Everyone has read Harry Potter. Yes, it may be a book for children, but ask the nearest adult to you if they have read it, and they will almost certainly say yes (and if they don’t, it is probably because they are not a Muggle; magic-folk have different cultural references to us). It is the best-selling series of books in history. Naturally, JK Rowling has worked up quite a fan following.
But, inevitably, the magic had to end. And with that, there was an unspoken feeling that Rowling’s career had ended too. How could another work be written in the shadow of those seven books?
Yet, just over a month ago The Casual Vacancy was released. Rowling’s novel is set in the rural village of Pagford and follows the sudden death of a local parish Councillor. A wide cast of characters make up the novel, prompting comparisons with George Eliot’s work; they are calling it “Mugglemarch”.
Much like the later Harry Potter books, The Casual Vacancy was hidden from critics until its release. You can understand why publishers were keen to keep certain details away from potentially loose-lipped reviews when it came to the boy wizard, but then one must assume that Rowling’s newest fictional endeavour was kept under wraps to prevent the deflation in interest that a poor critic response might give it.
After a bit of Googling, you’ll find that the critical rating was generally that the book is good, not bad, respectable but no
literary revolution. New York Daily’s angle on The Casual Vacancy was that it “isn’t dreadful. It’s just dull”.
Theo Tait for The Guardian said “I could imagine it doing well without any association to the Rowling brand, perhaps creeping into the Richard and Judy Book Club”. Surely, many contemporary writers would consider this decent praise, but on the heels of Harry and the gang, it is somewhat underwhelming.
Of course, JK is allowed to go in a different creative direction and anyone who demands she keeps on writing the same thing should frankly spend a little less time on Pottermore. Rowling said herself on USA Today “I don’t mean this arrogantly, but if people don’t like it, well, that’s how it should be, isn’t it? That’s art. It’s all subjective. And I can live with that.” The world of Pagford is teeming with social issues including race, class, drugs, prostitution, suicide and rape. The allure of these topics is understandable after having spent 17 years writing for children, yet the dirty world to come from her pen have proved a shock to some HP fans.
A quick search on Amazon books will show you that, about five weeks after its release, The Casual Vacancy can be bought in hardback format for £9.00, down from £20, its original release price. The Kindle e-book version, however, is a massive £11.99, 33% more than the hard copy.
Rowling herself appears to be writing for the joy of it (good on her!); Having recently been estimated to be worth $1 billion, she’s not doing it for the cash. The bad guys, it seems, are the publishers who have milked it for all its worth and left Rowling with a dent in her reputation through purposeful mismanagement. Nonetheless, it will prove very interesting to see what kind of book Rowling gives us next.