Yes, I picked it up because it’s by the Harry Potter lady; but it’s hard to imagine how a book could be further away from Harry Potter. This is an ultra-realist novel for adults. By ultra-realist, I mean that not only are there no magical or science fictional elements. There aren’t even any implausible elements or plot devices. (OK, maybe one involving some SQL injection, but it at least falls into the realm of the possible.) That is, this is a book about people who behave pretty much exactly like real people do; no heroes or villains here, though there are more and less likeable characters.
If Rowling’s name were not on the cover, I doubt anyone would ever have suspected this book was by her. It really is that different. The language is different. The point of view is different (third person omniscient instead of Harry Potter’s less common third person limited omniscient view). The novel is far more character driven than the plot-centric Harry Potter novels. There are no big reversals where you discover the good guy is the bad guy and the bad guy is the good guy. (This would be quite hard to pull off in third person omniscient, in any case.)
However, there is one thing that really stands out; and both connects this novel to Rowling, and distinguishes it from most other fiction including the Harry Potter novels. The children are equally well-drawn as characters, and equally important to the story as the adults. Although this is an adult novel, it is not one that makes the mistake of treating children as set dressing. The children here are real and significant. In LessWrong speak, everyone’s a PC. There are no NPCs. Most adult novels ignore children. Most children’s novels ignore adults. It is rare to find a novel that treats both children and adults as characters in their own right.
There’s some overlap with Harry Potter, but it’s not obvious. One thing is that the last HP novel was naturalistic in the sense of having a lot of wandering around in the woods and (if I recall correctly) bickering.
Another is that HP shows a lot of mistrust of institutions. Personal loyalty in small groups takes up the slack. In A Casual Vacancy, the one person who’s maintaining loyalty in a small town dies, and we see the consequences of a moral keystone being taken away.
The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling.
Yes, I picked it up because it’s by the Harry Potter lady; but it’s hard to imagine how a book could be further away from Harry Potter. This is an ultra-realist novel for adults. By ultra-realist, I mean that not only are there no magical or science fictional elements. There aren’t even any implausible elements or plot devices. (OK, maybe one involving some SQL injection, but it at least falls into the realm of the possible.) That is, this is a book about people who behave pretty much exactly like real people do; no heroes or villains here, though there are more and less likeable characters.
If Rowling’s name were not on the cover, I doubt anyone would ever have suspected this book was by her. It really is that different. The language is different. The point of view is different (third person omniscient instead of Harry Potter’s less common third person limited omniscient view). The novel is far more character driven than the plot-centric Harry Potter novels. There are no big reversals where you discover the good guy is the bad guy and the bad guy is the good guy. (This would be quite hard to pull off in third person omniscient, in any case.)
However, there is one thing that really stands out; and both connects this novel to Rowling, and distinguishes it from most other fiction including the Harry Potter novels. The children are equally well-drawn as characters, and equally important to the story as the adults. Although this is an adult novel, it is not one that makes the mistake of treating children as set dressing. The children here are real and significant. In LessWrong speak, everyone’s a PC. There are no NPCs. Most adult novels ignore children. Most children’s novels ignore adults. It is rare to find a novel that treats both children and adults as characters in their own right.
There’s some overlap with Harry Potter, but it’s not obvious. One thing is that the last HP novel was naturalistic in the sense of having a lot of wandering around in the woods and (if I recall correctly) bickering.
Another is that HP shows a lot of mistrust of institutions. Personal loyalty in small groups takes up the slack. In A Casual Vacancy, the one person who’s maintaining loyalty in a small town dies, and we see the consequences of a moral keystone being taken away.