Review #3- The Cuckoo's Calling, by J K Rowling

To kick-start the new year, I'm posting an old review. I read this book in August, and wrote the review shortly after. Now, a lot of people had mixed but strong reactions to this book when it came out. This review is a positive review, because it turns out, I just CAN'T write a negative review. You can read alternate reviews here and here. 

Anyway, here it is!

When an anonymous tip proclaimed that Robert Galbraith, debut author of The Cuckoo’s Calling, was in fact a nom de plume for J K Rowling, the entire book world went into a frenzy. Breaking book news like this is certainly very rare. But everyone’s question is this- is the hype about The Cuckoo’s Calling, which increased Amazon’s sales by 300%, just because the true writer’s real identity was uncovered, justified?

First off, the genre. Crime fiction is one of the most popular categories of writing, and this book is like every other one. However, most crime novels are read in one go, the thrill enjoyed best the first time, and then the book is tossed aside, its tang long gone. In that aspect, The Cuckoo’s Calling is drastically different because of its writing style. You want to keep it, because you know you’re going to be able to read it again. Rowling has a very literary streak in all of her novels, Harry Potter included; but that goes unnoticed  because of the plot. Rowling’s Casual Vacancy was rather too prosaic, but in The Cuckoo’s Calling, she has managed to strike the perfect chord, restoring balance. A few might argue that her writing style slows the book down, but I say that the steady pace only contributes to the sudden whirlwind of an ending.

The plot isn’t remarkably exceptional. Your standard case of assumed suicide, suspected murder. The predictability of crime novels is in being unpredictable, and that’s exactly what the scenario is once you reach the last few chapters. The first half or so may seem like the storyline isn’t going anywhere, but in reality, the author has spent a long time weaving a complicated, criss-crossing, endless web, and takes her time to gently and deftly unravel it, which is one of the most delightful qualities of J K Rowling.

And finally, the characters. Our hero, Cormoran Strike (the name oozes Rowling-ness, doesn’t it) is a wounded war veteran turned private detective, who takes on the task of investigating the suicide, accompanied by his temporary assistant, Robin Ellacott. Strike’s years of army service have made him a hardened, blunt man. Adding to his woes are a prosthetic limb, an unstable financial situation, and a separation from his fiancée. Robin, on the other end of the spectrum, is eager, cheerful, and enthusiastically resourceful. And they defy all odds by being one of the most cooperative pair across all books. And you can’t help but love them. This is one thing I was afraid Rowling had lost after reading The Casual Vacancy- the ability to make her readers adore her characters like we did in Harry Potter. And she has now regained that. Robin is involuntarily affable, and Strike, with his complete aura of nonchalance, is equally admirable.

It’s hard to point out what exactly makes The Cuckoo’s Calling such a terrific novel. At first glance, it seems to be a simple, unexceptional, conventional book, but somehow, it wraps you up and drags you into it, becoming an utterly compelling read. Rowling has promised further installments in the future, and The Cuckoo’s Calling has inaugurated the first book of what looks like a hugely rewarding series.

P.S- The first page of the novel has all the lines from the poem, 'A Dirge', by Christina Rossetti. The title of the book is based on that poem.

  "Why were you born when the snow was falling?

You should have come to the cuckoo’s calling,

Or when grapes are green in the cluster,

Christina Rossetti

Or, at least, when lithe swallows muster

   For their far off flying

   From summer dying.

Why did you die when the lambs were cropping?

You should have died at the apples’ dropping,

When the grasshopper comes to trouble,

And the wheat-fields are sodden stubble,

   And all winds go sighing

   For sweet things dying."

This is what Rowling says about the title- "The title 

is taken from the mournful poem by Christina 

Rossetti called, simply, A Dirge, which is a lament 

for one who died too young. The title also contains a 

subtle reference to another aspect of the plot,but as 

I can’t explain what it is without ruining the story, I’ll let readers work that one out."