Anita, Moonraker - I'm afraid I must agree with you
I prefer to think of the series stopping at number 14 - Banshee Towers is just not up to scratch, unfortunately. As you say, everything has changed, and the whole 'Find Outers' atmosphere so lovingly built up in the other books in the series is almost entirely absent here.
To me it just seems as if EB forgot who her target audience was, and wrote the book for much younger children. The frequent nauseating descriptions of Buster & Bingo's antics just make me want to throw the book across the room! And of course, there are the continuity errors ...
Still, as has been mentioned in other threads, EB was quite ill by the time she wrote this book, and her writing skills were beginning to slide. It's all very sad really. Full marks to her for persevering through her illness, but Banshee Towers is definitely the runt of the litter.
I think it’s not just Banshee Towers that is different to the other books.
When I last read “Strange Messages” I also thought it was written in a different style to the preceding books - at least the part featuring Mr. Goon at the beginning, and the first half of the book in general. (‘S.M.’ does have all the right ingredients though).
In Banshee Towers there is not much traditional “finding out” – it is limited to a few meetings and trips to the towers. Fatty does demonstrate some of his old tricks though, and enjoys a verbal battle with the turnstile man. Goon is the same as ever though - we can always expect some classic Remarks From Him. Odd that he was never in the running to solve the mystery.
These days I tend to enjoy the first three quarters of these stories more than the end, as I can usually remember the outcome, but not the other parts of the books.
I like the scene where Ern comes in and immediately says something rude to Fatty! It’s the sort of thing he used to say in “hidden house’.
It’s as if the characters are so well known by now that Enid finds it easy to write a few pages of this sort of dialogue, and as it is the last book (and I think she knew it was, as 15 is a good total to stop on), she is giving Fatty a chance to have one last boast, and Ern one last poem.
I must say Ern’s portry has changed over the years. “Coo” is a far more upbeat pome than the melancholy works he’s been associated with in the past.
There was a 4-year gap between book 14 and 15, so maybe Enid had lost some momentum as far as writing mystery books goes. It would have given her a chance to reflect on the series, and maybe this book is, at times, a gentle parody of the series.
Look at Fatty’s tale about knocking out his cousins! His anecdotes do tend to be over the top, but this really sounds like a bit of a send-up. And Daisy’s retort to Larry – “Fatty might knock you out” is in the same vein. I had to laugh through most of chapter 2 in fact, and at Daisy’s comments in particular. That earns it some points in my book.
If I had to go and read “Holly Lane” now, the failings of this final book might be more apparent to me, but overall, I thoroughly enjoyed reading it again, after quite a long time.
It does have a lot more potential – Fatty could have disguised himself as an artist and gone to sit in Banshee Towers and picked up information that way. He has never claimed to be an artist, but I’m sure he‘s better than the average art student. Then Goon could have gone there for some reason – maybe to look for Ern, and been involved in the case as well, perhaps even suspecting the disguised Fatty.
Then Fatty could have disguised himself as the French artist and gone back at night to investigate, etc.! But it’s one thing having ideas, quite another to make a story from them.
Anyway, I’m glad Enid took the trouble to write one more book, and round off the series. The final chapter portrays Mr Goon in a better light, trying to turn over a new leaf. I find Banshee Towers a better end to the series than “Strange Messages” would have been.
Still I found the ending ambiguous though. I would have preferred and ending more like the Strange Bundle one, with Goon eventually being reconciled with the FO's. They are more mature by the final book and he has probably learned by then that he's never going to 'win' when up against them so .. a truce would have been nice.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.
I personally think Strange Bundle should be the last book, and Strange Messages in its place. Banshee could have been skipped out, but as it has to stay, I would prefer it was in the middle of the series. Strange Bundle makes a perfect ending.
Moose wrote:Still I found the ending ambiguous though. I would have preferred and ending more like the Strange Bundle one, with Goon eventually being reconciled with the FO's. They are more mature by the final book and he has probably learned by then that he's never going to 'win' when up against them so .. a truce would have been nice.
This almost happens. Mr Goon sets off to see the Find-Outers thinking to himself "Maybe its silly of me to go against them.......Be better if I was a bit more friendly like, then they'd tell me things. That Ern now - whoever would have thought he had a brain in his head? I can't believe it." We are all set for a Strange Bundle type ending when for some reason Blyton decides to make him look stupid one last time by having him run from a non existent Banshee and end up sitting in a bed of mint!
I have read in the Stoney Biography that the real policeman upon whom Inspector Jenks was based, Stephen Jennings, had only one critiscism of the series and that was that she had "Overdone" the stupidity of the Mr Goon character.
I have always enjoyed Goon. The series would be a great deal poorer if he did'nt exist. he is actually a brilliant comic creation.
Yeah I have started a Goon appreciation thread in the MB forum . Maybe the ambiguous ending worked ..I dunno. But having it end with Goon and Fatty shaking hands would have been better for me.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.
I would like to point out some positives with Banshee Towers: - the crime is clever - an art substitution racket - and seems to be something new from Blyton; and the idea of banshees is fascinating.
There's good humour throughout, which makes it a pleasant way to end the series. In contrast, Strange Messages was a bit grim - eg the elderly people being evicted from Fairlin Hall.
And we see Ern triumph, noticing the change in the painting, and showing the detective skills that would no doubt make him a first rate policeman one day. (But I agree with Anita that Fatty’s patronising attitude towards him is simply awful.)
The quality of the entire series left Blyton is a no-win situation in coming back for a belated finale - but I'm glad she did. Banshee Towers isn't as good as the other stories but it still has enough positives for me.
It has positives for me too and as I said, was a favourite when I was a child . Reading this thread has made me see its negatives too but nonetheless I still enjoy it and will read it again.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.
I've already made some comments haven't I? I can't really think of anything to add. I liked the interplay between the two dogs and I liked seeing Ern again. Granted, there wasn't as much Goon as there should have been .. this is something I did not notice when first reading as a child but I can see it's a flaw now. I thought the whole thing was clever though - the fake pictures and the way they were copied and smuggled out etc.
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.
Moose wrote:I've already made some comments haven't I? I can't really think of anything to add. I liked the interplay between the two dogs and I liked seeing Ern again. Granted, there wasn't as much Goon as there should have been .. this is something I did not notice when first reading as a child but I can see it's a flaw now. I thought the whole thing was clever though - the fake pictures and the way they were copied and smuggled out etc.
Great review, Moose. Don't give up the day job though.
Actually, as far as art theft goes, I much preferred Good Old Secret Seven. Usually when comparing the plots of Mystery vs SS books, Mystery wins hands down. I think this is the only exception.
I've not read much of the SS and don't like them Can't remember any art theft amongst any of the very few books of theirs that I have read
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe.
Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion.
I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
Time to die.
. Maybe the ambiguous ending worked ..I dunno. But having it end with Goon and Fatty shaking hands would have been better for me.
I can't really think of anything to add. I liked the interplay between the two dogs and I liked seeing Ern again. Granted, there wasn't as much Goon as there should have been .. this is something I did not notice when first reading as a child but I can see it's a flaw now. I thought the whole thing was clever though - the fake pictures and the way they were copied and smuggled out etc.
