GoodRead - The Casual Vacancy

I only finished this yesterday so am still in this weird haze of "Oh my God!" and "What the hell happened?" and "Why do I have this weird achy feeling in my chest, like when I finished Maggot Moon?" (not read that? *gasps* here's the review... then come back and we can talk...)

Right, before I go any further, I feel like I need to state the following: THIS IS NOT A HARRY POTTER NOVEL!!! If you think this is a "grown up" Harry Potter, then you better put the book down and move along. Also, this is an adult novel so the language used and the subject matters are only suitable for adults. So DON'T give this to your child! I will state this several times in this post, so you have been warned!

Right, ok. Still with us? Right, here we go...

The small county town of Pagford is in a state of shock when well-liked Parish Councillor Barry Fairbrother dies suddenly, leaving his seat on the Parish Council vacant. A Casual Vacancy. With the town secretly at war with itself, and with the hot topic for the Parish Council being the local council estate, The Fields, and the addiction clinic, the Bellchapel, the reader has to ask itself: is this seat worth it? And how well do we know our neighbours?

So, light reading, right? Wrong! This book tackles very dark issues - self-harm, domestic violence, rape, drug abuse, mental health, child neglect and poverty to name a few - and with there being swear words (oh, the SHOCK!), this isn't a light read. When you are going to read this, you are going to read something dark and quite dense.

Now, I completely get why some people have dislike this book. It is a marmite read. You're either going to love it or hate it. There's no middle ground about this!

Now, oddly, I liked this. This isn't my cup of tea in reading, but I enjoyed reading these characters. I found the novel very interesting. It felt like I was reading about the human nature. Why do we do the things we do? Why do we stay when the situation is so out of our control and, when it is, how do we get control back?

This also tackled the issue of responsibility. Who is responsible for those who are less fortunate than ourselves? And when do we realise our responsibilities? Early in the day, or until it is too late?

In my honest opinion, I found this book very dark and very dense (some people have compared this to a Charles Dickens novel - I can't say this as I haven't read any Dickens' novel). And yet, this is a very powerful novel (I read parts 6 and 7 with my hand over my mouth and, when I finished the book, chatting to my other half on the phone, trying to get over the horrible feeling that weighed down on my chest).

This won't be everyone's cup of tea. I say this to you so you can decide for yourselves. I am glad I read it as I think JK Rowling was very brave to write this. This won't suit everyone but, after a hugely successful series like Harry Potter, she wrote it anyway. And for that, I thank you. She has proven that she is not a "one series" wonder.

PS - if you haven't read my blog post about seeing JK Rowling live at the South Bank Centre in London, you can click here to read about it!

PPS - I never liked the Rihanna song Umbrella. And now, thanks to JK, I can never listen to it again without thinking of this book/one or two characters. Thanks, JK.

So, I Met JK Rowling Last Night...

I like that no matter how casually I title this, I feel like screaming, shouting, crying and in daze as I don't HONESTLY know if this has actually happened or if I dreamed it...

So, the short version. Me and my other half went to the South Bank Centre, met up with some book sellers and book bloggers, watched JK Rowling do two readings and answer some questions from the interviewer and the audience, then get my copy of the Casual Vacancy signed.

That is the short version. The long version is that my other half and I got there REALLY early (we got lost round London so we just decided to go there and get a coffee) and we bumped into two people who work in my local Waterstones (whose names I have COMPLETELY forgotten so for that, I am sorry and I will come in soon and buy something as an apologise!) who run their store's Twitter (@WatChelmsford). They've uploaded pics here so you can see who I met. It was a tad surreal as they went, out of nowhere, "Excuse me, are you Andrew?" and we chatted about me never tweeting the sentence "Am in @WatChelmsford, sneaking round the shelves!" EVER again. After that, I bumped into Leanne from District YA & her Mum (who is a lovely woman! She reads more books than I do!) and I met Daphne from Winged Reviews. I knew that Sarah from Hot Key Books was there (but never saw her). Later that evening (when the audience Q&A), I discovered that one of the editorial director from Leaky, Rosianna, was there and then, this morning, I discovered that one of my fave YouTuber Lex was there too.

I know that means nothing to you, but to me, this is HUGE!

Anyway, after this, we all went into the hall and sat in our seats. After a quick "Hello" from the South Bank Centre's Artistic Director who compared JK Rowling to Lady Gaga with the amount of buzz surrounding her and  her The Casual Vacancy, she introduced JK Rowling and her interviewer, Mark Lawson. When she came on stage, JK Rowling got a standing ovation! And she hadn't even said a word!

After that, JK Rowling (I know I write her name in full but I can't write "Jo". I can't!) read a brief section from the "Prologue", Mark asked her questions about the book, the characters and tackled the themes that are in the book such as death, morality and sikhism.

After this, the live web stream was turned off (highlights of the event is here [I can't embed it into the blog. Sorry]), JK did a second reading, which had several swear words in it (yes, this is an adult book and yes, a tiny part of me was overjoyed to hear JK Rowling swearing! I'm not sure why, but am sure most people wear shocked [I hope not though...]). Not sure what page it was but I will tweet it when I get there... And then, after that, questions were taken from the audience (I think it was meant to be taken from Twitter as well, but I can't remember if any were used). These questions ranged from advice about writing, death, if there were characters she liked and disliked. One person gave her a gift.

And then, the mad rush to get your copy signed. Oh dear Lord. The less I say about this, the better. I am not in a ranty mood. I won't go there. If you were there, you understand. If not, YOU GUYS COULD BREATH WITHOUT FEARING THAT YOU WOULD HIT SOMEONE! Anyway, after an hour (that's SHORT!) I got my copy of The Casual Vacancy signed. You couldn't take pics of JK Rowling (plus the only one I have on my photo makes her look like one of the faceless people from that Doctor Who episode, The Idiot's Lantern), you couldn't talk to her nor ask for a dedication. I was ok with that. I WAS GOING TO MET JK BLOODY ROWLING! And when she was signing my copy, all I could say was "Thank you." She said thank you back (*faints with delight*) and I went off bouncing, skipping and probably looking like a completely idiot. I smiled a lot that train journey home.

And still, it feels one very surreal moment...

Now, I know you guys are probably going "All you said was thank you?" and the answer is yes. That's all I could say. But within that, I wanted to thank for her making me fall in love in reading. I wanted to thank for making me want to write. I wanted to thank her for being my childhood and now really enter being an adult with this book (I giggled when I read the first swear word and howled with laughter when I read the word masturbation). Thank you was all I could say. There was nothing else to say to a woman who I see as one of my idols.

So, JK Rowling, if you are reading this (highly unlikely but you never know...) thank you.

(PS - for those of you wondering, I'm not far in. I only read up to page 27 yesterday [busy day] and am in no hurry to read this. I am going to take my time and savour it.)

(PPS - I have been told by Daphne from Winged Reviews that I was frighteningly calm while in line and then meeting JK Rowling. I have no idea why I was so calm. I think I must have gone into shock or something... Hence the whole "this is surreal" moments I'm having...)

The Casual Vacancy - Cover Revealed!

Earlier today (while I was attacking Zoe Marriott's Frostfire), Little Brown revealed what the cover of JK Rowling's first adult novel The Casual Vacancy would look like:

What do you guys think? Most of people's reactions on Twitter has been "It's a bit underwhelming". 

But I think that's the point. It has to be different from Harry Potter and this is different! Us Potterheads can't pick it apart looking for clues. This is the same reaction to when John Green revealed the cover for The Fault in Our Stars. And look at us now? We LOVE that book and we've grown to love the cover!

This is a grown-up cover for a grown-up book! And I like that! Bring on September! 

Also, more news has been revealed. Little Brown has confirmed that it will be 512 pages long (YEAH!) and the audiobook version will be read by Tom Hollander, who has been in two of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, Gosford Park, Pride and Prejudice with Keria Knightley and the BBC2 smash hit, Rev. 

Like I said before, BRING ON SEPTEMBER!

PS - While researching this article, I have been looking at the Autumn Catalogue for Little Brown this year. Shouldn't have done that! I now have a small list of books I want to read: Scott Mills autobiography, America Pacifica (which I actually have!), Will Young's autobiography, Judy Finnigan's debut novel and goodness knows how many from Atom... Plus with Miranda Hart's "autobiography" (I use the term loosely) being published by Hodder, I sense the latter part of this year and the beginning of 2013 to be a mix of YA fun to meaty "grown-up" reads. Sorry in advance! 

The Casual Vacancy

Little Brown has released information about JK Rowling's new book. It's gonna be called... THE CASUAL VACANCY and this is what the story is about, as revealed on the Little Brown website:

The Casual Vacancy

When Barry Fairweather 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 parish 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.

Little Brown, also, confirmed the international date of release - THURSDAY 27TH SEPTEMBER (so, I fear no midnight launches... *sigh*) - and the UK prices for hardback (£20.00), ebook (£11.99), audio download (£20.00) & CD (£30.00)

So, reactions? This is as far removed from Harry Potter and I love it! It's like The Archers, but darker! I CAN NOT WAIT!