Thursday 5 September 2013

Devouring Books: The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (teehee)

"Humans often assumed symmetry and equality where none existed."

I'm not sure if anyone's aware of this (I may have figured it out all by myself) but Robert Galbraith is the pseudonym of JK Rowling.
I know. This seems like a pretty good move to have made since all any reviews of The Casual Vacancy were able to say were 'Well, it's not as good as Harry Potter' and 'Good God, she uses the word cunt a lot,' but then again, whilst reviews for The Cuckoo's Calling were favourable (and no one said 'OMG cunt.') sales were pretty poor until you know, we all found out JK was the author and everyone wanted a piece of that.

I was no different, and after a thankfully short wait and a mere 50p of cash, I had my copy from the library, and I zipped through it in mere days (about 3 of them? And it's a hefty book!) I haven't read a lot of crime books, and so there's always going to be a specific reason I read them (JK) but whenever I do, I find that I really like them. I like not knowing what's going on, and I like having people explain things to me using things we've discovered together through the story and I just like them like them like them.

The Cuckoo's Calling is no exception. The case concerns the death of Lulu Landry, (alliterative names, love it) the bipolar supermodel who seemed to commit suicide one freezing night by jumping off the balcony of her swish London flat (Spoiler: it wasn't suicide. Obvs.) and the detective chosen to investigate it is Cormoran Strike (what a name!), an ex-army officer who, when we meet him, is technically homeless and kind of a mess (is there any other kind of PI? I think not.) Things progress, clues are gathered, suspects are considered then discounted and it's all just really really good fun.
This is where Daria and I part ways because I actually do like fun.

I probably have two favourite things about this book, and they are these:
  • London- The London that JK depicts is probably the best London I've ever read in any book ever (you should probably take into account the fact that I don't read a lot of books set in England when I say this...) and by this I mean that, her descriptions brought up an exact picture of the London I know in my head. I'm really interested to know if this setting is as vivid for someone who has, say, never been to London- I'm guessing the picture wouldn't be exactly as clear, but then when that person visited London it'd be like 'WOAH, it's just like being in a Robert Galbraith novel.' The setting is really great, is what I'm saying.
  • Cormoran and Robin- It's not quite Batman and Robin, but the relationship JK sets up between Strike and his assistant is truly one of the best things about The Cuckoo's Calling. It's really interesting because you get to see the relationship from both sides, and the things Strike assumes Robin is thinking about him are not necessarily correct, and vice versa (although sometimes they do overlap almost alarmingly). This relationship is set up so well that I can't help but wonder (hope) whether JK plans to write more Cormoran Strike books because I would support that, big time.
What else can I say? It's JK, so you know what you're getting in terms of readability and awesomeness, and you know you're going to read this if you're a Harry Potter fan* so don't even pretend you're not. Rest assured, though, that when you do, it's definitely not going to be a waste of anyone's time and hopefully you'll have a lot of fun when you're not being all sombre and serious because, oh yeah, it's about a murder. Read on, my pretties.

*i.e. a breathing human

22 comments:

  1. I WANT TO READ THIS BOOK SO BAD. Sadly no one has yet given a copy to one of the local charity shops so that I can swoop in and bag it for £4 (*cough*Inferno*cough*), and the paperback isn't out yet. CAN I CONTAIN MYSELF AND WAIT?!

    I think maybe there'll be more of these, because I saw it listed somewhere as 'The Cuckoo's Calling (Cormoran Strike 1)' WHICH BODES WELL. Now, stop making me want to buy all the books please. When I get hold this one I will mentally earmark it as 'a Laura book', k? :)

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    1. Hold OF this one, obviously. I hate it when I notice a typo JUST AS the little publishing thing starts whirling round to tell me I'm TOO LATE TO FIX IT. *sighs*

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    2. There's no need to contain yourself, just pop down to your friendly local library and all will be well! (or.. go online and pay 50p to reserve it. Whatevs.) It is sooooooooo good though.

      Also THIS IS VERY EXCITING! I need more Cormoran in my life (That sounds like some kind of spice or something... Hm.) But anyway, YAY. Basically I'm just excited at more JK though hahahahaha.

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    3. It's 80p to reserve it here. But yes, that's a good idea... or it would be, if I hadn't just bought a shitload of books. Hehe, oops. The worst thing is, all my books are coming out of storage tomorrow, and I have only one very small bookcase at The New House. For 600 books. THE LAWS OF PHYSICS SAY THIS WILL NOT WORK.

      I wonder how long it'll be before I just given in and call him Cormorant? Though Cormoran, to me, sounds like a romantic kind of boat, so... I might get it right yet. :D

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    4. EIGHTY ENGLISH PENCE?! Ridiculous.

      But oh wellll, I'm sure you'll read it eventually and you'll have to cause its awesomesauce.

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  2. Yes! I loved this too. Funny that you mention liking her descriptions of London because I was wondering how they measured up to people who actually know the city. I was there as a child but I'd like to see it again now as an adult. What a fun book! I'm looking forward to a sequel.

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    1. Oh how interesting! Yeah, they're pretty damn good descriptions, I have to say. Like, they were sort of perfect. (You should definitely come again! It's pretty awesome)

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  3. I like the amount of times you were able to use cunt in your opening for this review. Good job!

    I might read this one before I get around to The Casual Vacancy. Cos murder mystery, yes please

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    1. Haha, I didn't even realise I'd used it twice in the same paragraph! Nice work, me.

      I support you reading this before TCV- I did really enjoy TCV, but this is a lot funner. But I sort of love them both. This JK person can really write, you know?

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  4. I'm torn on this because I love JK Rowling (obviously!) but crime isn't really my thing. I might go for Casual Vacancy first.

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    1. I'm good with either, just read some more JK, dude! I always say 'I don't really read crime books though' but then whenever I do I'm like 'OMG THIS IS AWESOME' so I probably should do that some more, huh? :)

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  5. I don't read a lot of crime. I like a good murder mystery, but when faced with shelves and shelves of murder mysteries all together, it's difficult to choose one. But the ROBERT GALBRAITH IS JK ROWLING revelation drew my attention to this one, though I haven't read it yet. It's on my to-read pile, but as I've just started a Potter reread it'll probably stay there a while so I'm not constantly comparing the two.

    I expect the paperback and sequels will be published as by "JK ROWLING WRITING AS ROBERT GALBRAITH," don't you?

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    1. I know what you mean about the shelves and shelves of crime! I think that probably has a lot to do with why I don't read a lot of it, because I don't have any go to authors in the genre so I don't even know where to start? Other than Agatha Christie, obvs. But I think I've read all of her good ones! This IS really good though, maybe JK can be my go-to crime author.

      I think you're absolutely right about that. Probably in bigger letters than the title and everything. Sigh.

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  6. Ok I'm reading this right now (and really enjoying it!), but I'm kinda pissed that my copy has the other cover. I love the cover you posted!

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    1. I really really hate the american cover for this book! It seriously has nothing to do with anything, which I find really annoying!

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  7. I'm glad you liked it, too! I 100% agree with you about the excellent descriptions of London (no, I've never been there, but JKR conjured images in my brain and that is sufficient for now).

    Also, what do you mean that you had to pay 50p to get this out of a library? Is that like an English preemptive late fee or something? Inquiring Americans want to know.

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    1. Oh goody! I'm so glad you said that. Because I was reading and I was like 'I am seeing this so clearly!' but then I was also like 'Um... you have actually been to these places, Laura...' so yeah. Also, COME TO LONDON!

      Ok, SO the way the libraries work is that we have a county library system going and to reserve a book you have to pay 50p, presumably because this involves moving books from one library to another so you can get them. Basically. But obvs you don't have to pay if you just go into a branch and want to take a book out, because that would just be stupid.

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  8. I *love* your In Memorium Harry Potter Readalong thingy there over on the side. It goes very well with this post.

    I want to ready this sooooo badly. I wonder if my library has it. It suits RIP and everything! I'm glad you liked it! And those character names, they are so JKR.

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    1. It DOES go well with this post! I did that when everyone kept going 'I've just taken the HP button off my blog' and I was like 'I WILL NEVER DO THIS' so there it is, memorialised forever :)

      It is totally a good book for RIP. And you should definitely read it. It would be good even if JK hadn't written it, but obviously it's good because she did. I LOVE HER.

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  9. OH MAN, if I can get this from my library I think I'll totally add it to my R.I.P. list. I mean I was going to read it eventually, so why not.

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  10. Oh man you make this book sound SO good. It's on my TBR but I don't have a copy yet.. I might have to bump this up on my list now!

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  11. This author is obviously experienced. I wonder who he/she is. it is a very well crafted and interesting mystery. Highly recommended!
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