Her with the hat
IIRC, Rowling has always been quite vocally defensive of the working and middle (or at least lower middle) classes; her criticism has always been of the upper classes and the section of the upper middle class who look down on the less fortunate.
The social climbing, desperately concerned with appearances Dursleys (especially in the early books) are exactly an example of this: The kind of people who simply have to get every single shiny new gadget for their house and children, while acting outraged that those less fortunate would dare ask for enough food and decent clothing to survive.
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No, I dont agree. Rich people have the same right to make fun of working class people that I have to make fun of the rich. Which I have seen done. The best comedians in the world are people who make fun of individuals in demographic groups that they do not belong to. Parody and satire are considered ok in our society, provided that the humor is sophisticated and doesn't unfairly stereoptype the group in question. Unless you think Rowling has implied somewhere that these people are the way they are because they are working class, I don't think you have a case. And I cant remember her doing that.
Re the use of "Cunt": Rowling is, of course, a woman.
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I find it hard to imagine Mark Twain as anything other than American, but then I find it hard to imagine Edgar Allan Poe as an American, even though he was. Which goes to show that, yeah, it's the work that counts.
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Would that it were so simple.
Edgar Allen Poe was a perennially depressed weirdo. You're telling me that isn't telegraphed in any of his works?
"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."
Wandering Jew
So its one of those 'Old Money VS The Nouveau Riche' things?
Everything is Possible. But some things are more Probable than others. JEBAGEDDON 2016
'80s TV Action Hero
Only if women are no longer allowed to use the words 'dick', 'pillock', 'todger', 'bollocks', 'scrote', etc. etc.
In other words; don't be daft. Nobody gets 'privileges' on swearwords. I use the word cunt when the situation calls for it and always will. To say I should not is sexist and reactionary.
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Really? Poe is so American he's like the horror genre's Sam the Eagle.
edited 21st Oct '12 5:18:46 AM by InverurieJones
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'
I think you're kind of missing the context of that comment... I don't really think there is such a thing as 'C-word privileges'.
But it was being compared to the n-word, a word that's derogatory to black people but is somehow not derogatory when used by black people. It seemed like Medicus was suggesting that Rowling's use of the c-word (and words like it) were somehow the same as a white person using the n-word, so I pointed out one of the inconsistencies with that.
Kindly don't say I'm being 'daft' and 'reactionary' when you didn't take the time to read what I was actually saying.
edited 21st Oct '12 5:59:16 AM by LoniJay
Be not afraid...
From what I'm reading, The Casual Vacancy is getting a lot of reactions out of people! 
I bet J.K. Rowling (rhymes with "bowling", by the way) was aiming for exactly that. She probably sat there and thought that people took her for a lady who was too nice to go into swearing and adult topics. Then she thought, "Well, I'm not writing Harry Potter now. No more Mrs. Nice Gal! As of now, the gloves come off!" She really did take the gloves off with TCV, didn't she?
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Ahr river
I figured she just wanted a nice venting break and go all Now For Something Completely Different.
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Sure, and why not? It's fun watching her describe the "anti-Hogwarts" public school from hell.
Sierra 117
Three-Puppet Saluter
Too bad all character traits worthy or interesting appeared to be embroidered on those gloves.
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The main problem is that Rowling is a hack writer, period.
Ahr river
Eh, I wouldn't say that. She has some good ideas, and her prose is passable. There really isn't much hackness to it.
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Apparition in the Woods
I think I'm going to agree with this. It requires a special set of skills to be a hack; Rowling is merely uneven.
The social climbing, desperately concerned with appearances Dursleys (especially in the early books) are exactly an example of this: The kind of people who simply have to get every single shiny new gadget for their house and children, while acting outraged that those less fortunate would dare ask for enough food and decent clothing to survive.
I'd love to see you try going on a fan forum dedicated to Harry Potter or J.K. Rowling, tell that to them, and see where it gets you! 
![[lol]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lol2v12_4863.png "[lol]"){kind=small}
I've heard that some people see Darkness-Induced Audience Apathy in The Casual Vacancy. Apparently, the cast is too unlikable for some people to handle. I don't know about that. I mean, Krystal Weedon seems like The Woobie, and I don't see much of a problem siding with woobies! 
Yeah, that character pretty much refutes any accusation that Rowling hates the poor.
antic disposition
People keep describing the work as grim, gritty etc. - is there any dark humour in it? All the isolated excerpts with weird use of profanity make the characters sound like Begbie, which is kind of hilarious.
"Doctor Who means never having to say you're kidding." - Bocaj
Ahr river
Yeah, I saw some humor in it.
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Oh, really? Huh. So then she's middle class, always was, and there is no problem.
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