Though readers often find themselves inadvertently laughing aloud as they read Anne Fine's novels, as she herself admits, "a lot of my work, even for fairly young readers, raises serious social issues. Growing up is a long and confusing business. I try to show that the battle through the chaos is worthwhile and can, at times, be seen as very funny." In 1994, this unique combination of humour and realism inspired the hit movie MRS. DOUBTFIRE, based on Anne's novel MADAME DOUBTFIRE and starring the late comedic genius Robin Williams.
Anne is best known in her home country, England, as a writer principally for children, but over the years she has also written eight novels for adult readers. Seven of these she describes as black - or sour - comedies, and the first, THE KILLJOY, simply as "dead black". These novels have proved great favourites with reading groups, causing readers to squirm with mingled horror and delight as she peels away the layers in all too familiar family relationships, exposing the tangled threads and conflicts beneath. (It's perhaps not surprising that Anne has openly expressed astonishment at the fact that murder in the domestic setting is not even more common.)
Anne has written more than sixty books for children and young people. Amongst numerous other awards, she is twice winner of both the Carnegie Medal, Britain's most prestigious children's book award, and the Whitbread Award. Twice chosen as Children's Author of the Year in the British Book Awards, Anne Fine was also the first novelist to be honoured as Children's Laureate in the United Kingdom. In 2003, Anne became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature and was awarded an OBE. Her work has been translated into forty five languages.
Anne Fine lives in the north of England and has two grown up daughters.
Il libro: “Quell’arpia di mia sorella” scritto da Anne Fine, mi ha colpito molto e mi ha fatto riflettere sul tema dell’adolescenza. Inizialmente non mi piaceva, però poi mi ha iniziato a intrigare, infatti ho letto i primi tre capitoli in una settimana e gli altri sette in due giorni. La frase che mi ha colpito di più è: “... hanno sempre bisogno di qualcosa. Non sembrano rendersi conto che non si può avere tutto.”, questa frase infatti rispecchia molto la mentalità degli adolescenti. Anche se è un libro corto e veloce da leggere trasmette molte emozioni e molti spunti su come aiutare gli adolescenti. Consiglio la lettura di questo libro a genitori che hanno figli adolescenti e agli adolescenti stessi, che la maggior parte delle volte non si accorgono neanche di come si comportano con gli altri.
Das Buch hat mich nicht ganz so abgeholt, weil es nicht ganz meinen Humor getroffen hat und ich mich in meiner Lebensphase wegen mit den Eltern, noch mit den Pubertierenden identifizieren kann. Dennoch habe ich es dank des sehr einfachen Schreibstils echt schnell durchgelesen. Ich kann mir gut vorstellen, dass es für einige Familien eine herzerwärmende und zum Schmulnzeln bringende Lektüre ist, die ihnen durch schwierige Phase Heranwachsender bringt.
Een groot deel van de tijd luisterden we met het idee dat het boek ons meer leerde over hoe je beter niet omgaat met een tienermeisje dan om het even wat anders. De inzichten die het hoofdpersonage op het einde kreeg maakten gelukkig veel goed. Toch denk ik niet dat ik snel andere boeken van de auteur zal lenen in de bib, ook al is er een ruime selectie beschikbaar.
A refreshing idea for writing about teenagers and all the troubles that life stage comes with. Written in a way that primary school children could easily access and would enjoy.
Will Flowers decide escribir un libro acerca de la guerra que vive: tener que lidiar con su hermana, quien sufre los problemas de la adolescencia mientras que toda su familia son arrastrados por el huracán que es Estelle.
En sus palabras encontraremos un divertido relato; su relación con su mejor amigo, cómo sus papás se quejan inclusive de él, como su pequeña hermana Muffy no habla mucho, e incluso de los maestros excéntricos con lo que tiene que lidiar día a día en la escuela. Poco a poco Will se va dando cuenta que su vida es paralela a una novela acerca de la guerra, en la cuál se siente retratado en casi todos los aspectos. Finalmente una plática entre padres y maestros aclarará la mente de la madre de Will dándole fuerzas para lidiar con Estelle, lo cuál tendrá resultados maravillosos en una sola noche: un regaño se convertirá en una cena familiar, Muffy hablará, un accidente se convertirá en un momento de diversión y todos se percatarán que a pesar de ser tan diferentes entre sí, no habría otra manera en que fueran más felices, ya que no serían ellos mismos. Y por supuesto, sin todos esos problemas, el libro no hubiera existido.
What an amazing book, had me laughing out loud despite myself at the Banshee of the title, Estelle, who has evolved from a sweet girl into a teenage demon, to the bewilderment of her family.
She reminds me a little of myself as a child, I don't know how I survived. This is something many youngsters go through, rebellion to extremes, and it is very hard to deal with for the parents and siblings. This is a kind of handbook for adults, dealing with your stroppy teenager, and will be an invaluable read for traumatised parents.
But it is very, very funny and the slapstick comedy makes The Book of the Banshee an easy read and hard to put down. I loved the characters, mum. dad, brother Will and little sister Muffy, and Estelle the Banshee is adorable too, as the reader gets to know her, and ultimately the reader sees that she will mature, hopefully her family will come round to her point of view at some stage and all is not yet lost.
I recommend this to anyone who enjoys humour and an excellent story.
This book was dreadfully boring, which was a bummer because the cover is just so cute and the blurb on the back seemed to suggest a funny, entertaining story.
The narration was all over the place and I had no idea what Will was rambling on about half the time (take a shot whenever he brings up that author along with random boring military talk). It just seemed to jump and skip to different things and didn't flow well. Or maybe I just didn't understand the quirky writing style. I skipped all the bits involving Choper and the school meeting (why was this even included?)
The parents really annoyed me and they seemed terrible. They reminded me of stupid sitcom parents who are clueless all the time. Surprisingly I didn't find Estelle irritating because girl, same.
Also, who the hell names a child MUFFY?! The first time Will brought her up, I thought he was referring to the family dog lol. The parents should focus on getting this kid therapy rather than fighting with Estelle because poor little Muffy seems like she needs it.
A really funny really amazing book about family conflict which puts an amazing spin on learning to be a writer. I LOVED this book and have re-read it many times since I first read it two years ago.