The Dursleyville Tales
Oct. 4th, 2012 12:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
therealsnapeI've read JKR's A Casual Vacancy by now, and I must say it strongly reminds me of a great scene in the British sitcom Chef, in which the main character gets a letter of application from a man he knew a long time ago. He says, "Well, I never. Gaston Leroux. That brings back memories. Gaston Leroux, fancy that." He shakes his head, looks at the letter again, and says, "Gaston Leroux!"
At which point his exasperated wife says, "Well, we've established the name of the main character. Personally, I could do with a good chunk of narrative at this stage."
So could I, halfway through.
The description of the book as given by the publisher is,
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 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?
Well, we do get everyone being at war with everyone. The story of the local election, however, is rather a non-event. As is only to be expected: we're talking about a small village, too small for a proper mayor, that still boasts a 16 people strong parish council(?). The election of a new council member should barely cause a ripple.
In order to get some sort of election-related plot, JKR lets the website of the parish council be hacked. The messages that appear after the hacking are entertaining and cause great unease in those concerned. But while the first post is believable, the second one is highly unlikely, and number three is a laughable repetition of events.
What do we get then, instead of the election fraught with passion? We get Austen's idea of "three or four families in a country setting". Unfortunately, there's hardly a character we can like in these books. JKR disapproves of the adults especially. The white-and-affluent are Petunia and Vernon all over, including Vernon's bulk and Petunia's avoidance of everything that isn't 'a nice topic'.
The white-with-caring-profession (a social worker, a remedial teacher, a nurse) are meant to be sympathetic, but each suffers from a complete inability to take action or even to see that action may be desirable. The nurse stays with an abusive husband; the teacher's husband has a 'hidden secret' that affects his family; the social worker uproots her daughter so that she herself can live in the same town as her blatantly-uninterested committophobe of a lover.
And the problems in all of these households are, understandably, kept away from the beautiful, cobbled, hanging-basket-lined streets of Pagford. They are, therefore, secrets. We all get this; there's no need to label them as 'hidden secrets' quite so often. It's not just repetitive, it's a pleonasm.
The Sikh family fares best: both parents are doctors, and they clearly have a well-ordered and supportive household - except in the case of the youngest child, who gets a Lady Edith-like treatment.
In all cases the children suffer, and it's in the description of the teenagers in the book that JKR comes into her own. Theirs are by far the best bits. She does a truly excellent job in getting into the teens' minds and showing the what and how of their feelings and actions.
Here the portrayal is carefully nuanced, too. We see Fats, the nastiest of the lot, through the eyes of a girl he torments and despise him for it. But we also see him through the eyes of the boy who has been his best friend since they were four, and who begins to dislike him but is still fiercely loyal. And we see the bully's own POV, too. He doesn't think himself a shit, and JKR gives a great portrayal of a boy who finds a truth with which we can sympathise (especially in this boy's case), and then he carries it to extremes and is incapable to see any grey areas.
The portrayal of Andrew, with all his teenage insecurities, his hopeless and enormous crush on beautiful Gaia, his loyalty to his friend, and his highly-abusive father with whom he deals as well as he can, is in my opinion one of the highlights of the book.
The teenagers save the day and make the book worth reading. Even though, occasionally, JKR runs away with over-elaborate metaphors and images the teenagers themselves couldn't possibly come up with. The miraculously unguarded vagina about which there was so much talk in advance? It's a thought of a sixteen-year-old lad, or so we're supposed to believe.
The adults, unfortunately, aren't likeable enough to care about them - not even the ones we're supposed to like. And JKR does not have Austen's skills to create a Lady Catherine, a Mrs Bennet, or a Mr Collins, who are both repulsive and marvellously entertaining.
There is, however, a walk-on for a lesbian character. Who uses the word lesbian. And drives a beautiful BMW and makes twice as much as her hypocrite of a brother. And who is likeable.
When it comes to the depiction of social ills, the story exudes an unutterable bleakness. The most hopeful cases are the Pakistani Lady Edith and Fats the Bully - it looks as if for them things may improve. But the abusive father will continue (and the depiction of the family suffering from this tyrant is chilling - this is how these things must happen. In seemingly 'proper' families.)
As for the lower classes who inhabit the council house estate - they are despised by the horribly snobbish higher classes. There is no hope for them; even their own meagre plans come to nought. The book has one of the bleakest endings I've ever seen, and I consider that one of its strengths. No Dumbledore who twinkles everything to a happy ending, no Chosen One to save the world. Not even a hint of a solution. JKR is right that there is no easy solution, and arguably not a hard one either.
And the other thing you read in the pre-publication articles? About the sex and the swear-words? Well, for sex, read the OLSB. JKR puts it in. That is both a statement on the present of sex scenes and a summary of the variety of actions described therein. But she uses swear words. Oh, yes, she does. They're the new adverbs.
Still, all in all I was interested enough to read the whole book. It's not one of those books one puts down and then forgets to pick up again. And it does contain some good topics and a few excellent portrayals. It's not a bad book at all.
In a way, the media madness is a pity - it makes it difficult to judge honestly, and it looks as if it also stopped JKR's editors from doing quite the thorough beta-job the book could have used.
But I do recommend you to read it for yourselves. In fact, I hopy you will - there's lots of things I'd like to discuss further, but they would be too spoilery now. You just might to wait for the paperback edition before buying - unless you, too, find a book token, of course.
At which point his exasperated wife says, "Well, we've established the name of the main character. Personally, I could do with a good chunk of narrative at this stage."
So could I, halfway through.
The description of the book as given by the publisher is,
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 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?
Well, we do get everyone being at war with everyone. The story of the local election, however, is rather a non-event. As is only to be expected: we're talking about a small village, too small for a proper mayor, that still boasts a 16 people strong parish council(?). The election of a new council member should barely cause a ripple.
In order to get some sort of election-related plot, JKR lets the website of the parish council be hacked. The messages that appear after the hacking are entertaining and cause great unease in those concerned. But while the first post is believable, the second one is highly unlikely, and number three is a laughable repetition of events.
What do we get then, instead of the election fraught with passion? We get Austen's idea of "three or four families in a country setting". Unfortunately, there's hardly a character we can like in these books. JKR disapproves of the adults especially. The white-and-affluent are Petunia and Vernon all over, including Vernon's bulk and Petunia's avoidance of everything that isn't 'a nice topic'.
The white-with-caring-profession (a social worker, a remedial teacher, a nurse) are meant to be sympathetic, but each suffers from a complete inability to take action or even to see that action may be desirable. The nurse stays with an abusive husband; the teacher's husband has a 'hidden secret' that affects his family; the social worker uproots her daughter so that she herself can live in the same town as her blatantly-uninterested committophobe of a lover.
And the problems in all of these households are, understandably, kept away from the beautiful, cobbled, hanging-basket-lined streets of Pagford. They are, therefore, secrets. We all get this; there's no need to label them as 'hidden secrets' quite so often. It's not just repetitive, it's a pleonasm.
The Sikh family fares best: both parents are doctors, and they clearly have a well-ordered and supportive household - except in the case of the youngest child, who gets a Lady Edith-like treatment.
In all cases the children suffer, and it's in the description of the teenagers in the book that JKR comes into her own. Theirs are by far the best bits. She does a truly excellent job in getting into the teens' minds and showing the what and how of their feelings and actions.
Here the portrayal is carefully nuanced, too. We see Fats, the nastiest of the lot, through the eyes of a girl he torments and despise him for it. But we also see him through the eyes of the boy who has been his best friend since they were four, and who begins to dislike him but is still fiercely loyal. And we see the bully's own POV, too. He doesn't think himself a shit, and JKR gives a great portrayal of a boy who finds a truth with which we can sympathise (especially in this boy's case), and then he carries it to extremes and is incapable to see any grey areas.
The portrayal of Andrew, with all his teenage insecurities, his hopeless and enormous crush on beautiful Gaia, his loyalty to his friend, and his highly-abusive father with whom he deals as well as he can, is in my opinion one of the highlights of the book.
The teenagers save the day and make the book worth reading. Even though, occasionally, JKR runs away with over-elaborate metaphors and images the teenagers themselves couldn't possibly come up with. The miraculously unguarded vagina about which there was so much talk in advance? It's a thought of a sixteen-year-old lad, or so we're supposed to believe.
The adults, unfortunately, aren't likeable enough to care about them - not even the ones we're supposed to like. And JKR does not have Austen's skills to create a Lady Catherine, a Mrs Bennet, or a Mr Collins, who are both repulsive and marvellously entertaining.
There is, however, a walk-on for a lesbian character. Who uses the word lesbian. And drives a beautiful BMW and makes twice as much as her hypocrite of a brother. And who is likeable.
When it comes to the depiction of social ills, the story exudes an unutterable bleakness. The most hopeful cases are the Pakistani Lady Edith and Fats the Bully - it looks as if for them things may improve. But the abusive father will continue (and the depiction of the family suffering from this tyrant is chilling - this is how these things must happen. In seemingly 'proper' families.)
As for the lower classes who inhabit the council house estate - they are despised by the horribly snobbish higher classes. There is no hope for them; even their own meagre plans come to nought. The book has one of the bleakest endings I've ever seen, and I consider that one of its strengths. No Dumbledore who twinkles everything to a happy ending, no Chosen One to save the world. Not even a hint of a solution. JKR is right that there is no easy solution, and arguably not a hard one either.
And the other thing you read in the pre-publication articles? About the sex and the swear-words? Well, for sex, read the OLSB. JKR puts it in. That is both a statement on the present of sex scenes and a summary of the variety of actions described therein. But she uses swear words. Oh, yes, she does. They're the new adverbs.
Still, all in all I was interested enough to read the whole book. It's not one of those books one puts down and then forgets to pick up again. And it does contain some good topics and a few excellent portrayals. It's not a bad book at all.
In a way, the media madness is a pity - it makes it difficult to judge honestly, and it looks as if it also stopped JKR's editors from doing quite the thorough beta-job the book could have used.
But I do recommend you to read it for yourselves. In fact, I hopy you will - there's lots of things I'd like to discuss further, but they would be too spoilery now. You just might to wait for the paperback edition before buying - unless you, too, find a book token, of course.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-03 10:20 pm (UTC)L
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:36 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-03 10:24 pm (UTC)oops sorry about capslock. I'm not that cross about it
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:37 am (UTC)And there's the fact that she was made to move to a small town, and hated it. No coincidence that the girl who was forced to move to Pagford is so Mary Sue-ish.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-03 10:26 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:38 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-03 10:42 pm (UTC)On the other hand, the whole HP series is sort of a paean to middle-class values and beliefs, the Dursleys notwithstanding, except that I don't think JKR is quite aware of how her class attitudes permeate her writing there.
I know I should let the book speak for itself, and I'm sure I'll read it in the coming months. I'm just not rushing.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:41 am (UTC)And while it's true the middle classes are all that's dreadful, the lower classes aren't much better. Not the adults. The only really likeable people are the teenagers - that's my main problem with the book. That and the lack of a proper plot.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 08:18 am (UTC)Precisely what I don't like about her simplified class assumptions-cum-judgments! Besides, pointing the finger at how limited, biased, blind, uptight, intolerant other middle-classers are (thereby lifting oneself above them and making a real individual out of oneself) is so middle-class, too (with the upper-middle-class variety of it being pointing the finger at how limited, biased, blind, uptight, intolerant other middle-classers are and of course not excluding oneself from that [cue hand on heart]).
And that sounds more ranty than I mean it, since the criticism is very often valid. Only, yes, from an author I expect more nuance.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 12:14 am (UTC)I had no real intention of reading this until it's readily available at my local library, and I think I'll keep to my plan.
It is rather unfair that JKR's first adult novel can't possibly be judged solely on its own merits, but then again, she has her eleventy-gajillion pounds to keep her warm, so I won't shed too many of my middle-class tears for her.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:42 am (UTC)She really seems somewhat out of her depth depicting adults.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 01:28 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 06:44 am (UTC)But I did enjoy reading it, despite quite a number of downsides and issues.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 08:04 am (UTC)At least in Germany we've had some pretty exasperating, poorly-written stuff hyped by the book publishers and tabloids of late, so I can sort of understand the reviewer's lack of patience. And JKR had the choice to write or not write another book. If she'd been concerned about the book's reception, she could have done it under a pseudonym and first seen how the book stands on its own merits. Like this, I figure that she's of the opinion that even bad press is better than no press -- which is okay by me; I don't begrudge her the receipts.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 08:30 pm (UTC)I'd be interested to read it. Of the reviews I did read, one refused to find any fault at all (not my opinion) and one was really all derogatory (not that bad, either). The ones in between were much better - I found them googling on "A Casual Vacancy" and picking up the first 10 results.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 08:34 pm (UTC)http://www.spiegel.de/kultur/literatur/ein-ploetzlicher-todesfall-warum-sie-rowlings-buch-nicht-lesen-muessen-a-858490.html
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 07:55 am (UTC)I'm not sure if I'm very sorry that the book can't be judged without the knowledge of the media hype around it. It sounds to me like a book that wouldn't have got much attention otherwise.
Which reminds me that I need to get to reading Brick Lane at last.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 11:02 am (UTC)This already happened with the later HP books, I think, especially DH.
Thanks for the review! I doubt I'm going to buy the book any time soon, but if someone offers to lend it to me I might give it a chance.
This, though:
The white-and-affluent are Petunia and Vernon all over, including Vernon's bulk
What is it with Rowling and overweight people?
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-04 08:28 pm (UTC)Still - I did enjoy the book. If you come across an affordable edition, it's worth picking it up.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-05 07:27 am (UTC)More importantly, HAPPY BIRTHDAY! *hugs* Hope you're celebrating in style!
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-05 10:14 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-05 08:45 am (UTC)a. I think that media / review wise the book was destined to fail, no matter the topic or relative quality.Tthe height of the expectations from the HP author were never going to be met, hence the horrendous reviews
b. I actually think that JKR is well meaning, and has her heart in the right place. We saw an interview with her and yes, she has a certain view of certain type of MC, a type not wholly foreign to me, living near such small town with petty politics. based on you review, TRS, I suspect it will read all too familiar. JK is coming with an agenda, however, probably one that is not well written.
I suppose that the problem with JK is that she has good ideas, good intentions, alas she is not a good writer. mind you, we are all hugely benefiting from her being a poor writer with severe flaws in the plot or a lack of.. who knows, maybe be in time we will learn to appreciate the new flawed characters and start playing with them too...
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-05 10:16 am (UTC)I look forward to hearing what you think once you've read it.
(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-05 06:09 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-06 06:19 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2012-10-07 09:37 am (UTC)