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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.
他们称之为“勿需营销”：JK罗琳新书内容的写作过程，在今天的出版市场上就像皇冠上的宝石。当全世界以及他的追随者都想知道小巫师和他邪恶的敌人之间发生了什么时，这对《哈利波特》是完全适用的。但是，至于《临时空缺》，它产生了一个小低潮，一本关于英国小镇上议会选举的小说。
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.
这里有一些肤浅的兴奋，年轻的人物接触的是哈利大概做梦也没想到的事：吸毒，诅咒，自残，滥交，一路高歌蕾哈娜的歌曲。但基本上，《临时空缺》是实在的、传统的、决不冒险的英文小说。
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.
《临时空缺》被寄予了此类小说所有的满意与失望，它使读者沉浸在人口密集、想象深入的世界。据说罗琳在刻画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个村庄。恐怖幽闭是很好的：每个人都知道彼此。罗琳很擅长写青少年，特别是男孩子，以及不快乐的夫妻。这本书有一个公正的社会意义，关于对他人的责任。平静表面蕴藏着阴谋，像哈利波特小说一样，在它繁忙的表象下一切有条不紊地进行。
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?
《临时空缺》不是杰作，但它一点也不坏：机智、娴熟，且不乏幽默。我能想象即便和罗琳这个品牌没有一点关系它也能卖的很好，可能会流入理查德和朱迪读书俱乐部，或者被拍成一部3集地电视剧。哈迷们可能会发现它有点令人失望，因为它缺少《哈利•波特》系列丛书的温暖和魅力。所有的文字都是相当可怕及自杀般的痛苦或死亡。但是说真的，你可以评价它最糟糕的是它不值得媒体围着它炒作。现在有谁认为有荣誉和名气之间互不相关？
