Having had to wait a long time for these books to be delivered, I felt entitled to review them appropriately.
The Casual Vacancy-J.K. Rowling
Imagine Harry Potter’s uncle Vernon and his aunt Petunia (their dull, mundane, petty noisy selves) and you have how the characters in this book feel.
This is the most depressing book that I have read all year! I knew it was her first adult book after a decade in the magical land around Potter and frankly, I expected a little more. It is refreshing however to read around an adult ‘theme’ and to see words like ‘fuck.’ Instances of rape, suicide and violent domestic abuse are also strewn about. Rowling is still fascinated by death and includes a sex scene (although highly clichéd) in a cemetery.
Historical detail and tedious descriptions inhibit the momentum of the narrative as readers are introduced to characters like Barry Fairbrother whose sudden death propels quite the political tension in the small fictional town of Pagford.
It is not bound to inspire anyone or leave you feeling all awed or exhilarated; the ending only characterizes human weakness and eye lines things like rampant snobbery, sexual frustration and selfishness.
One of my favorite lines in it however (there are a few instances of humor in the book) is “that miraculously unguarded vagina” which saw it wildly retweeted as ‘Harry Potter and the Miraculously Unguarded Vagina.’ It is a good book for anyone keen to read what Rowling wrote after Harry Potter or anyone willing to endure a dull, predictable melodrama.
50 shades of Grey- E.L. James
Written as a trilogy with the 2nd volume titled ’50 shades darker’ and the third titled, ’50 shades freed’ the ‘love story’ follows Christian Grey, a 27 year old unrealistic character with an outrageous hold on Ana. Ana is a boring character with barely a personality who hardly has anything real to say; you just want to slap her for having so little self respect.
Readers that enjoyed any Mills and Boon book would like 50 shades of grey, granted, ‘member’ would be replaced with ‘dick’ and they would be stuck with a painful, poorly descriptive and labored narrative.
The 2011 erotic novel offers sufficient BDSM elements making it more enjoyable than literary and especially popular among women in the 30 age bracket. This badly written ‘Mummy porn’ can be captivating to anyone willing to keep a sex manual by the bedside.
In the first and a half pages, the word ‘semblance’ appears thrice, with other phrases like ‘laters baby’ and ‘the pimp’ making the book feel like a horny 12 year old wrote it. I however have to agree with the author on one thing, she says, ‘this book is simply very popular with people who don’t read books’
But if its porn and men aren’t typically asked to explain their porn, then why should women?
Wow.. i didnt know there was a sex scene in a cemetery… I’m not very keen with the Casual Vacancy. I like HP, but thats about it.
Yes there is, a callous hasty shag, where Rowling describes a condom thus: glistening in the grass beside her feet, like the gossamer cocoon of some huge grub. HP all the way