter in terms of writing style and potential. Of course the plot and all that will be vastly different, the craftsmenship hopefully won't. I hope people don't love it just cause its J.K Rowling. I hope people see the potential in the story itself. It's a pretty interesting plot. So really excited


(P.S. I'll try to be on more. Sorry!)

[breebree711]

Well, I think it's ironic... Barry :')

I'm definitely going to read it, however, I'm a little frightened it'll be something I have to really get into before I like it. Because with HP, I was in love after the first page!

And she's also writing a Harry Potter encyclopedia, and all that money goes to charity!

(and she's not done milking HP... Pottermore )