The Book of the Banshee

by Anne Fine | Children's Books |
ISBN: 0241131146 Global Overview for this book
Registered by harmaja of Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on 12/29/2005
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6 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by harmaja from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Thursday, December 29, 2005
Removed from the library collection.

I loved Anne Fine's book called Goggle-Eyes. Hopefully this is as good.

Journal Entry 2 by harmaja from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Thursday, April 6, 2006
I don't really know what to make of The Book of the Banshee. I seem to be having some kind of a problem with Anne Fine at the moment. I used to love her book called Goggle-Eyes, and maybe I still do, but I'm not sure any longer.

I am currently attending a children's literature class, where we have read Anne Fine's book called Bill's New Frock. And this book seems to have a very misogynistic streak in it. It does have a feminist point of view as well, so on the whole it's a bit confusing. Our teacher kept pointing out how some aspects of that book may be really subversive, and some other parts pretty conservative.

Then we watched Mrs. Doubtfire for the same children's literature class, and the teacher told us how she thinks the book Mrs. Doubtfire is based on (and which is written by Anne Fine as well) is one of the most misogynistic books she has ever read! I have great trust in my teacher, and now my opinion of Anne Fine is very much affected by her. :-) As I was reading The Book of the Banshee, I felt I had these misogyny glasses on, and I was just trying to spot misogyny all over. It was a bit silly, but I couldn't help it.

Anyway, I think I would have found The Book of the Banshee strange even without all this prejudice I now have towards Anne Fine. I thought it was odd that the boy Will kept referring to the war book and using all those war metaphors while talking about his sister and the situation at their home. And it wasn't just Will, but the parents and teachers as well. It was funny in the beginning, but then it sort of lost taste, and became just weird. I mean, is it just me, or isn't it a bit tasteless to compare raising a teenager to the First World War? Maybe I'll change my mind if I ever have a teenage child. I dunno. For now, I didn't like it.

It as also weird how Estelle was demonized and idolized at the same time. It felt like the author couldn't make up her mind. Surely the parents were often in the wrong, but still I found Estelle's rebellion a bit pointless. I couldn't really symphatize with Will, who adored her sister so much for "fighting the good fight". What, fighting to go to the disco and to skip school? These are the noble causes for a teenager? I didn't really get it. It was nice that Estelle was sticking up for Will, though.

The end of the book was more than just a little bit contrived. Points off for that!

No, The Book of the Banshee wasn't nearly as good as Goggle-Eyes. To tell the truth, I've started to wonder if I would like even Goggle-Eyes if I read it again now. Now that I think back on it, the mother was really pretty incapable of taking care of her own children, until the right man came along and told her how to manage. A bit of misogyny there as well, hmmh? Or maybe not. Maybe I'm too much affected by what I've been hearing in class.

I'm not sure what to do with The Book of the Banshee now. It's a hardback, so I'd rather not send it anywhere. Maybe I'll take it to the next meet-up.

Journal Entry 3 by Lukutoukka from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Sunday, June 11, 2006
The cover seemed so extraordinary, that I *had to* take this book with me. :)

Journal Entry 4 by Lukutoukka from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Monday, June 26, 2006
A boy reads a book about war, and tells about the war which is going on at his home: his sister is at a phase in which she seems to hate almost all the world...

Journal Entry 5 by CatharinaL from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, August 9, 2006
I spotted the Banshee at the Tampere August meetup. At first, I mistook its fancy front cover for a manga volume :-) I seem to have chosen books heavy on the teenage theme tonight...

Will read asap.

Journal Entry 6 by CatharinaL from Pirkkala, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Thursday, October 5, 2006
Oh, well. Aimless, meaningless, dramatic pre-teen battles from the 80s. The lack of content and the utter pointlessness were the first things that popped into my mind while reading: the ideas presented point at random directions, and the book lacks a mechanism of pulling them back together again and forming a single theme or a consistent plot even.

The front cover as a paratext promises far too much! The book was severely missing in content, action, and psychological insight. I'd probably have flipped through this book as a 10-year-old, but I doubt whether it would've made more of an impression on me even then. There's something similar here to my favorite pre-teen author, Judy Blume, but whereas a good teenage book manages to inspire children and adults alike, this one merely seemed boring/fluffy/pointless. I assume that an adult wishes to study youth from a different, more mature perspective, one with at least a leading thought and much more substance. In addition, Will the narrator was never a plausible character; the parents were described as unnecessarily one-dimensional and naïve; in fact, none of the characters ever reached an essential fullness. It's an underestimation: even pre-teens sense more than this flatness of character.

Surprisingly, the parallel to war didn't bother me. Mostly it evoked a thought of warfare itself being pointless, senseless, and unnecessary. However, the related discipline within an institution is necessary for people and society. The trouble lies in that rebellion or individual ideas are not accepted in any institution: school, war, or society for that matter. Similarly to warfaring methods, strong leadership is necessary when raising teenagers to make them understand that pointless rebellion is always just that: pointless. Ultimately, young people are destined to settle with a compromise after their years of rebellion if their cause isn't valid or strong enough. The pointlessness and the needless, childish drama are, in fact, essential ingredients in the everyday life of a pre-teen. The way I see it, the thematical aimlessness serves as a miniature of the contents of a pre-teen life. Will seeks drama and action in the war years, while Estelle wants to be part of the adult future and separate from school & family routines. Both are uncomfortable, and the present time holds nothing for either one. Maybe this pre-teen plight was what this book tried to capture in the first place. Anyway, this is not the youth I want to go back to and explore!

Oh, and I agree about the contrived ending! Heavens :-)

*****

To the Tampere October meetup.

Journal Entry 7 by myntti from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Thursday, October 5, 2006
From the October meet-up.

Journal Entry 8 by myntti from Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, December 31, 2008
I read the book a couple of months ago. I should've written something right away, because now I don't remember what I was planning to write here... All in all I liked the book, although I didn't quite understand what was supposed to be so terrible about the "banshee" - she was just a teenager, for heaven's sake!

Journal Entry 9 by Alejanda from Pori, Satakunta Finland on Sunday, March 22, 2009
Thanks for the book myntti.

EDIT 1.9.2009
Well, what I can say for this book? Nothing wise, so it's better to say only: It is read now.

Journal Entry 10 by Alejanda at Neste Pori Tiilimäki in Pori, Satakunta Finland on Monday, September 7, 2009

Released 14 yrs ago (9/4/2009 UTC) at Neste Pori Tiilimäki in Pori, Satakunta Finland

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

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Tankkasin auton ja jätin kirjan.

Osallistun tällä vapautuksella erpaxin Paikat sekaisin -haasteeseen.

Journal Entry 11 by wingAnonymousFinderwing on Friday, November 20, 2009
Sorry, that wasn`t a book for my taste.

CAUGHT IN NOORMARKKU SATAKUNTA FINLAND

Journal Entry 12 by wingAnonymousFinderwing at Valencia, València/Valencia Spain on Thursday, January 26, 2012
found in a youth hostel in warsaw. I took it to Stockholm and then to Spain. Ithink it was eager to travel !!

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