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They call it "denial marketing": the process whereby the contents of JK Rowling's books are guarded like the crown jewels until publication day. It made sense with Harry Potter, when the world and his dog wanted to know what had happened to the boy wizard and his dastardly foes. But it creates a slight anti-climax in the case of The Casual Vacancy, a novel concerning a parish council election in a small West Country town.
他們稱之為“勿需營銷”：JK羅琳新書內容的寫作過程，在今天的出版市場上就像皇冠上的寶石。當全世界以及他的追隨者都想知道小巫師和他邪惡的敵人之間發生了什么時，這對《哈利波特》是完全適用的。但是，至于《臨時空缺》，它產生了一個小低潮，一本關于英國小鎮上議會選舉的小說。
There are some superficial excitements here, in that the younger characters get up to things that Harry probably never dreamed of: taking drugs, swearing, self-harming, having grimy casual sex, singing along to Rihanna. Generally, though, The Casual Vacancy is a solid, traditional and determinedly unadventurous English novel.
這里有一些膚淺的興奮，年輕的人物接觸的是哈利大概做夢也沒想到的事：吸毒，詛咒，自殘，濫交，一路高歌蕾哈娜的歌曲。但基本上，《臨時空缺》是實在的、傳統的、決不冒險的英文小說。
The Casual Vacancy has all the satisfactions and frustrations of this kind of novel. It immerses the reader in a richly peopled, densely imagined world. Rowling has reportedly drawn on her own mildly unhappy childhood, in a village outside Bristol and then later outside Chepstow. The claustrophobic horror is nicely done: everyone knowing everyone. Rowling is good at teenagers, particularly boys, and unhappy couples. The book has a righteous social message, about responsibility for others, and a great big plot that runs like clockwork; like the Potter novels, it is efficiently organised beneath its busy surface.
《臨時空缺》被寄予了此類小說所有的滿意與失望，它使讀者沉浸在人口密集、想象深入的世界。據說羅琳在刻畫她自己略微不幸的童年，位于布里斯托郊外、然后再到切普斯托之外的一個村莊。恐怖幽閉是很好的：每個人都知道彼此。羅琳很擅長寫青少年，特別是男孩子，以及不快樂的夫妻。這本書有一個公正的社會意義，關于對他人的責任。平靜表面蘊藏著陰謀，像哈利波特小說一樣，在它繁忙的表象下一切有條不紊地進行。
The Casual Vacancy is no masterpiece, but it's not bad at all: intelligent, workmanlike, and often funny. I could imagine it doing well without any association to the Rowling brand, perhaps creeping into the Richard and Judy Book Club, or being made into a three-part TV serial. The fanbase may find it a bit sour, as it lacks the Harry Potter books' warmth and charm; all the characters are fairly horrible or suicidally miserable or dead. But the worst you could say about it, really, is that it doesn't deserve the media frenzy surrounding it. And who nowadays thinks that merit and publicity have anything do with each other?
《臨時空缺》不是杰作，但它一點也不壞：機智、嫻熟，且不乏幽默。我能想象即便和羅琳這個品牌沒有一點關系它也能賣的很好，可能會流入理查德和朱迪讀書俱樂部，或者被拍成一部3集地電視劇。哈迷們可能會發現它有點令人失望，因為它缺少《哈利•波特》系列叢書的溫暖和魅力。所有的文字都是相當可怕及自殺般的痛苦或死亡。但是說真的，你可以評價它最糟糕的是它不值得媒體圍著它炒作。現在有誰認為有榮譽和名氣之間互不相關？
