‘The Casual Vacancy’: the book Stephen King called “fucking nasty”
Throughout his career as an author, Stephen King has detailed some of the most terrifying and macabre visions in the history of horror fiction. After all, King is often called the ‘King of Horror’, known and loved for his fearsome writing, which has won several awards and earned widespread commercial success in the process.
Many of King’s works have also been adapted for the screen, with the likes of Brian De Palma, John Carpenter and Frank Darabont all profiting greatly from the author’s literary prowess. As a result, both the worlds of horror fiction and horror cinema have been emboldened into true excellence.
King himself is no stranger to reading some of the great works of fiction. In fact, he believes that reading is one of the prerequisites to being a great writer, or as he put it in his nonfiction book On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, “Reading is the creative centre of a writer’s life,” proving the importance of both sides of the medium.
As for King’s favourite books of all time, we know that he loves the work of Cormac McCarthy, Philip Roth, George Orwell, J.R.R. Tolkien and William Golding. While such writers are true titans of literature, King has another surprising favourite book, a novel from none other than J.K. Rowling.
Rowling is, of course, known for writing the Harry Potter novels, but King found admiration for her first publication outside of the widely celebrated children’s fantasy series, 2012’s The Casual Vacancy. Aimed at an adult readership, Rowling made a new start with her first post-Potter novel, and it left a big impression on the legendary horror author, King.
In an interview with The Guardian, King explained his love for The Casual Vacancy, noting, “Man, this book is like… Do you remember Tom Sharpe? It’s a bit like that. And it’s a bit like Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf? It’s fucking nasty. And I love it.” Quite an honour for Rowling to earn the “fucking nasty” acclaim from such a celebrated horror writer as King.
The Casual Vacancy tells of a suburban West Country town called Pagford. After the death of a parish councillor, a seat on the council is made available which leads to a conflict amongst the parishioners in who will take his place. Eventually, an online forum begins to reveal the darkest secrets of the hopeful candidates and factions unduly form.
Describing the plot of Rowling’s first adult novel, King said, “The centre of the book is a dinner party from hell, and you say to yourself, ‘These little people in the town of Pagford are a microcosm not just of British society, but western society as a whole, of a certain class.’ The fact that she set it around this little election that nobody cares about in a shit little town is fabulous.”
King went on to call Rowling a “wonderful storyteller” and suggested that The Casual Vacancy features some of her best-ever writing, far “better” and “sharper” than she had ever detailed in “any of the Harry Potter books”. Rowling might have felt quite honoured to have King offer his praise for her writing, especially considering she had mostly been associated with children’s literature. The Casual Vacancy, later adapted into a TV show, went on to become a bestseller, just as King had often shown throughout his career as a champion of copy-shifting fiction.
