Big Story about A Small Town

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the 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?

There's a small town in England called Pagford, where one day Barry Fairbrother dropped dead in one of it's "car park" (British words for "parking lot" :D). The whole town is shocked by his sudden death. Barry's allies in Pagford Parish Council are devastated because Barry's enemies can clear their way to their cause now that Barry's dead. His wife is grieving non stop. The girl he coached in Winterdown Highschool rowing team was shocked, and she made a really bad choice that destroyed her life. Barry's best friend's OCD worsens and his son became an insufferable git. Children turned on their parents, revealing their most shameful secrets in the Council's website under the name of "the ghost of Barry Fairbrother". 

The Casual Vacancy

At first, I tried to read the English version, but all the vivid rude languages and sexual acts that appeared in the first chapters bothered me so much. I stopped reading it for few weeks, then after I found out Mona has the Indonesian version, i decided to give it another try. Surprisingly, the book became less rude (Indonesia doesn't have many vocabulary on swear words, and they are so rarely used these days. Many Indonesians would curse in english, funnily enough) and i finally finished it!

I never read anything like this before; a political, character-focused, very realistic novel. I am all for fantasy books (thus, Harry Potter). Only because JK Rowling writes it that i want to have a try. And I'm not regretting it, although not too happy with it either. It gives me real insights of what's on people's minds.

I loved how everything feels so real here. Like the way Andrew stalked Gaia's facebook, how he scrolled along and checked if Marco and Gaia are still contacting each other. Or how Shirley and Mo compete to get the hottest gossip in the neighborhood. Or Terri tried to overcome her addiction in order to keep Robbie. Even Colin's OCD and Samantha's sick crushes on 19 year old boy she only can imagine, i think that's truly happening in people's heads. And it scared me. I'm almost grateful I'm not a mind reader, knowing even how saintly people can look from the outside, they can be very awful inside. Maybe the only downright good dude in this book is Barry Fairbrother himself (because he died in the very beginning, we don't have a chance to peek on his mind).

 As for Simon, yeah he's a jerk. But he showed his jerkiness very clearly, and that makes him not so detesting as Howard, who acts innocent but is rotten inside. I hate hypocrisy. But even Howard showed good attitude as a deli boss. Hmm. I really can't decide who's the worst of them. They're all bad and good! Even Stuart Wall, who's impossibly insufferable and awful, showed some remorse in the end.

My favorite character is Krystal. Her messy life and awful upbringing is not entirely her fault. Imagine having to put up with an addict mother who doesn't care about you! I'm sure eventhough she's outright b****, she has a sincere heart, showed by how she cared about Robbie, her bro. And it hurts really bad when she made one bad choice which resulted in (SPOILER ALERT) her heartbreaking end.

The ending itself is unexpectable. I'm not sure how i feel about it; it's sad, but it did good to many of the characters. I liked how Rowling connect the fateful ending to everyone. It's interesting too, that what's hurting Sukhvinder in the river is the computer Simon once disposed. And how that wound (and some other wounds) fixed her relationship with Parminder, her mother.

I feel bad for Sukhvinder. I understand her depression from Stuart Wall's cyber-bullying, but i just can't comprehend how cutting your self can do much good to overcome depression. And Parminder, why can't you listen to Sukhvinder just once? She's your daughter, however a failure she is to you, she needs her mother.

There's so much going on in this book. So many characters, and Rowling did a very good job in portraying their minds, all of them, each. Funny, because Pagford itself is a small town, yet the residents seem so many haha.
One thing i learned from this book, alcohol really did you no good! It makes your mind fuzzy, makes you angry, drives your tongue crazy, and points you to the worst decisions you'll regret for the rest of your life.

My overall opinion is that Rowling clearly shows the quality of a good writer. I am a potterhead alright, and who suspects the lady who creates the whimsical Wizarding World can create another world, completely the opposite to that of Harry Potter? In the end I have to admit, although the writing styles (long sentences, many commas, sarcastic similes) are all the same, the content is downright different. And I found I fall in love with Rowling's writing all over again :)