The Casual Vacancy: 500 pages of this-is-slow-wait-omg-woah.
A slow beginning was necessary to introduce the various main characters in the novel (yeah, there were like 10 of 'em). You spend the first half learning each of their personalities and their typical daily lives. Writing in the first person, from each character's point of view, made me feel like I really, truly knew them - even though this is why the story took so long to develop. Once I finally got into the drama, I was hooked. When the book ended, I felt sad. I had become connected to the characters.
Either way, I love her writing is. The setting, characters, emotions and everything are so well articulated you feel as though you're a part of the story. And what awes me most about some authors, evident in this book, is their ability to understand so many different types of people and write from their different perspectives. How do they do this? I will never know.
So here's the deal. J.K. Rowling is a talented writer. I mean, she created her own world in the Harry Potter series. I gave her the benefit of the doubt and forced myself to not give up on this book. I'm glad I didn't.
But then again, I'm easily satisfied...
Have you read the book? What did you think?
I haven't read it, I haven't felt that compelled to, but with your review I might pick it up at the library sometime :)
ReplyDeleteI haven't read it - I haven't really heard many great things about it.
ReplyDeleteI guess most people couldn't get past the slow parts?
Well that's the thing... You definitely ask yourself why you're reading it at least a few times, but once I finished it I thought about the ending for days. It's hard to review a book though, because I find a lot of it is personal taste.
DeleteI can't wait to read this...good to know I should stick with it! Thanks for the review Kelly :)
ReplyDeleteAnnie
The Other Side of Gray
I'm about 1/3 of the way into this, and I know exactly what you mean. I really struggled with the sheer number of characters...I'm even considering restarting the book so I can get a better grasp on the introductions. It's starting to pick up though, so I might not be able to go back :)
ReplyDeleteI debated that too, but as you get farther into the book the characters get more defined and it's easier to remember. But I agree, it is hard to straighten everything out in the beginning!
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